Sugar and Spice (And Everything Nice)

Tie Me Up Buttercup Kiosk at Greenbelt 5

Okay, I admit, I can be a little obsessive-compulsive but I'd rather call myself a neat freak. I just love to organize things, making sure they can be easily accessible when I need them. I also love sorting things together. After that, my being an interior designer kicks in. I'd make sure that my things are positioned nicely and visually balanced. This applies to most of the things I do, and even to wrapping gifts. I have a penchant for making my gifts look really nice. I have always believed that making the wrapping of the gift nice, makes the actual gift more special. I don't really splurge on expensive wrappers but putting on a creative touch to the wrapping is what makes it fun.

Southern Exposure

Located in the southern countryside, this is the retirement house of former city dwellers. The owners of the house, being used to the traditional style that their city residence used to have, wanted something a little different yet nothing too contemporary for their taste. The result is southern plantation style - relaxed and sophisticated classic interiors.

Smart Interior Design Apps

With the advent of the smartphone, it's no surprise how everything can be accessed with just one gadget. Games, Email, Facebook, Exercise Routines, Recipes, Twitter - it's all there in that small piece of gadget we used to know as a mere cellphone. And for designers like me, life is made much more interesting and fun with these cool apps that can show me how my walls will look if I repaint them, or how I can measure and make a floor plan by just taking pictures or how I can easily access an Autocad file when I'm not on my laptop. For my top picks, I divided them into two categories namely: Design Apps on My Iphone and Other Design Apps I Have Yet To Try. Read on:

Eco-friendly Building and Decorative Materials

Finally, here is the list of some interior eco-friendly materials that are available to the Philippine market. 


1. Boysen Eco-friendly Paints : Boysen's eco-friendly paints has the Green Seal for Certified Paints with significantly low VOC content. If you also want your project to be LEED certified, the new line of Boysen paints can help you gain points by using their line of paints that have VOC levels under 50 grams per liter. If you want to know more about the new line of Boysen eco-friendly paints, you can visit their website at Boysen Paints .

Sustainable Sensibilities

 

The NUVALI community development in Sta. Rosa Laguna paves the way for sustainable eco-living. What brought about this initiative by Ayala Land to build the first sustainable community in the Philippines, is actually the desire to nurture the people who will live in it. At the core of it all, sustainable living is all about nurturing it's people – that means having a healthy relationship with our living environment through conscious evo-living.

I have been to Nuvali several times on family occasions whenever we feel like trying out something different. Malling can be pretty tiring, with all the white noise and visual overload, so on lazy weekends, the family goes to Nuvali for a breath of fresh air. Kids love the koi fish feeding and boat ride at the man-made lake. Personally, I love to take a walk on the jogging path that goes around the lake and after, breakfast at the nearby Starbucks coffee shop. It can get pretty windy there with all that wide open space, which is perfect for flying a kite. They also have bicycles for rent that you can use on the same wide jogging path. After all the activities, I just love to take a break at the nearby Conti's for a slice of my favorite cake.

May 2011: Still Going Green

April was just not enough to feature all of the go-green products and interiors that I had in mind (besides the fact that my hands we're so full the past month! :)), so for May, I will be continuing the Going Green theme, still in celebration of Earth Day. I have finally rounded up interior products and materials that support eco-living and sustainable design, which means the list is going to be out soon. Also, a look at Nuvali of Ayala Land and how they are already making initiatives in sustainable design not only for the homes but for the whole Nuvali community as well. For the interior design feature of the month, I will be featuring a southern home with a classic twist.

April may be Earth Day, but May is definitely the month for flowers, coincidentally (or not) also the month when we celebrate Mother's Day. Show your appreciation for your mom by giving her flowers on Mother's Day, or better yet, a flower for every day of May. Happy Mother's Day to you Mom!

Ear and Eye Candy

A marriage of talents for two artists - one in audio and the other one in visual. This studio gives us a taste of both worlds. 

View of the Recording area