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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!}

[View with PicLens]

space matters: mau’s eco-elegant design

“Design to inspire” is the prevailing theme of Maureen Grace De Jesus’s winning entry for MADE 2010, Interior Design category. Entitled “Eco-elegant Sustainable Future”, Mau tapped on the recent Ondoy catastrophe to create an interior space that could motivate people to rethink their lifestyle towards becoming more environment-friendly.

One thing noticeable is the recurring use of trees as the inspiration for her design elements. “One reason why we suffer from the adverse effects of global warming is the continuous depletion of our rainforests. My design intends to inspire people to take action against global warming by protecting our trees and our forests,” Mau explains.

The caption “Only God can make a tree” from a poem by Joyce Kilmer and the painted silhouette of a tree by the living area are two strong images that one would see upon entering the space. Apart from tree-related symbols, Mau also integrated the use of recycled wood in her design as a greener alternative. The wall behind the statement is clad in old wood that were salvaged from a junk shop. The tracery panels partially covering the lighting fixtures at the ceiling are discarded old callado panels from Mau’s home. To decorate the interiors, Mau made paintings that feature trees as the subject. Bringing everything together is the use of the color green for the walls to further emphasize the idea.

Apart from taking home the grand prize, Mau says that she also learned more about environmental design through her participation in the contest. “MADE gave me an opportunity to reflect on the issue and translate it into an elegant and comfortable interior space,” Mau shares. This resulting space is her expression of how it is to design and live with nature. {Thanks Mau!}

*photos courtesy of Federal Land

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space matters: made to be green

Now on its 26^th year, Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE), an annual competition of Metrobank Foundation Inc., has been giving recognition to up and coming Filipinos in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture and interior design.

For the past years, MADE highlighted environmental design as the theme for both the architecture and interior design categories to inspire and raise awareness on how environmental issues could be addressed in design. I am proud to say that two of the past winners in the interior design category are our friends from college—April Frigillana (2008 Grand Prize) and Pauline Cuevas (2009 Special Prize).

April’s design entitled “Nature’s Links” (top and above) integrated creative recycling, reusing, and repurposing in her design. Read more about her design here.

On the other hand, Pauline’s “Cool Chic” concept took a fresh approach on sustainable design. Apart from featuring green design strategies, she also made an effort to make her design (below) look and feel young, hip and current to make it more relevant and appealing to the younger generation. “I want to bestow a fresh and young feel to the [interiors], hence the use of lively colors. Sustainable design doesn’t have to be boring,” she explains. More on here design here.

Apparently, one of this year’s winners in the ID category also happens to be a good friend! Will be sharing his winning design tomorrow. -ardel

*images via metrobank foundation inc.

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: 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!

art swap

The past couple of months have been very busy that I almost forgot about the art swap!

Initially, I was planning to send two “interior designer” items: a watercolor drawing and a handmade coffee-stained pillowcase. The bad news is that the pillowcase is still sitting on my desk, waiting for the remaining 30% of the needlework to be finished. Because I don’t want my dear Ning to wait any longer, I’m just sending two watercolor renderings instead, which can readily fit in an 8″ x 10″ frame.

Long before I learned Sketchup and became accustomed to making photo montage perspectives in Photoshop, I made my illustrations manually using pen&ink for the line drawings, watercolor for rendering, and colored pencils for highlighting/shading. I learned this multimedia trick from my all-time mentor Lilli (yihee!) way back in college.

Above is a drawing of the Philippine Bahay na Bato for a class in Architecture when I was in 2nd year college, while the one below is an interior rendering for my third Space Starters article back in 2005.

Right now, my package is on its way to Ning who’s in Indonesia. I hope it will reach her very soon.

Lilli, Ana, hope you can mail your art swap packages too! -ardel

july daily reads

Whenever I’m hit by the Procrastinating Bug, I go find something inspiring to bring me back to my working, thinking, designing mode. For this purpose, my flickr contacts have been very helpful.

