Real Living Space

While Typhoon Basyang’s winds were building up along Roxas Boulevard last night, we were at the Metropolitan Museum for This French is Pinoy!, an exhibit of French expat Henri Eteve’s works while here in the Philippines (organized by Alliance Francaise with Avellana Art Gallery).

Henri has been staying in the Philippines for the past 45 years, and except for the vestiges of a slight Gallic accent, he has definitely gone native. Some of his favorite pastimes include trawling Quiapo and other parts of downtown Manila for bizarre odds and ends (buffalo horns, anting-anting); and the occasional antique book written about the Philippines by another European. He loves to talk about other famous expats who have settled anonymously in our humble country, like Charles Lindbergh and Bobby Fischer.

Henri’s curious, observant, but not-to0-serious attitude in life translates into upbeat, colorful works with organic forms that have an ebullient, almost happy feel to them. (Here’s designer Jojie Lloren surveying them.)

I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t been to Metropolitan Museum in a while. Last I went there was during Marlene Aguilar’s book launch, but all that is another story. So I wandered around the galleries upstairs, and there was this exhibit of contemporary Japanese photographers (“Out of the Ordinary/Extraordinary” sponsored by the Japan Foundation), which shows how Japan’s young photogs see their country in this generation. I was not disappointed. The works were amazing like these prints by Takano Ryudai of half-bodies—the subjects are so androgynous you cannot tell if they are male or female.

I got home in time before Basyang hit. When the weather’s better, I want to go out and see more exhibits and shows, and I think you should, too. “This French is Pinoy!”runs until July 31, while “Out of the Ordinary/Extraordinary” runs until September 30.

It’s quite rare these days to come across a truly interesting event, but to my surprise, there are still a few out there. One of them was the preview of Victorio C. Edades-Father of Modern Art, which I attended last Friday at the Edades Tower and Garden Villa model unit at the Powerplant Mall. In this special preview, elusive Edades works are quite aptly incorporated into the Edades luxury model units (his painting of the UST botanical gardens is featured above in the dining room—this work is my favorite). (Rockwell Land has other residential towers named after noted Filipino artists like Luna, Joya, and Amorsolo.)

A special auction of Edades’s works will be held on July 15 by Salcedo Auctions, one of the few (oh I think they are the only one) auction houses in the country. Their advisor, Richie Lerma, was on hand as curator for this special exhibit and gave us more info on the pieces we saw. Here he is in front of this small but lovely “Portrait of a Baby Girl” in the master bedroom…

Now if you weren’t paying attention in your Humanities class, Edades is one of our National Artists for painting. Though noted for his depictions of Filipino life, we can’t directly compare him to Amorsolo and his airbrushed, bucolic Pinoy landscapes. Edades’s renditions are more intimate, raw, more personal, and without any pretensions. And though he did a lot of commissioned portraits of society matrons, Richie mentioned that Edades also made beautiful portraits of everyday people, like this sfumato charcoal of a school teacher (1980) in the master bedroom…

Edades in his later years shunned the spotlight and retreated to Davao to live a simple and quite life. Here, he met Norma Liongoren, who became one of his closest friends and who procured many of the works in this exhibit. And in line with his painting very intimate and personal portraits (he did many sketches and watercolor studies of his own family), he did painting of Norma and her family as well. This painting in the children’s room shows photographer Erik Liongoren and director Avid Liongoren as children!

And I must say, the Edades model unit is one of the best model units I’ve seen in years—beautiful palette, textures, and fabrics, well-executed (from experience, a lot of model units out there are bang-up, rush jobs), this one is very tasteful indeed! I heard it was done by veteran interior designer Alice Erfe.

Visit the Edades model unit beside the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati City, or click here. For more information on Salcedo Auctions and the special Edades auction on July 15, click here.

