Industrial Meets Quirky in this Out-of-the-Box Condo Unit
A box-type condo unit makes for the perfect canvass to reflect one’s personality
Unlike most condo units, Chiqui’s two-bedroom halfway house is not the model unit with perfect pieces one would frequently see in any showroom. To begin with, it only had gray brick and very stark furnishings. But the lack of picture-perfect pieces was a boon for Chiqui, who wanted to put her personal stamp in her condo. “I wanted character, the whole unit should be a conversation piece,” she says.
She signed on her interior designer and friend, Frenjick Quesada, who welcomed the challenge and was also exhilarated that Chiqui gave him total design freedom and was in no big rush to see the finished product. “It was the kind of project you really set aside time for, because you get to express your creativity and push your boundaries,” says Frenjick.
The collaboration resulted in an industrial-themed condo unit. It’s certainly Chiqui’s style preference fine-tuned by Frenjick’s experience and expertise. “My first project with Chiqui was a very contemporary, very modern design,” says Frenjick. This time, he says, he was agreeable to be radical but didn’t want overkill. “I was actually toning her down because she wanted to go really severe industrial. We really didn't want to be too serious.”
Quirky, original pieces are peppered throughout the unit, as well as one-of-a-kind curios cobbled throughout the six-month renovation period. And the patience has definitely paid off, as Chiqui got a space uniquely her own, done in her own tastes and whims. “I like it that the whole unit became a conversation piece. I mean, my friends keep asking how we put everything together.”
Original article by Brian Adrian H. Borleo. Photographed by Miguel Nacianceno.
Read the original article (“Refined Rawness”) in the May 2011 issue of Real Living Magazine. To download a digital copy of Real Living Magazine, visit Summit Newsstand at https://summitnewsstand.com.ph/real-living.
