Design Folder: Your Online Design and Decorating Resource

photography: hallie burton

When looking at photos of interior spaces, I’m often drawn to the ones that look natural and effortless—no forced artistic angles, no fancy treatments. I’m no expert in interior photography, but my guess is that this kind of look is relatively difficult to achieve, much like the no-makeup makeup.

I think Australian photographer Hallie Burton does a great job achieving this. She has a way of capturing the character of the space and making each shot look poetic without trying too hard.

Her shots have a good balance of light and shadow that complements the design of the interior space. Modern spaces look bright, clean, and crisp. Earthy interiors have a more dramatic treatment, with just the right amount of shade and shadow to make the different textures pop. The more colorful contemporary homes get a “happy” kind of lighting that’s not too bright, just enough to flatter the colors and make the spaces look fresh and cheerful.

Hope these eye candies will inspire you for the rest of the week. df

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photography: morten holtum

While going through the links of Joanna’s guest post yesterday, I stumbled upon the portfolio of Danish photographer Morten Holtum. His interior shots are just beautiful! The featured interiors look clean, natural, spontaneous, and effortless. But I bet, it takes a lot of technical knowledge, a good eye for composition, and major editing of the spaces (from the end of the stylist) to come up with these images.

See the rest of his photos here.

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space matters: living room + classroom

It’s amusing how one can alter an experience by simply changing the physical features and appearance of the setting. I think this approach towards space makes it possible for The Living Room Photography Studios to provide an unconventional experience in taking up photography and in “classroom” learning.

Their casual and colorful interiors take out any possible snootiness related with studio photography, while their fun classroom setup makes learning much more interesting and enjoyable especially for the busy and maybe not-so-curious adults.

The Living Room is a fun, laidback, and non-intimidating environment where anyone who’s interested in photography is encouraged to take up lessons and to practice their skills in studio photography. I love how the interior spaces are designed to look like a home. The warm appearance of the spaces makes someone who doesn’t know much about photography feel comfortable and at ease. You don’t have to worry that someone would make fun of you if you don’t know the meaning of SLR!

Apart from photography lessons, the studio is also made available for small-group seminars and workshops on just about any topic under the sun. They call these series of workshops The Classroom. But don’t be deceived by the name. Their classes are definitely not your usual boring lectures in school. Following the concept of The Living Room, The Classroom encourages people to learn something new—a new hobby, a new creative skill, or a new knowledge just to satisfy the curious mind.

Depending on the class, the lecture area could be arranged like a typical classroom with tables, chairs, and writing board (above), or it could be set like a lounge area, by folding up the cantilevered tables (so cool!) and adding a sofa and a couple of side chairs, for a more casual group discussion (below).

Recently, they had classes on the basics of poker with VJ Sianghio, storytelling with shapes with Dan Matutina, and how to console a broken heart with Mahar Mangahas. I told you, they have classes on anything and everything under the sun!

The Living Room is located along P. Guevarra St. in San Juan. For information on their rates, visit their website here. To learn more about the quirky classes in The Classroom, check their website here.

*all images via the living room/the classroom facebook pages here and here.

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objects of design: x-ray art

I really admire British photographer Nick Veasey’s works. There are a few other artists who also excel in X-ray photography but no one brings out the inner beauty of the familiar like he does. In his own words, at his official site, he explains how he counters our society’s obsession with superficiality by “highlighting the, often surprising, inner beauty.” I especially like his X-ray photos of plants and flowers which we’re sharing with you here. But he has more wonderful projects like X-ray images of people, animals, toys, machines and even Jimmy Choo shoes at www.nickveasey.com.

Watch out for our exciting posts next week on this year’s winners of Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE), interior design category. Have a great weekend!

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! )

objects of design: photo walls

Here’s another way to spruce up your space: create photo walls.

Photo walls make a good focal point and can immediately add character to your room.

You can opt to mix and match different materials to make it more interesting.

Make use of panoramic photos and create a completely different effect.

Or add accessories and display the frames like art pieces for an instant art gallery. -ana

*photos via fffound, design sponge and domino

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}

we’re back!

 ”bird on the wing”

Happy Easter everyone!

Green Guide and I just got back from Sagada early this morning. It was a physically challenging trip to say the least (especially for someone like me who doesn’t do a lot of physical activity).

Sagada is beautiful! Plus, the Igorot culture is so interesting. I’ll be sharing pictures of the trip later this week. For now, I’d like to have a lingering moment with nature through these pretty photos from english apple‘s “the secret life of plants” set:

“gently enveloped”

“moss eye drops”

“hope”

“lollipops”

Check out the rest of the set here.

Have a happy week!

*All photos via english apple’s Flickr photostream

i saw design: heirloom giveaway update

 

diy tips: plan & coordinate your own wedding

I know it’s nearly impossible for many “modern brides” to personally take care of the wedding from planning down to the event itself. Having a lot in their hands, juggling career, family and graduate school (for some) altogether, they don’t have a choice but to hire a wedding planner/coordinator.

However, there are still couples who do it the old way and do the planning and coordinating themselves. My “oldest” friend Shar (we have been friends since kindergarten!) and her husband Jolly prove that it is possible. Shar is a career woman herself but she managed to pull everything off with the help of (then fiance) Jolly, her supportive family, and her talented friends (yihee!).

The thing that I appreciate the most about DIY weddings is that they feel more intimate and personal because everyone has a part to play in making the event memorable.

Here are Shar’s Tips for a DIY Wedding:

1. Own it! – Consistent with our personalities, we wanted to go for an intimate and personalized wedding celebration.  That’s why we tried, as much as possible, to incorporate a personal touch to the wedding details. If we were to put a name to our theme, it would be quirky DIY + organized chaos. Haha! Our idea was to make everything appear as if we personally made everything. We did not want anything too structured or too formal.  For instance, for the flowers and table setting, we wanted the arrangements to have the hand-picked look, as if we just went out for a walk and picked the flowers from a garden nearby.

2. Small is beautiful. – One of the most challenging parts in planning the wedding was to keep the guest list short. We wanted a small wedding to be consistent with the “personal and intimate” concept. We had only 120 guests so the venue choices—the small chapel at the Archbishop’s Palace for the ceremony and the Valle Verde Clubhouse for the reception—were just perfect.

3.  Be realistic. – We set a limit for our wedding expenses. In spite of this, we managed to include all the features to make the wedding perfect. My point is, you can work within your budget and still achieve great results as long as you know where to save and splurge on and when to be creative.

4.  Get the help of talented friends. – You’ll be surprised that your friends are more than willing to help. We had unconventional, handmade invitations. Our friend Yasmin made the sketches that fill the front of the invites. The ink and watercolor “doodles” were illustrations of the most sentimental items and events in our relationship (images above; know more about them here). Apart from the invitations, we also used Yasmin’s sketches for the thank you cards and table numbers.  It’s quite expensive to have things like these customized. So, if you have creative friends, take advantage!

5. Think out of the box. – We originally wanted a garden wedding but we did not want to worry about rain ruining everything we planned for. So, we decided to go indoors and make design details more, uh… organic, so that the garden feeling is still there.

6.  Be organized. – Call me OC but most of the wedding details were organized in an excel file! This kept me sane during the whole process. On top that, my excel files were particularly helpful when I was delegating “wedding work”. We got the help of our family and friends to do the wedding coordination during the day itself. I simply sent them the “to do” lists complete with schedule and contact persons.

7. Have fun! – In the end, it’s all about you and your partner. So, do not stress over the minor mishaps. Besides, the imperfections do add in making the event more memorable. You have something to laugh about afterwards.