Real Living Space

It’s only March and it’s sweltering already. I always bring a UV umbrella when I’m out walking even if I look an ee-diot because I burn easily. I hate using umbrellas during the rainy season, though, because I’m a wee bit taller than other girls so their umbrella prongs almost always hit me in the eye.

Oddly enough, for a country that really needs umbrellas all the time, Pinoys aren’t really big on style when it comes to umbrellas. The stuff I see in the department stores is so pangit (though check out Watsons once in a while—sometimes they have cute ones). Now I just love this Marimekko umbrella:

But how about market umbrellas for our gardens and patios? The ones out there sadly look like they belong in a market. But Gwyn and I saw these recently in Living Well, Podium (so sorry! Teeny weeny pic):

They’re actually Martha Stewart Lawn & Garden collection umbrellas. If my eyes tell me right, I believe they cost P2,750 each. Pricey, but quite refreshing since it comes in really cute patterns and colors like khaki stripes, melon patterns, even botanical patterns!

My brother just got my mom a digital photo frame (I’m assuming he got it on one of his forays to the Sharper Image, his personal black hole). Mom loves it because my brother loaded it with looping files of his kids.

Meanwhile, I’m more old-fashioned and would prefer that my photos not loop every six seconds. This is where Insights comes in. They provide image design consultancy not only in terms of image manipulation, editing, enhancement, and enlarging, but with how to frame and decorate your wall with it as well. Now putting loads of framed photos in stark modern homes is always kinda iffy, especially if your frames are too ornate, but what Insights did to these clean-lined interiors is pretty cool. Take a look:

They do other styles as well, and they make sure it matches your interiors. Give them a ring at (02) 645-5063 or email insightsdesign@gmail.com.

I spent the Holy Week crying out “OMG,” not for any religious reasons, but because I was overwhelmed by the monumental task of cleaning my room. I suppose it was a form of penitensya that I had to sort through all my stuff, deciding what to put into my repainted cabinets. Part of me thinks it’s an exercise in futility since we’ll be moving in a matter of months anyway; might as well just leave everything where it was, and pack up when it’s time to go. But I cannot live in a messy room. And so my free days were spent cleaning up.

First task was sorting through the mountain of clothes that our trusty helper, Winnie, dumped onto a banig in the middle of the room. (No idea why she chose to remove them from the maletas.) A few months ago, I got rid of clothes I wasn’t using anymore, but I think I did it half-heartedly. This time, I swore to be ruthless. I had three piles: to keep, to dump, and to store (for sentimental reasons).

In my “to keep” pile, I threw in clothes that I often use…or at least, that was the plan. I told myself to just hang onto stuff I really love, but to be honest, I kept a few “pwede na” items. So much for being ruthless. All these found their way back into my closet.

In my “to dump” pile, I threw in stuff that I hadn’t used in years, and things that were overused (pambahay boxer shorts that have bacon garters, for example). This time, I decided to let go of stuff that I had been holding onto simply because they were gifts from friends. I used to feel guilty about letting go of gifts, but I’ve realized that other people can benefit from them more than I ever could.

My “to store” pile had sentimental items like my old school uniform, a cheerleader’s uniform, a top from a fashion show (to remind me that, once upon a time, I could actually model a swimsuit! Sigh). I also included thermal underwear and sweaters, because I don’t think I’ll be traveling anywhere wintry in the next couple of months.

I then moved on to my bags. I did get rid of quite a few, but the bag portion of my closet is still pretty stuffed. I guess I wasn’t all that ruthless. But I’m getting there.

Also, my lola’s (may she rest in peace) old room has been repainted and cleared of clutter. It’s got a mini-walk-in closet that is now free of boxes. I hung my special-occasion dresses there, and some other things I don’t use that often. It’s a pretty nice room, more spacious than mine, and I would really consider transferring there. If only I weren’t afraid of mumu.

I know this entry may sound two years too late, but I watched the Il Mare VCD Jenny lent me over the long weekend. For those not in the know, Il Mare (Korean title: Siworae) is the original version of that sappy 2006 Sandra Bullock/Keanu Reeves flick The Lake House. I’m too tamad to give you the synopsis, but if you want to know, just click to read it here.

