Real Living Space

Hot on the heels of their “warehouse sale” last Summer, SM Homeworld is holding another sale, from now until August 31.

Up for grabs: Family Home bed linen (above) with discounts up to 30%, as well as reduced prices on selected Sunnex kitchenware, Hanabishi appliances (oh how very early 90s!), Biencarlo decor and more. Visit the Homeworld section of an SM Department store near you. (Photos by Jun Pinzon, pictorial direction by Coni Tejada)

Dapitan is a budget shopping area Real Living has revisited every year or so. Tucked in a quiet area within Quezon City (and near Manila), this covered palengke/tiangge of home finds always has new surprises whenever we come back. And people always flock to the place to score uber-cheap ceramic ware and plates. Like these found in the first stall up front—I was able to get the robins-egg-blue saucers here for about P20 apiece.

Amongst the stalls that sell faux leather storage bins (a must-have at only P500 a pop, compared to the usual P1,000 plus in the malls), there was this stall that sold raffia food covers for P120 apiece. They also carried these lovely bunches of faux roses (though you can get the real deal for much cheaper at Dangwa a few streets down).

And this Dapitan is the secret place to buy caterer’s gold Tiffany chairs! Though this classic stool would make a lovely seat for a girl’s boudoir.

And some of the best finds ever—these cool Fornasetti-style cups!

Find out where these stalls are located and learn more about Dapitan in the Shopping section of the August issue of Real Living, out now. (Photos by Jun Pinzon, pictorial direction by Coni Tejada)

Yes, almost every cash-strapped homeowner in our little country is wishing for IKEA. When, oh when, dear rich local tycoons will you bring in this???

Well it just so happened that my friend Dish About Design sent me these adorable handtowels (she has a cool design blog too, check it out)…

Upon closer inspection of the tag, these were done by Cape Town-based artist Heather Moore, and if you read the tag, it appears that South Africa shares the same hankering with us Pinoys, as it seems that they have no IKEA store there as well. (We have, at least, IKEA “resellers” in every town.)

If you look closely, the tea towel is decorated with illustrations of Heather’s favorite IKEA furniture. I, for one, own the shelf unit illustrated in the upper left hand of the towel.
Now I have a hankering for IKEA whenever I wipe my dishes dry. To see more of Heather’s work, click here. Thank you, Dish, I am loving my towels very much.

Heima has finally opened its second store at LRI Design Plaza on Nicanor Reyes Ave. Makati. (The original store is at Cubao X—er, Cubao Expo pala) The second store promises more of Heima’s familiar, happily-hued, upbeat furnishings. I won’t say more, just check out these images from their cool catalog…

…and their newly-opened LRI store!

I’ve been loving the stuff that specialty home accessory shop Quirks has been putting out recently. Most are on-spot with the cute/flora/fauna trend these days. And almost all are very price-friendly. Case in point, tweet-tweet…

This adorable Hook Sparrow costs a mere P545. And what about when Autumn leaves begin to fall (sorry I can’t help it)…

They’re actually door stoppers, P550 each. These came in the nick of time when interiors have begun slipping from “New Pretty” to just plain droll. Visit Quirks at Stall 320-a, Level R3 at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati.

We’ve been loving all things from Negros recently (you’ll see why in a couple of weeks), so it’s no surprise that Negrense online store Domesticity caught our eye. Aside from selling very tasteful Asian-inspired home accessories and furnishings mostly made of woven pandan with cute clay accents, they run a politically correct business too—Negros-based Domesticity employs the wives and family members of their sugar workers. Here’s a sampler of the (very reasonably-priced!) goods for sale:

They have few pieces of furniture, but most of them I like! Esp this Retro Stool (P5,500) in gold pandan and faux leather. Very 1940s-Hollywood! It’ll look good paired with a vintage dresser …

…their home accessories are amazing, such as the tableware, like these disco-fab Warhol Coasters in gold, nice price too (only P55 each)…

…ditto for the silver Warhol Tray (P700)!

And I so love their charming selection of gifts, such as these Pandan Notebooks (P370) with Oriental cabinet accent…

…and their romantic Tassel Bookmarks (P105 each), which remind me of stuff I’ve seen in tiny Shanghai shops.

