SNOOP HAPPY AND GETTING BACK ON TRACK

I finally got my energy back after mom’s funeral last March and launching two stores the past six  months. I also have been working on a few projects in-between while taking care of an eight-month old spoiled schnauzer.

Enough about work! Yes, call me nosy (Thanks to Instagram!), but whether it’s seeking imaginative solutions for updating our own home, checking out how the other half live, or just taking pleasure in a good old snoop, obsessing about other people’s house style is one of the great pastime of modern life.

Today, we have plenty of space to ogle, from the pages of ELLE Decoration to Veranda, Domino and House Beautiful. There’s a modern riverside apartment, which layers pattern and color on to a blank canvas, creating  the ultimate in urban glamour to bungalows that are in perfect pitch with the owners’ lifestyle.

My parents always tells me to be myself and the same holds true in your home – be honest about what you love because it is always important to be charmed and seduced by where you live. I definitely agree!

(My apartment always smells good – eucalyptus and Frangipani are two of my favorite scents.)

Previously, I used to use colors quiet forcefully, but now, as I’ve grown up, I realize that less is more.

HOLD ON AS I DROOL WHILE FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES OF THE WALLPAPER* CITY GUIDE MANILA

Southeast Asia’s underrated capital and most progressive art and design hub is slowly paving its way to becoming a regional and  international design destination.

Fast forward, we’re finally on the map, thanks to The Wallpaper* City Guide Manila.

Carefully written and curated by Cheryl Tiu and Kissa Castañeda-McDermott,  it packs 65 beautifully shot photos and recommendations on our city in 103 pages, from art and design to dining.

Whether he/she has a week or 24 hours in the city, this perfect travel companion cover landmark buildings like the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), towering Discovery PRIMEA, design centers like Avellana Gallery (A11) in Pasay for a dose of Filipino contemporary art, and the best shops to buy items unique to Manila, like FIRMA in Paranaque.

And who said Manila’s all about selfies and hour long traffic? Think Sau Paolo.

THE KOOPLES

black + white + Impeccable tailoring + great ingenuity = The Kooples




And oh, I want that black Kooples tote!

CREATIVITY AND AN EXTRA WHITE WALL

Eviana Hartman and her partner, Claire’s Brooklyn studio, the designers behind Bodkin,a women’s collection that brings to clothing the mission of architectural modernism.




(Photos from Childhood flames)

If only my workspace was this nice, I’d be working overtime daily.

RETRO, CRISPA, CAN I HAVE A BANANA?

I enjoy rediscovering great retro furniture and how it still looks fantastic today.

Yesterday while doing my usual boring lazy weekend rounds, I thought of dropping by Artemis 1995 nearby.

What caught my attention were the retro designed floor lamps inspired by impressions of the 70s and the evocation of the design sensibility that marked the period.


(Crispa by BeLight)

I have always been a fan of modern designs inspired by the past and BeLight did a great job.

The lamps stand around 5ft tall with a painted metal stand and a wire-framed shade wrapped in fabric and are ideal for armchair reading, for the bedroom providing mood lighting. The construction spotlights Filipino craftsmanship in hand-made metalwork.


(Copa Banana by BeLight)

BeLight is the brainchild of Gerry Lopez-Vito Torres, architect and the Dean of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts and Chicoy Estiñoso.

MOVING OUT AND ROISIN MURPHY

I’m finally moving out of my pad next month and moving in to a new space nearby with my sister. I want to keep my space simple, artsy chic (probably a mini art gallery ) and spacious with a couple of key pieces ( Vintage finds from Cubao Expo, Evangelista and Retiro). An easy way to liven up your wall is to put all your favorite pictures into little clip frames and then group them together.


The image above from Danielle de Lange shows a great selection of simple photo frames with black and white photos. Ikea in Makati, the Landmark, Rustans and Dimensione sells a good selection of frames.

Side note: currently listening to Night of the dancing flame. Roisin Murphy is love!

ON RETAIL AND VINTAGE BIKES

If only mom allowed me to leave for the US for my easter 3 week design and pattern making scholarship at PSD,NY Last year, everything’s sweeter now.

Anywaay – I’m still keeping the FAITH!

( What I'm wearing : Shirt from Hanes, Jacket from E-bay, Jeans from Viktors, lace-ups from Tyler)

I daydream about working as boutique owner at a place like Barcelona or probably Soho. It's the kind of job I think I could be really good at, though I'm sure the pay is crap, but I still daydream, it sure is a goal-attainable dream. (At least, not with my overpriced tiny pad.)

I don’t want to drive a car, I don’t like cars (weird huh) I am contended being a passenger, yeah – just a passenger. I have simple dreams. I just want to own a Bike, a vintage bike. I dream of going to work in shorts, espadrilles and a well tailored dress shirt.

I'm starting to think that sadness is like a bad infection that can take root and turn lots of things to rot around you. It seems to be hanging on some people’s life right now, like a spot on the floor that can't be scrubbed out. I am definitely not the type.

IMELDA PROJECT

I love creating and hate the EMPTY FEELING WHEN IT IS DONE.

Happily, my New Diversion has begun! And, can I just affirm that there is seldom such a rush as getting myself a new pad of acid free art paper - big repositories just waiting to fill up. I thought the doodling all my stuff would be mostly la la work, but it has been something very different – something I really am enjoying so far.As I create Imelda, it really takes me back months, or years, to when I actually created an ugly Imelda, and some of the material feels really raw all over again. As I'm re creating them, I've been re-viewing things and if I think of something now that is so much more effective than when I originally created it. I know some artist think that kind of do-over is scandalous, as though the first draft is the purest form of artistic expression, but I've always thought that was crap. The emotion is purest in the first draft, but sometimes the emotion damages my ability to express it. So, I think there's a lot to be said for reflection some time later, and a willingne ss to fine-tune creation that may have suffered in the first go-round. Since I'mdoing this sort of re-creating, the process is taking longer than it would if I were simply churning them through my word processor. But, I think that's okay, since the end results are so much improved.

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Artwork above by me

colored pencil on acid free paper

stuff you do when you're bored. Me, Meldie and my 10 year old Prismas