On My Shelf : Elle Decoration Philippines

For this month's "On My Shelf", I am pleased to welcome the Elle Decoration's latest addition to it's worldwide network of home magazines - Elle Decoration Philippines! Published by Summit Publishing Inc., this is the 26th edition of the global brand, favored by over nine million readers worldwide, including myself. I personally am a fan of Elle Decor USA, especially because of the familiarity of the trade suppliers there and the designers. But EDP is just something I'm excited about, as I have been waiting for something like this to happen in the local scene. I am sure, now that we have the EDP, we will be seeing more ED worthy homes - and that means really chic and luxurious designs from the local front.

Papier d'Art

One of the things that have kept me busy in the past few months was going back to one of the things that I loved to do which is drawing. Inspired by my daughter's love for the arts, I decided to explore again the very thing that paved the way for me to become an interior designer. You see, before I knew about interior design, I have always loved to draw when I was still in my elementary days. And that took a step back when I took up interior design in college. Sure, we draw our perspectives and do the rendering too, but most of the time it's about interiors or furniture. What I missed, was the freedom to draw anything I liked. So, when the time and opportunity came up, I just had to grab it. And this started what I now call Papier d'Art.

Papier d'Art
creative pursuits with paper

Howkapow

I think I've been bitten by the art bug. Ever since I joined Pinterest, my interest in handmade illustrations has practically taken-over my spare time. There's just so much inspiration on the internet and so many talented artists, most of them unknown, have so much potential. As an interior designer, artworks and prints are part of the finishing touches in our designs and most of the time, it's really hard to look for that piece that will complete the look that we want. It's a good thing that there are online shops out there that really recognize these talents and help them reach out to interior designers and art lovers. And one really good online shop that I recently bumped to is Howkapow.

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.

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 .

Paper Funk

Funky (adj. - Slang)
a. Characterized by originality and modishness; unconventional.
b. Outlandishly vulgar or eccentric in a humorous or tongue-in-cheek manner; campy.(from www.flavorleague.com)


Look what I found! The funkiest and quirkiest wallpaper patterns that I've seen. Flavor Paper brings to us unique vintage modern and customizable wall paper that, as they say, will bring serious character to your space.

photo courtesy Flavor Paper

Colour Lovers

I came across this site, colourlovers.com while I was googling colors and patterns. I found it very interesting and helpful for designers like me. The site is an online sharing community, where designers in all fields - home, fashion, crafts, graphic design and print - can share their ideas and inspirations on colors, patterns and trends on both. I found some beautiful color combinations that are fresh and current, which has really inspired me for a current ID project. Here are some of my favorites:

This pink, light blue and mocha palette is given life by the citrus yellow as accent. It's interesting how the citrus yellow blended well with another strong color like pink. I'm inspired to use this as a color scheme for a girl's bedroom.

Filipino Genius

Who hasn't heard of Kenneth Cobonpue? After numerous design accolades from the international design community, Kenneth is a "household" name to designers and architects in the Philippines. Not only is he known for his furniture design ingenuity, but also for promoting Filipino craftsmanship through the materials he utilizes in his designs. And now, he leaves us in awe again with his new collection for 2011. Here are a few favorites:

Wooden Pedestals

photo courtesy of elledecor.com

I first came across these wooden pedestals around six years ago, at a magazine featuring one of Kelly Hoppen's interior design projects. Fast forward to today, these wooden pedestals are still hot. They look great as accents to a very polished modern interior. They give the room character and depth and makes for an interesting conversation piece. The ones in the picture, which are in the showroom of Ralph Pucci, are by furniture designer Chris Lehrecke from New York.

Color Inspired

photo courtesy of dwellstudio.com

I am so inspired by the color scheme on this set of beddings from Dwell Studio. It's an unexpected color combination of citrus yellow with the turquoise and dark brown. It's very fresh but still a classic.

Preview's New Sexy Look

I have always been a fan of Preview, not only because of the content, but because of the lay-out and design of the magazine. Their cover designs are at par with the international fashion magazines and they always strive to make the best out of every issue.

I recently bought Preview magazine's January-February issue for 2011 featuring Liz Uy on the cover. Surprisingly, they redesigned their magazine under the creative talent of Vince Uy (Creative Director, Preview).

The usual geometric and angular lines that spread on the pages before were now replaced by curves that seem to suggest the silhouette of the female body. These black curves seem to pop out of the contrasting white background which actually look like cut-outs. I'm also loving the large red font that they used to accent the page.

Of course, the contents are as usual, very impressive. The feature on Liz Uy is very interesting. Plus all the other beauty and fashion updates for 2011 are a must-see. You just have to get a copy and see for yourself!