This July, instead of design blogs, we are featuring six Flickr Photostreams for df’s Daily Reads. These are from my flickr contact list that are packed with photos which will surely encourage you to create, decorate, and make something beautiful for your space.

Here’s a quick preview of our July list:

day in the studio from artpropelled,

tilly & tommy elephants from retro_mama,

one of those moments from penwren,

my helper from fallon akers,

my studio from dottie angel,

and black wall from the happy home

Enjoy! -ardel

*top photo via dottie angel

space matters: black walls

I find it funny that most of us are scared of using two particular colors (or technically, non-colors) liberally: white and black. With regards to white, I understand that maintenance issues keep us from using it all the way, with the dust and pollution that may turn our white rooms into gray. Apart from that, there’s the Filipino’s horror vacui, fearing that an all white room may just look too empty, boring and clinical. I guess Ana’s post of on white rooms sort of debunked that claim.

How about black?

In my five years of writing for three of mega’s design/decorating magazines, I have never encountered an interior where black was used generously, especially for the walls. Maybe it’s a cultural thing–that black for us is just too depressing, negative, and even devilish.

I find black to be an interesting color for interior spaces. Like white, it’s versatile. It can be ultra modern, contemporary, and even traditional. Plus, it adds a certain mysterious character to the room.

Just make sure that when you use black for your walls, you use a paint with a satin or eggshell finish. Semi-gloss paint still has some sheen that will make your black wall look dirty instead of the bold, solid appearance that you’re aiming for.

So, how about we give black a chance? -ardel

*images via little.green (top & bottom) and xJavierx

style shopping: wine story

Because of their taste and the immediate dizziness that I get from them, I’m not a fan of alcoholic beverages except for the sweet and highly diluted mimosa (with lots of orange juice). In spite of that, I have always been intrigued by the culture behind wine. You can count me as a wine ignorant until I got the assignment to cover Wine Story, a new wine shop in Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Established by the same company behind Healthy Options, Wine Story is definitely not your usual wine store. Unlike other shops that simply sell wines, Wine Story is like your one-stop shop for everything about wine. On top of their wide selection of wines, they also carry crystal wares, wine books and tasting diaries for those wine aficionados. 

What primarily sets it apart from other stores is that it only carries high-end wines with Bordeaux being their specialty. Compared to common table wines, I was told that the high-end ones boast of a more complex taste. Their bottles are displayed like how one would display diamond jewelries—showcased in a lighted glass case (bottom photo) which, in their case, also functions as a cellar.

Because their bottles are pricey (if I remember correctly, the least expensive bottle is at Php 5,000), they allow their clients to “preview” some of their selections before settling on a bottle. Their 32-bottle enomatic machines or automatic wine dispensers (top photo) make wine tasting look and feel so high-tech. A small LED panel (above) displays the characteristic of each wine and the prices per glass. For wine enthusiasts and wine newbies alike, this feature also makes it possible to enjoy different wines without spending a fortune.

To complement its high-end identity, the store’s interior, designed by interior designer Nicky Magcase, features top of the line materials and finishes to give the brand an equally luxurious image. -ardel

space matters: tiny apartment transformer

Here’s a design riddle for you: how do you fit 24 rooms in a 30-square meter space?

Change the walls to make the small space transform in 24 different ways!

This was the concept behind the design of this apartment. By incorporating moving walls and foldable components, Architect Gary Chang of Hong Kong has definitely made the most out of his small space. See for yourself in the video above.

The “one space fits all” idea is not new to us. The bahay kubo demonstrates a simple version of this concept where one space is used as a living,  dining, and a sleeping area by folding, unfolding, removing, and adding furnishings. However, Chang’s design incorporates more sophisticated strategies and components to suit today’s complex lifestyle.

I wonder if in the near future this would become the standard, as we see more and more condos being built in the city. I doubt it, though, because it would still be relatively expensive locally. Pricey steel tracks and lightweight wall systems were used for ease of movement. But Chang’s solutions are definitely ingenious.

Check out his other project The Suitcase House Hotel which used a similar design concept.