Design Folder: Your Online Design and Decorating Resource

monthly reads

Some of you may have noticed that, early this month, we added a new “folder” down our left sidebar called Daily Reads. The section is a list of five blogs handpicked by Ana to add to our regular dose of inspiration and ideas.

Before we change to a new list, here’s a roundup of our favorite posts from April’s Daily Reads:

Posters made into wallpaper (image above) from At Hanna.

Woven crafts using paper plates from Fine Little Day.

City prints by Spanish artist Blanca Gomez from A Cup of Jo.

A muted grey-and-blue table setting from Busy Bee’s Blog.

Starbuck’s coffee grounds used as a compost fertilizer from Always Saturday.

Watch out for Ana’s May reads on Monday.

Have a happy weekend!

fashion meets design: ruffled pillows

Something to prettify your couch, bed, or favorite chair. These girly ruffled pillows are made by Elizabeth and are sold at her etsy store here. Both remind me of the tops and dresses at Bayo and Plains & Prints! I guess ruffles are not just for clothes, huh? I think I’ll have my curtain seamstress make some for a project…

sale alert!: cebu + manila

For those in Cebu (and other nearby provinces), there will be a sale of classical, modern and outdoor furniture, as well as home accesories in Banilad this coming weekend. For us here in Manila, Scandinavia Trend will be opening a new showroom with a sale event this May. SHOP, SHOP, SHOP!

space matters: design online

I wonder if I can do something like this—offer my design services for clients and their spaces in another country.

Apparently, long-distance designing/decorating is the latest thing in interior design in the US. Design*Sponge featured something on this kind of service the other day. Now, I came across an article over at Elle Décor about a Zurich apartment created by an interior designer who is in New York.

“When Elena Vinarsky was looking to decorate her new apartment in Zurich, Switzerland, she surprised her friends by hiring Val Nikitin, an interior designer based halfway around the globe. A consultant who sometimes travels as often as three weeks per month, Vinarsky wasn’t able to schedule regular face-to-face meetings with a local decorator. She met Nikitin on a trip to New York, where he lives and works, and the pair agreed to collaborate on her Swiss home via e-mail.” Read the rest of the article here.

Interesting idea, right?!

*Images via Val Nikitin Design.

conscious living: this month’s produce

We all appreciate gardening in the light of beautifying our “domestic landscape”, purifying our air, and cooling our surroundings (through trees). How about gardening for food?

In the concept of sustainable living, we are encouraged to provide ourselves with some of the basic necessities: water through rainwater collection, electricity through solar power, and food through edible gardening.

My parents are both probinsyanos (from the province). In the province, most households do not just plant for aesthetic reasons. They also plant for food. Think of it as having a multi-functional garden. That’s why here at home, we have some trees that are fruit-bearing—avocado, langka (jackfruit), mango, and cashew. All of them were grown by my parents from seed! We had to wait for around five years before the trees started bearing fruits.

For the past two months, our family (plus neighbors and friends) are enjoying this season’s Indian mangoes (top photo) and cashew (photo above). A lot of people don’t know (including me) that apart from the nuts, the cashew fruit can also be eaten. It has a sweet taste that is partially mapakla (acrid), so not everyone would appreciate it.

By June/July, we’re expecting to harvest everyone’s all time favorite—avocados! Guacamole, anyone? 

space matters: small space solutions

{dining area with brick wall – inspired by new york lofts}

Terence Conran, one of my design idols, once said that “the central dilemma of living in a small space can be best summed up by a single word: stuff.” For this cozy condo in Pasig, however, the designer found ingenious ways to fit and organize all of the owners’ and their children’s possessions in a limited amount of available space.

Luckily, the condo unit had a high ceiling so the designer was able to convert the extra room above the dining area and above the bed in the master bedroom into storage. With a trusty stepladder always on hand, the owners hide a lot of their belongings in these converted storage spaces.

{storage above dining area}

{additional storage below living room seating}

{left: clerestory windows let light & air in; right: cabinets on other side of the wall}

{left: closet space spanning whole wall; right: storage space above bed}

{left: kids’ room; right: cute shelves for children’s books}

I love how the designer cleverly placed storage solutions all over the condo – like above and below furniture and on wall partitions. It was obvious that the unit’s design was well planned and that storage was a big factor in the design process. I wouldn’t mind living in a small space if it was as chic and as organized as this!

cool sightings

Everyday feels like it’s the hottest day of the year in Manila.  Maybe some mental conditioning would help???