I was one of the unlucky people who watched the

I’d also like to point out that the lake house in the Korean version is better than the US one. It’s this stark, industrial-modern structure on a lean pier, a beautiful box in the midst of a lonely body of water. It’s designed to emphasize the whole isolation aspect of the movie—cross that boardwalk and you’re all alone. There are shots in the movie wherein you can see the low, horizontal bands of windows in Jung’s room, so that when he wakes up (he sleeps on a futon), the lake is the first thing he sees. Here it is:

Now here is the US version of the lake house. It’s this overwrought, Frank Lloyd Wright-ish fantasy on stilts. Plus, it’s all glass, so at night, it’s like Keanu’s on show—you see everything he’s doing from the street—which sorta works against the whole loneliness aspect of the story.

I guess the production designer had different ideas, and the US one would’ve probably worked in another aspect, but I don’t like it. What do you think?  

In the ladies’ restroom in Greenbelt 3, near the movie houses, lurks the Bathroom Nazi. I’ve encountered her several times. This tall, thin, stony-faced bathroom attendant only appears right before the Last Full Show, just in time to receive the crush of bathroom-goers from the second-to-the-last-screening. Like Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi, Greenbelt’s Bathroom Nazi is unforgiving; she closes off numerous toilet stalls, blocking them with trashcans, and waving away bathroom patrons so she can clean the toilet bowls. She bodily forces the bathroom patrons to fall into a single line along the rest of the few remaining stalls, even when they’re complaining. When she’s done cleaning each stall, she does a little wave of her hand before the automatic sensor for one last flush before she walks away.

Which brings me to the topic of automatic bathroom fixtures. I’ve always had mixed feelings about going automatic; taking into consideration a few clients in the past have actually asked to have them installed at home. Automatic faucets seem water-conserving and sanitary in public toilets, but in residential bathrooms? I find them a bit antiseptic, albeit kinda tamad. Aside from that, a lot of automatic faucets look like this:

Though other automatic faucets from Dexterton look pretty OK, quite an improvement:

But for me, nothing beats the feel of turning a tap or raising a lever to get clean, germs on the handles be damned. Automatic faucets? I say leave them in the public restroom where the Bathroom Nazi stays.

It takes two to three years for an industrial design or home trend to hit our shores commercially. Really. Stuff you see in the big stores have made waves elsewhere seasons ago (case in point: neo-Baroque and all those damask prints). A lot of homeowners think Zen-Asian is in. Though I say, whatever floats your boat—it’s your house, anyway.

So I’ll give you a heads up and fill you in with what’s going on recently in home accessories (gauging from the stuff I read anyway)—it’s collage and decoupage with a hint of surrealism. The look is very cabinet-of-curiosities, very vintage looking, but with an edge. They are mostly disturbing, but beautiful. Case in point, these paper products by 8mm (available at paper studio):

It’s also happening in art. Here’s an Ann Wizer work on the children of Loring Street from Galleria Duemila’s latest exhibit in Pasay, “Living on Loring”, which runs until March 31:

Thankfully, I’ve seen a few products on the local front. I love these papier mache boxes from Peninsulare et al Corp (so sorry I don’t have the contacts! To follow soon)…

…and these beautiful decoupaged lampshades at AC+632 in Greenbelt 5.

These pieces look good in either an eclectic or a super-sleek, all-neutral home, and adds that much-needed witty bite to a room. Galleria Duemila is located at 210 Loring Street, Pasay City; AC+632 is at the third level of Greenbelt 5 in Makati City.

I’ve been attending all those design and trade fairs since college—and God, college was such a long time ago. After all those years, one thing remains constant in these building fairs: the crazy scramble to the registration desks. I liken this mad melee just to enter the fair to EDSA at rush hour on an especially bad day. This time, at the 2008 Worldbex, I had forgotten to bring my exhibitor’s ID, so I patiently waited in line with the visitors and industry professionals. I tried my luck at a counter with a sign that said “Press” since Real Living is one of the media partners of Worldbex this year. I was greeted at the counter by this headless chicken of an event coordinator who said that I had to get my press ID from a special “Press” room, which he pointed to the corner. So I calmly walked to the corner room, and when I opened the door, it was a…bodega.

Aside from this doozy, there were other doozies at the fair, for example:

Now I don’t mind seeing promo girls standing in front of booths, but dancing in front of the booths is another thing.

