Project Condo: A Newbie Homeowner's Tips To DIY Decoration

Happy New Year everyone! First post for 2015, and it's long overdue!

2014 has been such a fantastic year and one of the biggest milestones I had in the past 12 months is finally buying and moving into my own place. As some of you may have read in my Project Condo series, it's a long and sometimes grueling process to select, edit and curate pieces for an apartment so small. The whole journey taught me that independence does not come cheap, buying furniture and keeping a well maintained home is a big big challenge. I have frequented a handful of interior decoration blogs to help me with my DIY journey, and even though my place is far from being fully finished, I can say that I've made some progress. 

Recently, I received an email from a blog reader asking for some tips on decorating (Hello Lanell!) and I'm happy that a.) someone other than my family actually reads my blog and b.) that I can use the blog as a platform to help fellow first time condo owners in DIY decorating. Now here's a disclaimer: I am not armed with a degree or even work experience in interior decoration and my home is a product of trial and error. I'm definitely not an expert, but here are some things that I've learned from the DIY home improvement journey.

Current apartment set up and a bit of an inevitable mess

1. Try living with what you have for the meantime.

This decision was really brought about by the fact that I have no budget for a major renovation, plus, I still don't have guts to take risks when it comes to buying colorful furniture and completely commit to it.  Considering my fickle mindedness, I took the safer route, kept the furniture and walls neutral so that there are more options for me when I decide to change the look of my place. So far, the color scheme that I ended up with is the following: 

60% white - since the condo came with white walls and white tiles, I kept it as it is to minimize costs

30% black and gray - I chose either grey or black for my big pieces namely the sofa and the bed. I chose dark wood for my other furniture to match the doors and cabinets.

10% pops of yellow, pink and blue. Apart from the fact that it can be changed easily and it's cheap, my pops of color came from throw pillow covers, flowers and curtains.

Also, before going on a buying spree, try to live in your newly turned over unit for a while and see the flow of your day to day activities. For me, I knew I didn't really watch TV that often so I didn't go on buying a TV console yet. I needed additional shelving in the bathroom so I bought a stainless steel towel rack (2,500 Php) and glass shelves (900 Php) where I can store my bathroom essentials. I bought a shoe rack that served as a drop off area of not only my shoes but also my bags. Getting a good idea of your daily routine allows you to prioritize the important things to buy for your home. 

What my place looked like around November. I did not make any renovations but only added furniture an decorations.

2. Flowers and plants make a huge difference

Since my place was mostly in monochrome, I needed a few living things to deviate from the coldness of black, gray and white. I made sure each area (living, dining, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom) had at least one plant in it. Apart from the fact that plants make cheap and beautiful decorations, they also clean the air and get rid of toxic elements brought about by using cleaning agents and disinfectants. 

A couple of baskets and a water plant in a vase can be found in my bathroom as well. Baskets were brought from Make Room & More for around 375 Php each. The glass shelving and the towel rack were installed by Ring Rob, Robinson's in house concierge

The live plants that I have in my condo were taken from my mom's garden. She gave me snake plants, a cactus and some plant that can survive just by putting it in a vase with water. 

From L-R:

The Snake plant which is the tallest one is holding up well. I water it every other day and according to some blogs that I've read, it's low maintenance and impossible to kill. 

The second one (I don't know what it's called) is almost dead! I really don't know the cause but I think it's from lack of direct sunlight.

The third one is also doing good because it's just a smaller version of the snake plant.

The fourth one is a pineapple plant and is still surprisingly alive

In the morning, I put them under direct sunlight. My unit faces the morning sun so  between 8-10, a bit of sunshine peeks through my window. Hence the long board so that I can just roll them to where the sunlight is! 

3. Pay attention to lighting

Upon turnover of your unit, only the basics are provided including overhead lighting and it's up to you to veer away from it and create an additional ambiance to your place. In the morning, I leave my curtains open so that the living and dining areas are more exposed to natural light. In my bedroom, I installed yellow lighting to invoke a bit of warmth which makes rest more inviting, then kept the white light in the living and dining areas because those are the areas where I work and eat.