The Samsung events I attend are usually splashy affairs swamped with a mixed-nuts-selection of guests composed of artistas, smug techie columnists, and a handful of perfumed society page-people. So it was quite refreshing to attend a more home oriented (housewife-oriented!) Samsung event a few days ago. Sam Oh hosted, while sweet chef Sau del Rosario whipped up a few dishes for the crowd (above).

Chef Sau did his demo of course to show the features of Samsung’s new French Door Refrigerator. Not like the French doors in your house, though—this is a double-door ref with double the storage space (its doors open like wings to both sides), and a twin-cooling system that ensures all parts of the ref has even temperature and everything stays fresh.

The big surprise was, they strong-armed members of the press to do a cook-off with each other to show the features of their new microwave line! Here’s Yummy editor in chief Becky Kho and Men’s Health managing ed Peejo Pilar squaring off as (unlikely!) cooking teammates. They made wine-marinated sole and an arugula-and-shiitake mushroom salad. Chef Sau was the judge and they passed with flying colors!

In the end, we ate what they cooked (well, the same dishes though, albeit cooked by professionals). And it was delicious, save for the anatomically-shaped bread rolls they served with our lobster bisque!

The book launch for Real Home Ideas 5: Small Space Solutions was a success, not just because the book turned out GREAT, but because we had the chance to meet and greet our avid readers! It was definitely heartwarming seeing the Atrium packed with RL supporters.

My mom was one of the early birds (she was already there before the staff even arrived) and all the while she was holding her own copy of the book (yes, she was excited haha).

And people just kept coming…

Those who attended got the chance to get tips from our interior designers, Grace Moslares, Kristine Neri and Frenjick Quesada (below).

Readers had their RL Book (and magazine copies) signed by Editor-in-Chief Rachelle Medina.

And of course, the RL girls had to strike a pose for a job well done.

Please get a copy of Real Home Ideas 5, available at bookstores and newsstands for P195. (Photos by Ryan Ong)

The launch of our 5th book, Real Home Ideas 5: Small Space Solutions coincided with our designer exhibit with SM Homeworld. Three of RL’s fave designers came up with space-saving setups for living, dining, and bedrooms using SM products. (That’s RL stylist Issa Villar’s setup for the stage, above, inspired by our cover.) Here’s makeover designer Grace Moslares’s bold, opulent bedroom setup—done in an instant, and under extreme duress!!! (grace under pressure, hehehe)

And featured designer (he has a project in the book) Frenjick Quesada’s elegant, tropical-modern take on a small living room. Beautiful!

Here’s designer Kristine Neri’s cute, mixed-seating dining area. Would you believe her dining table went missing two minutes before the scheduled setup? They found it, eventually!!!

All exhibits will be up til tomorrow, June 30. Hope you can check it out! (Real Home Ideas 5 is available at bookstores and newsstands for P195. All furniture and accessories are from SM Homeworld, Megamall)

Real Living’s 7th Anniversary Issue is out already! Check out our special cover with designer Kristine Neri’s condo project. Here’s more of that small but beautiful home inside!

Other fab article in the issue: A special feature on Real Living through the years—my, how we’ve grown! I started reading Real Living even before I worked here, and of all the shelter magazines in the market, it was one of those I always looked forward to getting (hey, we even preceded Domino!)

Another fave article that month—Mabel David Pilar’s different tips on using trays. Pretty!

Since our theme is Budget this July, Coni Tejada shows us how to dress up our dining room in stages, and when you can afford it (this is the “Budget” setup—it still looks great!)

We’re doing a lot of budget makeovers in this ish as well. See how Gwyn Guanzon transformed this chair for under P1,000 (this is the “before” pic):

And how makeover designer Kat Villanueva made this sad kitchen happy and bright:

Check it out now! Grab a copy of the Real Living July 2010 issue for P140 at bookstores and newsstands nationwide. (Photos by Ocs Alvarez, Miguel Nacianceno, Vincent Coscolluela, Jun Pinzon)

As we always have photo shoots for the different sections of our magazine, we often use our own things as props for the shoot. But for the same thing to be used in a shoot every month? Hmmmm… there must be something about it.

