Escape into your dream space

I’m perpetually in awe of gorgeous spaces, but more so of the people who design them and bring them to life. It’s one thing to appreciate beautiful décor, but to actually make incredible visions come to life in a specific space and ensure that they’re usable and liveable is truly a gift. (I have enough trouble putting outfits together in the morning.)

Most of the time, I indulge my inner design fan by spending copious amounts of time browsing Pinterest or Instagram, but I was quite happy to look at actual vignettes at the Shangri-La Plaza’s East Wing. Last week, the premier mall launched an exhibit called “Inspired Homes: Dream Living Spaces,” which showcases a number of vignettes styled and put together by various personalities from different creative fields. After all, the mall is home to an impressive selection of home, entertainment, and other complementary brands, and as Shangri-La Plaza executive vice president and general manager Lala Fojas says, “We house brands that can help you create the home of your dreams.”

The spaces were as varied and one-of-a-kind as each designer: prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, fashion designer Randy Ortiz, The Company’s Moy Ortiz, artist and Philippine STAR’s very own Igan D’Bayan, celebrities Danica Sotto-Pingris and Ciara Sotto-Oconer, my brother Arch. Jason Buensalido of Buensalido + Architects, art curator Yael Buencamino, interior designers Michael Pizarro and Argee Hubilla, and makeup artist (and my childhood best friend) Angela Medalla Yeo. All of them were given specific living spaces to design, and they personally chose the items from the stores, including Ariston, Ashley, Audio Visual Driver, Bo Concept, Cutting Edge, Décor, D&K Kitchen Essentials, GE Monogram, Hacker, KitchenPro, KitchenWorks, La Sedia, La-Z-Boy, Luxe Room, National Book Store, Pismo Digital, Regalong Pambahay, Restoration, Shell Canvas, Sheridan, Slumberland, SMEG, Summit Art Gallery, Tempur and True Value.

During the launch, I got to ask some of the personalities about their designs and their dream spaces, eager to find out more about what was behind each space (and hoping that their design savvy would rub off on me). Hopefully their ideas and inspirations will push you to bring your dream space to life as well: the “Inspired Homes: Dream Living Spaces” runs until today at the East Wing.

What is a dream space?

Lisa Macuja-Elizalde

“It achieves a balance of what you need and what you want for that space. You can’t have everything that you want, because you usually have to put in things you absolutely need—and those may not be the things that you want! I think it’s also very important, in this day and age, to make sure it’s easy to clean, easy to manage, and organized.”

“The colors are very me,” reveals Lisa Macuja-Elizalde as she describes the quietly elegant living room she put together. As a prima ballerina, it’s no surprise that she gravitates towards neutral, classic colors — beige, black, gray, ivory — but she enjoys pops of red and orange, which she threw in with a few accents. But aside from the large, plush beige couch, the other major piece of furniture was the wood table, which reflects her taste as well as her husband’s. “He really likes natural wood,” she says.

“When I was growing up, everything was directed to the dream, which was to become a ballerina,” Lisa recalls. All she wanted was a studio inside or beside the house. “Now I have three studios beside my house,” she laughs happily. “You could say I’ve achieved my dream home!” Today she lives with her family in her husband’s ancestral home, which she didn’t want to re-decorate completely as she was in love with its old school appeal. But she did want a few things in her personal spaces: a big comfortable bed, lots of clothes space, and…a Jacuzzi in the bathroom, one of her favorite spaces in her house. “After a long day of dancing, I really like to soak in the bathtub!” she says.

Igan D’bayan

“It’s an escape from the crushing reality that we face every day.”

When I saw the porcelain skull on top of the bookshelf, I knew this music room had to be our very own Igan D’Bayan’s space. Igan tells me he grew up with extended family in the house and never really had personal, private space: a “fortress of solitude,” as he puts it. “I wanted that when I get a house, I’d create a space of my own and put in everything I like — such as skulls.” He grins. “And more skulls!” For this exhibit, he wanted to create his own library and music room, with all-black walls (“My dream is to live in a hexagonal house with all-black walls,” he says), mostly empty except for a few impactful pieces: a gorgeous leather swivel chair, a bright yellow cabinet, a Thorens record player (with vinyl LPs by The Cult and The Cure), a moon clock, a selection of books, and even an interesting vintage spotlight. It’s where he feels most relaxed. “When I’m at home, in the middle of a pile of books — figuratively shrouded by books — while listening to records…that’s my idea of a perfect day,” he says.

Danica Sotto And Ciara Sotto

CIARA: “A place you want to grow old in.”

DANICA: “A place you want to come home to, and really live in. Sometimes you get so busy decorating that it becomes too much na ayaw mo nang upuan; it ends up museum-ish!”

I had imagined that sisters Danica and Ciara Sotto already had a shared idea of a dream home; they probably loved playing house and decorating their dollhouses as they were growing up, yes? Apparently, I was wrong.

“We were too busy playing outdoors,” shrugs Ciara. “We weren’t kikay,” agrees Danica. But even back then, they were always in matching clothes (not the frilly dresses though), and today they still share the same tastes, which made it easier to design the living room together.