But I think this Worldbex was better than the last. There were some new products, and old standbys who thankfully got more prominent booth locations, instead of being relegated to a wall. One of my favorites is HM Trading, the purveyor of all indigenous finishing materials. Yes, they can do the old school Filipiniana look, but not a lot of lay people know about their resin-infused laminates made out of sliced and crushed bamboo, cut reeds, and even laminated termite nests. These laminates make really nice contemporary surfaces, and you can apply it to anything, from accent walls to furniture. A 2×2ft area of their Cirkulo laminate costs about P1,110 up.

Oh and I LOVE the Chan C. Brothers booth:

Now Chan C. Brothers have been known forever as the maker of aluminum and steel frames for lights, windows, etc. (yes, Bench’s Ben Chan is part of their family), but they have branched out to other finishes and home fixtures. Their booth focused on Ivi bathroom products. The UK-based company carries very sleek, modern, organic fixtures without the designer pricetag. Love the pieces. Prices start at P8,000.

Definitely worth a look. So whether you’re in the trade or a homeowner, check it out. Worldbex runs until March 16, 10am to 8pm, at the World Trade Center in Pasay. Here’s a tip: to make the registration faster and more bearable, bring a calling card with complete info.

I just found out that one of the most iconic images in France, if not the world, will undergo a dramatic facelift very soon. Serero Architectes, a Paris-based design, architecture, and research group whose past projects include buildings and urban planning in La Defense, will erect a temporary third-floor extension of the Eiffel Tower on its 120th anniversary, which will be next year.

Apparently, this “extension” will be a jupe (skirt-like) structure made out of high-performance carbon Kevlar, wrapped around the topmost floor of the Eiffel Tower. I cannot describe it in full, but here it is:

Visitors to the tower stop at different levels of the to view the city. Over 6.5 million people visit it, and the wait for the elevator to go up can last almost 35 minutes. This new extension is meant to lessen that wait by allowing most of the tourists to be dispersed on this platform-like structure at the topmost part of the tower (which used to be the smallest part of the tower, and cannot accommodate many people), with the best view of Paris.

When the project pulls through, the Eiffel Tower will loom over the city of Paris like this:

I’m expecting a lot of critics to balk about the project. But in the press release that Serero gave us, the Eiffel Tower, which if pared down to the tower itself whose mere use is being a tourist attraction, was actually meant for something else. The tower’s interlocking web of steel members, coupled with its gently outward-curving legs, was meant to hold things at the top, and support a lot more than the tower’s current overall weight—things like antennae, structures for scientific and weather experiments. In fact, the tower held an antenna for radio communication in World War I. So the architects say that it does make sense to put this temporary “add-on” to this iconic tower. But what about its memorable silhouette? And how about all those postcards and souvenir tchotchkes? Will those have to be altered too?

I have mixed feelings about the project. Will Monsieur Eiffel turn in his grave? What do you think about it? Comments are welcome!

(Images courtesy of Serero Architects)

The last time I owned a coloring book was almost thirty years ago. But recently, whenever I encounter coloring books on my friends’ kids’ tables, I pick up a crayon and color a page when no one’s looking.

Here’s a theory: I think people shouldn’t stop using coloring books once they hit past the ten-year-old mark. It’s therapeutic; as there is nothing more satisfying than filling in a large, blank spot with vibrant Crayola strokes. It’s also a no-brainer—you don’t have to draw, everything’s outlined for you! Trouble is, there was hardly any coloring book beyond the ABC’s and Mickey Mouse…until now.

Check out these I Colour It book series by Batsford that I spotted at Powerbooks. These tiny coloring books for big people have 24 postcards each printed with these beautiful patterns designed by Maisonette, the same people who create amazing textile designs and who also work on projects for the Tate Modern, in London. In I Colour Book Abstract Designs features dizzying patterns of psychedelic swirls and Pollock-esque splotches, while I Colour Book Designs from Nature has whimsical dog illustrations and lovely kimono print-style florals instead of bees, butterflies, and Bambi.

You can color in the individual cards with felt-tip pens, pencils, crayons, or poster paint, and send it friends or frame it for yourself. Best of all, it’s below P500 bucks. A bit pricey for a coloring book, but I wish I had these in my childhood—then I wouldn’t have gone through my baduy phase. Available at Powerbooks Live! Greenbelt 3, Makati City.

Due to insistent public demand (Naks!), we’re reprinting our Real Living books this April 2008! Real Home Ideas 1 and 2 will be released sometime mid-April, so do grab your copies to complete your collection =)

We’re also coming out with Real Home Ideas 3, to be launched this May. We’re very excited to see all of you during our book launch (update you on the details soon!).