In my case, my printed canvas bag was the superstar of different shoots. Well, not a superstar in a sense that it was the main focus, but because it’s photogenic, we cannot help but use it to bring more life to the setup being photographed. Here is the said bag:

Cute, isn’t it? I bought it from one of our messengers in the office. And since then, this bag has been used not just to carry my things but in several photo shoots.

This photo is part of our June 2010 issue’s Decor Ideas: Dress Your Nest, wherein we were tasked to translate our personal style into a corner in the house. I translated my bag into the colorful throw pillow on the Papa Bear Chair.

The highlight of this bag’s superstardom is its having been used in the cover of our fifth book, Real Home Ideas 5: Small Space Solutions, which was launched last Wednesday. Here it is:

There’s my bag! Since I’ll never be on the cover of anything, I’ll let my bag represent me instead. Hehehe

We also used that bag in a shoot for our July and August 2010 issues, photos of which I cannot show you yet. Just wait and see.

Save the date! Get a chance to attend the launch of our book, Real Home Ideas 5: Small Space Solutions on June 23, Wednesday next week, 4:30 to 7:30 PM at the Mega Atrium of SM Megamall Mandaluyong City.

Check out small-space exhibits by our fave designers Grace Moslares, Kristine Neri, and Frenjick Quesada and get tips from them too! Also, a lot of prizes await you at this launch. To register for this event, contact Abigail Pinili at abigail.pinili@summitmedia.com.ph. Special thanks to SM Homeworld and the Mega Atrium for making this event happen. See you there!

Hi all! I’m happy to announce that the fifth book in our Real Home Ideas series is out! Do grab a copy of Real Home Ideas 5: Small Space Solutions:

Now I know must of us live in small spaces—condos, studio units, shoebox-sized apartments—so you’ll definitely appreciate the tips here! You’ll get 101 ideas from our small-but-beautiful homes…

…storage solutions for wardrobe, kitchen , and bath (plus must-have catchalls from SM Homeworld!)…

…and best of all, a DIY floor plan kit so you can pre-arrange your furniture layout before even lifting a finger!

So check it out now! Real Home Ideas 5 is available at newsstands and bookstores for only P195, such an affordable price for a lot of ideas!!! Cover image photo by Miguel Nacianceno, styling by Gwyn Guanzon. That lovely house on the cover is the home of Frances and Vince Sales; it’s one of my fave homes! =)

The LRI Design Plaza shoot was my first official RL shoot and honestly, I was really nervous. During the first thirty minutes, I was chanting “what next what next what next” inside my head. I felt I didn’t know what to do. And another thing, there were too many awesome shops, so little time. Good thing Coni, our assistant stylist called the shots so I just had to follow her lead.

I was trying to control my curious self, unfortunately I failed—I found myself checking out anything and everything that caught my eyes. I can’t even count how many times I heard the line “get out of the frame,” (Oh my! haha) If you have read RL June 2010’s Shopping section, you’d know what sent me prying around.

There were a couple of items I fell in love with, including these oh-so-precious-and-girly brushes from Erfe’s Designer Furnishing Shop.

And this reading corner at Triboa Bay Living reminds me I need to find a good book soon and do some serious reading!

The lamp and one-seater from Kish gives out a striking manly aura which I am just simply drawn to.

Definitely an eye-catcher, this red resin divider is a to-die-for piece from Haute Design.

The shoot was fun and tiring, but seeing the June ish makes me more than proud. And yes, it’s my first RL issue too! (Photos by Vincent Coscolluela) LRI Design Plaza is located at 210 Nicanor Garcia St., (formerly Reposo) Bel-Air 2, Makati City.  Click here for more info, or grab a copy of the latest issue of Real Living magazine, for P140 only, at bookstores and newsstands nationwide.