They sell spa kits and oriental tea, too. Click here to see more Domesticity products and to order online. (Images from the Domesticity website. Thank you, Tish, for the lead.)

I caught RL creative director Gwyn and new mommy Topaz Horizon huddled together over this new Multiply site: Nu Dekor Wall Stickers. I know a lot of you are dying to find affordable and versatile wall stickers (and believe me it is hard to find ones that are easy on the pocket!!!), but Nu Dekor is just right. I esp love their fun designs, just right for kids, but not too “kiddy”…

…they have wonderful glow-in-the-dark patterns, too!

…and this one was captioned as: “Goes with any decor!”

Check it out. They have several pick up points around the metro.

If you haven’t been living under a rock, then you’ve probably heard of artist, heritage-fanatic, and multi-talented Manila tour guide Carlos Celdran and his Walk This Way tours. We actually featured Carlos and his lovely wife Tesa’s home in Real Living way back in November 2004. Here are a few pics of that shoot…

Aside from hosting and organizing assorted art events and performances at The Living Room at The Syquia Apartments, Carlos practically turned local guided tours from boring history lesson and tourist trap to a social commentary/performance art/non-fuddy-duddy must-do activity regardless if you were a white foreigner or full-blooded Pinoy. Carlos’ most famous and frequently-attended tour is his “If These Walls Could Talk” Intramuros Tour, so it is but fitting that he opened a gift shop tucked right within the walls of Intramuros itself, called La Monja Loca, which has been open for about a year or so.

“La Monja Loca” actually means “The Crazy Nun,” (ask me another time for the explanation, folks). This little shop carries items that run the gamut from Team Manila t-shirts, bayong totes, tabako coasters, and Imelda terno bags, postcards of Old Manila to actual anting-antings from Quiapo—all references to Pinoy history, pop culture, kitsch, and silly superstitions. Here is a sampling of the stuff on sale (with some actual bomb shells you can use as found-object or doorstop as well):

It’s an interesting stop after visiting Manila Cathedral, San Agustin, or Casa Manila (it’s actually near there). And much like Carlos’s tours, I feel the entire shop is a social commentary of sorts on the richness—and craziness—of the Philippines.

La Monja Loca is located at Unit 3a, Plaza San Luis, Calle Real, Intramuros, Manila, text tel. 0920-9092021 for inquiries. Thank you Pierra, for dragging me along that lazy Saturday, and sorry Carlos, for barging into your store unannounced and publishing all this without your permission—I’m sure you won’t mind, dear. Have a safe Holy Week, guys. (Real Home photos by Albert Labrador)

It seems that with the internet/virtual age, there is this hankering for all things old school, namely paper—who uses paper nowadays, aside from using it to print documents on?

Well I stumbled upon a friend’s new website, Peek-a-Boo Paper, a Multiply site where you can buy all sorts of specialty paper sheets which she sourced from her travels around the world. You can use them for wrapping if you wish, but how can you tear up something so pretty? So you have the option of buying them as a framed wall accent! Check these out:

Or you can buy them in loose sheets—lovely as wall accents, or you can decoupage them on an old wooden furniture piece or screen…

I esp love the heart, cherry and geometric designs! Log on to http://peekaboopaper.multiply.com.

Yup, that’s where I ended up last Friday—at the brand new Howards Storage World at Robinsons Ermita. Now being a basurera at heart, proper storage containers have become sorta like the Holy Grail for me, because most of them look boring, and whenever I visit the specialty stores here, one peek always makes me fall asleep.

Not so with the Aussie-based Howards Storage, because they have a wide variety of container and organizer designs and colors at friendly prices. Look at these throw-everything-in-it bins in jelly hues…

…oh and I love their catch-all baskets in sophisticated architectural shades—charcoal, lemon yellow and celery…

…and a wide variety of bathroom accessories; I especially love their pellet-flecked toothbrush holders and tumblers, the surface looks like pebble wash…

…of course I stocked up on lots of hangers—these foam and velvet-flocked one keep evening dresses from slipping off. Affordable too—these start at P179 for a pack.

What I wanted to get were these knobby hooks. They start at P899, and the best thing about it is that you can paint the balls over in candy colors to look like one of those Charles Eames coat hooks!

Howards Storage World is located the the 3rd floor of Robinsons Ermita, Midtown wing, Manila.