A Collection of Happy Things in a Writer's Apartment
Purchased, gifted, and inherited pieces make up this home
Some people build their home’s look by going on several shopping trips or doing DIY projects. Others incorporate the trinkets and accessories they’ve accumulated from all their travels. A few work with what they have or what they’re provided with. In children’s book author Yvette Fernandez’s case, it’s a little bit of everything.
The coffee table and accent chairs, for example, she inherited from her grandparents. The table and stools in the kitchen were hand-me-downs from her sister, while her antique narra dining table is from her mom. Some of the art pieces on display were gifts from her friends, while the other accessories are from her travels. Her only purchases for her space were the sofa and the dining chairs.
Even her unit, which is part of a row of apartments her grandparents built in the 1960s, used to be home to some family members. “My mom’s older sister was the first one to live in the unit,” shares Yvette and goes on about the other relatives who took solace in the unit prior to her move. When Yvette finally came back to Manila after working in New York for more than a decade, she decided to make changes and incorporate some ideas from her childhood. She sought for her sister Architect Lara Fernandez Barrios’s help in making her new old home a happy place to live in.
Read the original article ("Happy Place") in the March 2014 issue of Real Living Magazine. Download your digital copy of Real Living on the Real Living App now! Log on to summitnewsstand.com.ph/real-living for more details.