Clean and contemporary, this living room was more than just aesthetics, but for function. “We have kids,” explains Danica. “As much as we want to bring in many things, my kids run around the house!” There may not be a lot of abubots hanging around, but they made sure to include a few interesting details that show their personalities. “Ate, in her home, likes putting vintage pieces as accents,” says Danica. “Pareho kami. We both like our homes to look modern, but still have vintage stuff pa rin.”

Weathered, wooden frames and trays, vintage-looking jars, ceramic colored figures…it seems the girls finally got their chance to play house together after all.

Angela Medalla-Yeo

“You fill it with the people you love and the things that help you become comfortable.”

Full disclosure: before she was a makeup artist and a supermom, Angela was my best friend growing up. She was always more kikay and girly than me (which is why she was always the Pink Ranger while I was relegated to being Yellow Ranger), and even back then I knew she would make a great homemaker. She’s such a wonderful wife and mother now, and looking at her kitchen vignette (the only one in the exhibit), I saw how much she’s truly grown up and grown into her supermom role. “I don’t want a huge home; that’s hard to maintain,” she tells me. “As long as it’s warm, with a place I can cook in, with cozy rooms.” She smiles. “Simple dreams!”

Before getting married, she only had very broad ideas of what she wanted in her home, but now she knows the specific items she wants, from the kind of oven to the coffee maker (“Top of the line yan!” she jokes when I point out the impressive coffee  machine she selected). “The kitchen is one of my favorite places in the house,” she says. It’s where she cooks and bakes (sometimes with her girls Mariana and Helena), and also eats with her family. The space is mostly very white and clean, peppered with friendly paintings that evoke that sense of home.

Yael Buencamino

“Well, I live in an apartment now, so I want a house. I’d like more space! I’d love enough space for me and my kids to run around and play, where I can sit and see them, without necessarily having to stand in the midst of it!”

After asking art curator Yael Buencamino what her idea of a dream home was when she was growing up, she seemed a little stumped. “Oh my God,” laughed Yael. “I don’t think I had a dream home!” She later tells me that she was always happy growing up, which is apparent in the vibrant energy that emanates from the kids’ room she designed for the exhibit. Colors were light and subdued, but you could spot interesting patterns brightening up the space: vintage airplanes and globes, safari-themed sheets, a pillow chair stitched from different, paintings hung at adult-height and kid-height.

“I guess I thought of them when I was designing,” says Yael. She filled the space with things that she thought her sons would like. She seemed to be successful, as I spotted the two boys gleefully running around the space (with Yael trying to keep them from jumping all over the borrowed furniture). “And after looking at the space, I realized, it kind of looks like our house!”

Michael Pizarro

“It is beyond aesthetics. It should be based on your ideals and how you want to see yourself five, ten, or twenty years from now. That is where hiring a professional comes in [and can help], whether it’s an architect, designer or an engineer. You’re not just designing a beautiful home, but the setting of all your memories to come.”

It’s funny that this interior designer’s dream space isn’t actually an interior space. “It’s actually anywhere beside a river,” says Michael Pizarro, who grew up in the province. “We were in the mountains more than the beach! It’s more relaxing.” Despite his predilection for the outdoors, Michael is still able to wield his magic on urban spaces. His bedroom design for the exhibit is dazzling. You still get a sense of his love for nature, with the mix of warm and darker neutrals, capiz details, accents of woods and greens, but he creates a dazzling chic and contemporary space. What’s surprising is that he achieved it all very quickly. An hour before a scheduled meeting, he went around the shops in Shangri-La Plaza and quickly picked out key pieces. It took him about 30 minutes, and then he later got other pieces from his own bodega to see how else he could spruce up the space. (The capiz pieces, for example, are from his own collection.) You could say that it’s literally the personal touch. “I wanted to do something that speaks of what I do and who I am,” he says.

Jason Buensalido

“My dream space is one where I can be myself, where I am engulfed with well-curated experiences of comfort, leisure, authenticity, and creativity. All of create a unique backdrop where I can create priceless memories with my loved ones, and it also becomes an inspiration for me when I think of ideas on how to uplift our built environment thru design and architecture.”

Call it bias, but I love how my older brother defines (and, in my opinion, has redefined) contemporary Filipino architecture. He has a refreshing, bold and innovative take on it: instead of literally recreating bahay kubos, he infuses the optimistic, festive, participatory nature of our people and infuses it in forward-looking, vibrant and world-class designs. It’s something that I can see here in the living area he designed, and not too far off from his own living room. It’s such an interesting and fun space, and despite being filled with a lot of eye-catching pieces — a textured rug, a trio of circular tables, a hanging brass lamp, modern art pieces, and even a green Loudbasstard speaker amplifier — it all comes together beautifully. “It’s unbound by rules of symmetry, rigidity, and standards,” he says. When he envisioned it with his wife Nikki, who’s also a talented and accomplished architect, they wanted to create a space that is clean yet playful, subdued but still with hints of bright colors to reflect optimism, one of the Filipinos characteristics that they always like to bring to life in their designs.

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