These refreshing photos of Tenryū-ji bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan were taken by X.u.k.i.. These might help you, or at least your eyes, cool down over the weekend.

Which reminds me, I have to schedule our shoot on one of Arch. Ning Tan’s (my idol…) bamboo houses. We featured the house in MyHome magazine a few years ago and I was impressed with the design—a more contemporary approach in using the humble bamboo as a building material.

For now, have a fun (and, hopefully, cooler) weekend!

conscious living: louver windows

Photo by Anson Smart via Quantas

When it comes to design, I think I have a new advocacy–to promote louver windows as the best window type for our hot and humid tropical climate.

Like casements, louver glass windows allow for 100% airflow/ventilation (unlike sliding windows which offer 50% airflow). But unlike casements, louver types have an added feature of having small panes that allow you to block off rain by simply angling those panes. This means you still have air coming in and out of your space during heavy rainfall.

Most people are convinced about their appropriateness and efficiency. What they don’t like is the image of louver windows being baduy or unstylish. Need proof that it is, in fact, a fashionable window? In Australia, louver windows are widely used and they have managed to make them fit their contemporary designs. A nice example is the restaurant of Berowra Waters Inn in Sydney, Australia.

Photo via Berowra Waters Inn

Photo by Marco del Grande via SMH

Photo by Kate Ayrton via wandermelon

Photo by Kate Ayrton via wandermelon

The small panes of the louver windows make it possible to have the height extend to the floor without sacrificing on safety. The floor-to-ceiling glass louvers passively cool the restaurant and provide a great view of the Hawkesbury River.

I’ll continuously be on the lookout for more stylish interiors that use louver windows to convice more Filipinos to integrate them into their homes for cooler, energy efficient spaces.

a-list: CANVAS

I have always loved art. Like interior design, I was exposed to art at an early age because my uncle is a painter. I have always enjoyed watching him work on his plates while he was still studying in UP Fine Arts. My appreciation then was limited to their aesthetic/visual value. It was only recently, through my clients and a couple of art enthusiasts whom I have interviewed for the magazine, that I learned to appreciate their value in a broader sense. Unlike before, when it was a thing for the elites, art is now reaching out to the general public with restaurants, coffee shops, and furniture showrooms being new venues for their exhibits. To join in this endeavor, we are including a new section here in Design Folder called A-list (art list) where we will feature anything and everything related to Philippine art and Filipino artists.

Recently, through their Facebook page, I stumbled upon CANVAS (Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development), a local organization that promotes awareness and appreciation for Philippine art, culture and environment. Apart from organizing exhibits that showcase the best among our young contemporary Filipino artists, they also engage in projects that lead to the publication of books, prints, and other merchandise that make artworks become accessible to more people.

I especially love their program on children’s books. CANVAS’s Romeo Forbes Children’s Literature Initiative is a program wherein they come up with children’s books whose stories are inspired by a particular artwork.

Elmer Borlongan’s contest piece (left) which inspired the first CANVAS storywriting compretition. The winning story went to Becky Bravo’s “The Rocking Horse”.

Rodel Tapaya’s contest piece (left) in 2006 which inspired the winning story by Fernando Gonzales entitled “Ang Batang Maraming Bawal”.

CANVAS first commissions a young Filipino artist to do an original, large scale painting. Then, the artwork becomes the inspiration of an open writing competition. The winning story is finally illustrated in large scale paintings by the same artist. This initiative allows for a less intimidating venue to promote Philippine art and literature to children and to more people, globally.

We are so happy to see sir John (Jose John Santos III), our former painting teacher back in high school, as one of the featured artists of CANVAS (below)! I wonder if he still remembers us, hehe!

Check CANVAS’s website here to learn more about the organization and to see the rest of their children’s books. They also have an online store here where you can purchase their art-related products.

*all images via CANVAS’s facebook album here

objects of design: headboard wall decals

In a bedroom, the headboard easily turns the bed as the focal point of the space. Designed by Mina Javid, these headboard wall decals from Blik will give you no excuse for not having a posh sleeping space.

Now, you can give your room an instant makeover, no carpentry skills required!

*Photos via Blik