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spacelift: project tanglaw

If you ask me, interior design and architecture are both 70% function and 30% aesthetics. Well, that’s just a rough estimate, but you get my point—that designs are based on problems and spatial issues that need to be solved. This means that ideally, the aesthetic part (the choice of color, design theme, decorations) is also meant to address a particular problem. Simply put, aesthetics in design is not the end, but the means.

The students of UP Interior Design (UPID) proved this point through Project Tanglaw. Continuing UPID’s advocacy of helping build a better and stronger Filipino society by improving the interior environments of underserved communities and institutions here in Manila, this year’s graduating students have chosen to take on the challenge of rehabilitating the interior spaces of Ephpheta Foundation for the Blind, an institution that serves the visually-impaired. (Read more about Ephpheta here.)

There are five areas in the institution that were rehabilitated: the reception area and main hallway, the computer room/lecture room, the dining area and kitchen, the massage/treatment area (for the livelihood program of the institution), and the women’s dormitory.

The facilities of the institution were in bad shape, to say the least. The interiors were dark, and the layout of the spaces and furnishings were not helpful in making wayfinding for the visually-impaired more manageable. Most of them need to have a guide at all times in order to find their way around.

THE HALLWAY

THE COMPUTER ROOM

THE DINING ROOM

Aside from cleaning, improving the physical conditions of the structure itself, and maximizing the existing spaces, the students incorporated design features that can empower the visually impaired. It is important to know that not all who are visually impaired are ‘blind’. Some of them can still recognize light and shadow. Therefore, brightening the interiors through additional window openings and light-colored walls are already significant improvements that help orient them in a space.

Color contrasts, such as a dark floor vs. light walls and contrasting colored patterns on the floor, help those who can still ‘see’ assess their surroundings and find their way around on their own. Simplifying the layout of the spaces, with a more linear orientation, assisted the visually impaired in creating a mental map of their surroundings. Guide rails along the corridor and room labels in Braille (made of pushpins!) were also added.

THE MASSAGE/TREATMENT AREA

Aside from color contrasts, texture is another important feature that aids those who are 100% blind. The section of the walls and guide rails that are near door openings were finished in textured paint to signal that one is approaching an opening or a room. In the foot spa area, the part with the row of seats has a pebble washed flooring to delineate the space from the rest of the room.

THE DORMITORY

By empowering the visually-impaired through improvements in their interior spaces, the students hope that their design will be an instrument in helping them gain confidence and trust in themselves, and inspire them to become better and productive individuals in the society.  df

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spacelift: the gift of a better home

Finally, here are the complete before-and-after photos of the 7 rehabilitated homes of UPID’s project with Gawad Kalinga-Laura!

What I particularly like about the students’ designs is that they were able to integrate the average Filipino family’s aesthetic sense—a limitless appetite for color, texture and pattern; a need to personalize their space through a display of objects with sentimental value; and a preference for a happy and festive atmosphere.

Below, the students tell us more about the design brief and the inspirations that guided them throughout the design process. {Thanks Jeliz and congratulations to your batch!} -ardel

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spacelift: small decorating measures

Whenever people ask me what to do to improve their rooms or their house, there are three simple tips that I always point out: 1) de-clutter and simplify (it’s the most difficult because it’s hard to let go of things), 2) brighten your space with a fresh coat of paint (again keep it simple and neutral), and 3) add a splash of color through accessories like framed prints, throw pillows, and potted plants (it’s adding color minus the long-term commitment).

A few weeks back, df reader Ina shared her stockroom makeover which proves how cleaning and de-cluttering alone can make a big difference to a room. Today, another df reader, Weng Mojica, shares a couple of her home improvement projects with us—adding color to her bare staircase with a pair of P499 canvas prints on a picture rail (top) and refurbishing an old piano from her parents (below).

Unfortunately, no one knows how to play the piano in her family including herself. “Only one sibling plays the piano so it is pretty much just a piece of furniture in our old house,” Weng said. “Now, I’m having informal piano lessons from an officemate during our lunch breaks.  I hope to teach my daughter the Chopsticks soon.”

