MAYBELLINE TE (left) with Angel Chua (center) and Cristeen Quezon of The Coolist (@the_coolist) and my friend Anika Quezon show off the space they put together in just three weeks!
IT’S an elegant euphemism, but only because it is appropriate for the situation.
As Real Living Magazine partnered with Avida Towers Riala to tap three Cebuana interior designers and decorators, genius flew. Three model units of their new property in IT Park had the imprimatur of Hannah Lim and my two friends Maya Franco and Maybelline Te.
Maya’s take on the “millennial dude’s bachelor pad” was, in the language of this generation, on fleek. As one steps into the studio unit, you immediately question the accuracy of the literature handed to you. This doesn’t look anything like the 26 square meters indicated. There is a full kitchen, a dining table that folds away nicely, a bicycle rack on one wall (ah, sporty millennial dude), and a nifty divider that opens into a bedroom with a single bed with ample storage overhead and underneath, and work table across.
Hannah’s one bedroom has an airy feel, with my favorite spot being the bathroom and its seamless incorporation of laundry room and extra closet space (for those non essentials, like a beaded gown in storage perhaps?). Do also check out her hanging pots and pans and those copper shelving, a touch of modern by using an old treatment is just beautiful.
THE CHILDREN’S ROOM in the two-bedroom is done in the colors of Boysen paints at their disposal, with General Bleu (Angel and May’s furniture manufacturing and marketing company) custom pieces.
My heart goes out to May’s two-bedroom, though, because it is filled with things I love made by people I adore. Our friend Cristeen Quezon of The Coolist punched up the largest space with intimate touches: her pineapple plates (customizable, for those of you who love bespoke design) and monogrammed and etched glasses and storage bins in wood are some of the things to look out for.
May and Angel Chua also manufactured the custom pieces inside the unit, including a chair that featured braided water hyacinth, a material I have always loved. And yes, those dining room chairs that seem all too familiar.
“We took out the weave, and now it looks new,” May says of the chairs that look like the ones your mother had in her outdoor dining area, minus the rattan weave. With just the frame, it is a minimalist update on a classic.
You don’t need a euphemism to capture that one. Or any of these rooms, for that matter.
(See more photos with the hashtag #RLModelHouse, or visit the Avida showroom at IT Park)