Design Folder: Your Online Design and Decorating Resource

i saw design: blooming windows + balconies

I’m a fan of flower boxes over windowsills and balconies. They instantly freshen up a potentially boring facade. But these “blooming” balconies and windows are not just great on a building’s exterior. They also look equally pretty inside  a room. Check this wall decal from etsy together with wall-mounted flower boxes on a couple of window images:

Just sharing with you something nice and pretty to  jump start your week.

*balconies and windows via blessingway; paris window wall decals via artconductor.

i saw design: yellow & gray

I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite color combinations: yellow and gray. We normally stick with neutral tones in decorating our space but if you like to try something new and refreshing, consider using yellow and gray. Here are some photos to serve as inspiration:

Hope you can use this in your next renovation project! - ana

Photos via mscott218 , needleworks inc. and bluelabelbungalow

i saw design: pipho 5x

The Design Folder team just attended and very much enjoyed the opening of Pipho 5x, the 5th anniversary photo exhibit of the photo club, Pinoy Photography Organization. I can’t describe how amazing their landscape and travel photographs are — you have to see for yourself.

The exhibit runs until August 1, 2010 at the Eastwood Mall, Libis and might move to a different venue after (see their website for updates).

All the prints are for sale and would look great in any interior! And since they are printed using archival inks on acid free canvas by Gallery7, you’re sure the works are going to last a long time. Visit www.pinoyphotography.org for details on their annual photo exhibit and for more info on Philippine photography.

(Congratulations to all the featured photographers especially to our friend Ian Santos! Hoping to see more of your works on display! )

i saw design: cool office spaces

via the cool hunter

via the contemporist

via chictip.com

via this aint no disco

via open-a

If only all offices look like these, it would be more enjoyable to wake up early and go to work everyday.

For more fun and inspiring office spaces, check out This Ain’t No Disco.

Hope you all had a great week and will have an even better weekend!

i saw design: nintendo nostalgia

I saw these and just had to share them with you. These Nintendo-inspired products bring me back to simpler days when all I had to worry about was how to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser.

mushroom lamps via unplggd

arcade mugs via walyou

tetris chair via walyou

donkey kong & super mario bros. wall decals via blik

We’re in the process of renovating our office right now. I wonder if I can convince my bosses to install Super Mario Brothers decals on our walls? -lilli

i saw design: happy fourth of july!

To our dear df readers and friends in the U.S., Happy Independence Day!

*photos via marthastewart and veranda

design trail: traveling without moving

I just took the Lakbayan quiz and I got a C-! I guess I haven’t really gotten to explore much of the Philippines yet. For those of us who lack the time and resources to travel the country, plus63.com (or +63 which is the area code of the Philippines) is a great alternative to see the sights. Plus63 Visuals + Vibes is a “site for Philippine Music and Travel discovery”.  You even get to hear original Filipino music while looking at the amazing photos (some of which I’ve posted here).

You can also share your photos from your travels to different parts of the country. Visit plus63.com for more info. - lilli

{photos courtesy of plus63.com; photos from the top: airplane by melody sy, shoegazing by charles buenconsejo, capiz by berns de leon, miniature vigan, sunset by small onglatco}

i saw design: a world made of color

Watch the video above and be transported to a world made entirely of paint swatches. Made by the creative geniuses of American agency McKinney and production house Buck, this is just the first of a series for paint company Sherwin Williams. I hope they create more paint swatch worlds soon.

Here’s the second installment. Enjoy!

i saw design: there’s no place like heima

Watching the Philippine election coverage is stressful. So, I’ll just divert my/your attention to beautiful and positive things.

Last Friday, Lilli Beth and I dropped by Heima’s Makati store launch. Unlike the usual design/store launches that we have attended, “There’s No Place Like Heima” party is a celebration of everything young and Pinoy. Apart from the store’s launch, the highlight of this event is the collection of collaborative pieces of Heima with other young artists. Among them are Heima’s canape (rococo style sofa) with a graphic design by Team Manila and the small artworks above it by Heima + Folk Superlative.

The artists fromFolk Superlative were also working on an on-the-spot painting during the event. It was interesting to watch them. I’m just not sure if all the “watching” is making them self-conscious, hehe.

Too bad we were not able to stay for the live performances.

Again, congratulations to the young minds behind Heima! More great and pretty creations to come.

i saw design: caps and types

Finally, I found the website of these custom-designed initials! These are from the Daily Drop Cap, an ongoing online project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. She posts a new hand-crafted decorative cap each day for everyone’s enjoyment and for “the beautification of blog posts everywhere”. This how the initials of df will look like in her caps:

To see the rest of Jessica’s drop caps and the guidelines on how to use them for your blog, CLICK HERE.

I know these are too girly for our male readers. So, here’s something for the boys:

These Matchbook typefaces are courtesy of One By Four, a Florida-based visual design studio. Love them? CLICK HERE to download the typefaces for your enjoyment over the weekend (and for future days to come, hehe).