Good luck on the piano lessons, Weng! Thanks for sharing -ardel

*photos by Weng Mojica

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Got a room or furniture makeover? Share it with us! Send your photos and a brief description of your project to mydesignfolder@yahoo.com

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spacelift: ina’s stockroom makeover

I know how difficult it is to put an order to a messy stockroom aka bodega. But I’m sure many of you will agree that it has a lot of potential to be more than just a room that accumulates old, unwanted things. If clearing and cleaning a stockroom is considered a challenge, transforming the dreadful place into a beautiful, functional room would be more of a dream come true. So, I can just imagine the fulfillment that df reader Ina got from the makeover that she did for their mess room. What used to be their official tambakan is now their home office/library/exercise room. Read more about her makeover story here.

Here are some of the things we particularly love about her decorating project:

• Personalized wall décor: framing 5 of the most expensive and powerful Magic the Gathering cards (scanned images only) for her husband
• Random arrangement of wall displays that looks creative and spontaneous (tip: wall frames are from sm homeworld ranging from P200 (small fames) to P600 (large frames for posters)
• Steel file cabinet used as a message board with magnets

Thanks Ina! -ardel

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spacelift: space makeover

Revamped a chair? Redecorated a room? Renovated a house? Show off your before & after projects while you inspire others to improve and space-lift their homes and offices one furniture/room at a time.

Email your before and after photos with a brief description about the project to mydesignfolder@yahoo.com.

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spacelift: major bedroom makeover (part 2)

As I have mentioned in the previous post, an important part of Nina’s bedroom makeover is the conversion of the adjacent bedroom into an integrated walk-in closet (WIC). This allowed her to get rid of the existing closets in her bedroom and make room for a desk (which she did not have before) and an occasional chair.

The room beside Nina’s bedroom used to be her brother’s. When he got married and moved out of the house, the room became the household’s informal space for storage.

Her game plan was simple: work with the existing space, maximize the area for storage, and create provisions that will make it relatively easy for her to maintain the order of the room.

Open cabinets were built onto the four walls. They were constructed above the floor to preserve the existing wood planks and to save on materials (plywood). This strategy also made the room look less cramped in spite of the additional cabinets.

There were 7 types of cabinet spaces in the WIC: 1) adjustable cubicles for folded shirts, 2) spaces for tops (blouses and jackets) on hangers, 2) spaces for bottoms (pants and skirts) on hangers, 3) a space for dresses, 4) adjustable shelves for bags, 5) racks for shoes, 6) drawers for undergarments, accessories and other small items, and 7) shelves for magazines and books. A cushioned seat and full length mirror were also provided to complete the space.

To showcase her collection of designer bags, Nina made them as the focal point of the room and placed them at the side fronting the sliding door. Because she wanted the rooms to feel like a personal boutique, 3W LED directional lamps were installed, instead of the typical recessed CFLs, to highlight the clothes, shoes, and bags. And similar to what many boutiques do, the clothes were sorted according to type and then according to color to make the room visually organized.

See the rest of the photos of Nina’s walk-in closet in the photo gallery below!

Previous: Nina’s bedroom makeover (part 1)

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spacelift: major bedroom makeover (part 1)

“Busy” is not enough to describe this week. At least for me, it’s more of a hell week! Unfortunately, my room is also keeping up with the hell week theme with books, magazines and brown envelopes piled on my desk. Talk about stress!

Unlike me, our friend Nina, is already enjoying a more relaxed after-work life following the recent renovation of her bedroom. From a disorganized (nina, sorry for the description!) pink-and-purple girl’s space (top), her bedroom now sports a fresh and clean image with a dreamy white ensemble.

Her bedroom’s main problem is the lack of storage space to accommodate all of her clothes, shoes, and bags. So, key to finding order in her room is the conversion of the adjacent vacant bedroom into an integrated walk-in closet. She also wanted to update the character of her space into something that’s still fresh, youthful, and feminine but a bit more grown-up.

The existing wall-to-wall built-in closets in both bedrooms (above) were removed and a sliding door was made to provide a direct access from the bedroom to the walk-in closet. What used to be the space occupied by cabinets is now the area for a desk/dresser and an occasional armchair (below).

As for the colors and furnishings, Nina wanted a white room with some gray and lime green accents. To get the look, everything was simplified. The walls (except for the warm grey accent wall) and the ceiling, including the mouldings, were painted in white. The wood flooring was just re-varnished. All furniture pieces, a combination of traditional and contemporary silhouettes, and soft furnishings like the curtains and bed linens, were also in white. Apart from the accent wall, warm and cool grays were introduced through the cotton pillow cases and microfiber blanket, silver wall frames, chrome bedside lamp, and glass table lamp with pleated shades. Lime green and pink were added sparingly through the accents pillows and lime green photos.

