The family, the sea, and a home decor business

Entrepreneur and designer Arnel Santillan uses concepts about the sea and family in his sculptures, home decor and lamps made of indigenous materials like scrap seashells, coconut shells, stone and aluminum.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

Bantayan designer quits company job, explores opportunities in home decor sector

Just like any entrepreneur, designer Arnel Santillan started out as an employee in companies that manufacture home decorations.

But it came to a point that he felt he did not get enough credit for his works – a pitfall for any artist.

“I started my business late already because I started as a designer for other companies, some foreign. Eventually, I had problems with the last company, so in 2003, I decided to go on my own,” he told Cebu Daily News.

The 45-year old Santillan now owns his own home décor business called Adorno ’72 Home Decors together with his wife Maribeth.

Back in 2003, he only directly supplied to some of his previous contacts. It was on 2011 when they formally established the business and opened their showroom in Barangay Tayud, Liloan town in northern Cebu.

Themes

Love and family, and the rich marine life are the recurring themes of Santillan who was born and raised in Madridejos town in the northern island of Bantayan.

These concepts are evident in his works which include wall decor, sculptures and lamps.

His creations are on display at the ongoing Sinulog Trade Fair at the lower ground of SM City Cebu.

Santillan’s business is one of the 72 micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs) that participated in the trade fair organized by the Department of Trade and Industry-Cebu.

His sculptures use stone cast and aluminum cast and often depict couples, a mother and child, and a whole family.

On the other hand, his wall decor feature tantalizing schools of fishes and forests. He uses indigenous materials for his home decor including scrap seashells and scrap coconut shells which he buys from other manufacturers of fashion accessories.

“You can really see the fishes in my concept because my identity is I’m from an island – Bantayan. I enjoy diving sometimes. I can get ideas underwater. I get inspiration there. I love going to the sea. I am inspired by the colors under water,” Santillan said.

Training

Although he did not finish his architecture degree and only reached fourth year, it was the actual industry that taught him what he needed to know to make it on his own.

It also helped, he said, that he was mentored by the internationally acclaimed furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue back in 2001 in a designer’s guild where they were both members.

He said back then, Cobonpue was not yet that famous although he already started getting recognition for his work.

“The style of Kenneth is that before you make a sketch, you should first look at what materials you will be using. And you should explore the limitations of those materials. Once you know its limits, it’s already easy to make your design. That is something I have applied in my work until now,” Santillan said.

Just like any artist, Santillan is hands-on in the production of their products. Aside from designing them, he also does the finishing touches on each one of their creations.

They only have four people in their production area in their showroom, who are the ones that would put together the different components of each home décor. However, they outsource labor from groups in Bantayan for the creation of each component needed in each item.

Marketing

While Arnel takes care of the production side of the business, his wife, Maribeth, handles the marketing and administrative side.

Aside from their showroom in Liloan, Adorno ’72 Home Decors, she said they would usually participate in trade fairs and exhibits all over the country to market their products.

She also said that theyhave a Facebook page to tap the online market.

While they have their own standard sizes for their wall arts, Maribeth said they also do customized versions of their design.

In fact, they have been doing much more bigger installations usually on order basis by hotels, resorts or condominiums.

A typical wall art that is 80 cm by 120 cm costs between P8,500 to P15,000.

Sculptures that are around 40 cm tall costs an average of P4,000.