See all the photos of the bedroom in the gallery below!

This is just the first part of Nina’s bedroom transformation. On Monday, watch out for the second half of this makeover! {Thanks Nina!}

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spacelift: from stockroom to home office

I can’t believe that it’s already my 6^th year in my graduate course. I breezed through my subjects, finishing all the required units in just three semesters. Why haven’t I graduated??? I haven’t finished my thesis! I already have a topic and have begun doing library work. But all these years, between projects and writing assignments, I didn’t have enough time, energy, and free brain cells to start writing the study.

Now that everything is going very well with my family, I have the option of taking a “partial leave” this semester from design work (of course, I won’t be abandoning existing projects) and limiting writing assignments to maybe two articles per month. This way, I think I can already focus on my research.

To further help me concentrate, I decided to make myself an office/study at the stockroom behind our house. For the longest time, I have been working in the dining area. I have a desk in my bedroom but I feel claustrophobic and sleepy (because of the presence of the bed) working there. Unfortunately, working in the dining area means having to deal with constant distractions and interruptions.

Last Sunday afternoon, I cleaned the stockroom and converted a corner of the room into my office/study. Here’s a list of what I did:

1) ACCENT WALL – I wanted to paint a part of the existing white wall to define my space without using any dividers. Apart from cleaning the room, this was probably the only time-consuming part of the makeover. I initially wanted a bright color like lime green or yellow for the accent wall but decided against it because the color might just cause migraines. Instead, I mixed a dark khaki paint color using white base + burnt umber + black. To make the wall less sleepy, I made a series of slim branches by sticking ½” masking tape before painting the wall.

2) COLOR - After removing the tape, I realized that the white-and-dark khaki combination was too strong for me. To soften the white, I lightly brushed over the patterns with a pale blue-gray paint.

3) OLD FURNITURE + NEW ACCESSORIES – When the paint was completely dry, I positioned my old drafting table, mounted two cork boards on the wall (P88 each from The 88 Store), and brought in the new table lamp which I got for only P795 (from Robinson’s Department Store). I also added a small potted plant where I can stick reminders and to-do lists.

4) CHAIR SLIPCOVER – I didn’t want to spend on a new desk chair. To complete my one-day makeover, I just made a slipcover for an existing monoblock chair using a large scrap fabric.

For this makeover, I only spent around P1,160 for the paint colors (i used my dad’s leftover white latex paint for the base), paint roller, cork boards, and table lamp (the only expensive item).

I already started working in my new workspace yesterday! I just hope that all my efforts will finally lead me to a research proposal by the end of August and to a finished thesis by March. Wish me luck! -ardel

spacelift: searca residence, los banos

Who says that renovations need to be costly and complicated?

In this case, a fresh coat of paint (in the right shade), a better spatial layout, an updated set of furniture and lighting fixtures, and some editing made a huge improvement for the spaces of SEARCA Residence Hotel (SRH) in UP Los Banos, Laguna.

SRH primarily serves as the dormitory housing for SEARCA’s scholars. However, to provide the institution with financial support, SRH also offers hotel accommodations through their 16 executive rooms and 8 economy rooms that were also renovated. Browse through the gallery below to see all the before-and-after photos of the hotel rooms.

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spacelift: from masculine to feminine

Today, I’m working on an article about “gendered designs”. The premise is that there is a noticeable difference between the design of a male architect/interior designer and the design of a female architect/interior designer. Many times (but not always), spaces done by female designers have a certain “softness” in them, while the designs made by male designers appear quite “structured”. Probably, these are natural and unconscious inclinations of both genders. I am not sure, but there must be some scientific explanation to this.

Here’s an example to demonstrate my point. My female friend re-styled this condominium unit originally designed by a male interior designer. The only requirement of the client was to give it an updated, clean look.

Originally, the interiors have a masculine character dominated by dark colors and rigid lines.

When the unit was re-styled, it was a given a brighter look by just adding lots of whites and creams, plus some fresh and personal details.

Together with fine textures and a few streaks of subtle colors, the spaces were given a softer new look without looking too girly or too dainty.

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[Have you given your space (or furniture) a makeover? Share it with us! Email us about it with before and after pictures at mydesignfolder@yahoo.com. ]