An IKEA floor lamp in my living room! Gifted by my good friend Rina!

My apartment currently only has overhead lighting and the bulbs are totally exposed. Aaaah I'm really ashamed of that and I know I should install some fixture at some point but I haven't been able to decide on something that I really really loved. I compensate for putting candles and lamps so that the attention is brought to eye level instead of the ceiling. In my bedroom, I even used LED Christmas lights in lieu of a normal lamp. I loved the effect and it also does a good job of providing enough light when I read at night. 

Created a vignette using my dried flowers in a vase, candles, a kalesa decor I brought from Vigan (150 bucks!) and a small cactus given by my mom. She bought a small container at Daiso  for 88 Php. Candles are from Alice Blue (495 Php).

4. Make it personal

Because travel is such a big part of what inspires me, I framed a few photos that I took from my local travels as well visits to Melbourne, New York, Paris and Mechelen. These remind me to keep my wanderlust alive and find myself another adventure.

Bought photo paper and  had these printed at home. Frames were bought from Robinson's Mall for 199.75 Php each.

Travel-inspired typographic decorations can also be found in my place. This one is from Robinson's Mall and it spoke to me the moment I saw it. Each of these go for about 400 Php each from Robinson's mall. I also framed a geometric watercolor artwork that I did myself. 

Drapes, geometric shapes and a bit of color

My bed where I put some books that I read before bedtime. Check out my Bed time Story post here.

I don't follow any rules in decorating. The important thing that you should remember is that your place should be a reflection of who you are and the things you love. While some people are aiming for picture perfect homes, I like me a bit of quirk and irregularity. Keep in mind to discern when buying decor and make a mental reminder of what look you're trying to achieve. Be mindful of your routine in your space and how the furniture in your home is arranged to support it. Finally, just have fun with experimenting!

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Project Condo: A Bedtime Story

Remember my first post on the Project Condo series? I shared my top 5 things to buy for my apartment before the year ends and 6 months into living on my own, I'm still not done with the list. Moving into my own apartment has taught me a couple of things. One: nothing ever goes as planned. Two: It's very expensive. It took me forever to buy all the furniture that I have so far and really prioritized the things that I needed the most so that I can live like a decent and independent 20-something I.T. Consultant in her own space instead of a college kid in a dorm.

My futon style bed

The first thing that I mentioned in my list of furniture to buy was a bed. I had the following requirements:

1. Full or semi double size

2. Dark solid wood (not laminated)

3. Shelves as a head board

4. Drawers underneath

After looking around for some time for a ready-made bed with my specifications, I realized finding one really wasn't that easy. Most of the bed frames that I saw at the mall were made with laminated wood, didn't utilize extra storage and didn't have the shelving that I wanted. I came so close to buying the Gunther bed from SM Our Home which is made with Malaysian rubberwood. That piece had six drawers but had a normal flat headboard and goes for about 24k. I thought it was a pretty good deal, but my mom advised to check all my options. Mandaue foam also had good options, and while they also had solid wood beds that go for 18k each, none of them had both shelves as the headboard or drawers underneath. I wasn't one to settle for something that I didn't love, so I decided to have a bed customized. For the meantime, I slept on my mattress, futon style.

My mom, sister and I took a trip to Tagaytay one weekend and checked out the furniture makers in the area. It was really a random selection for us, since we didn't have a specific contact person. We ended up going to Jasren Furniture shop because it was right next to a place that sold different plants and herbs. We bought taragon, basil and mint plants before heading into the shop. 

Talking to the shop owner, Adela, we were given options for the kind of wood that we wanted for our bed. She gave us suggestions on the design and the type of wood varnish. She asked for dimensions which we were prepared to provide. I made sure the dimensions fit my room no matter the orientation. I didn't want a headboard protruding by my window if I decide to arrange the bed differently. 

We chose mahogany for our wood since it is very durable and is known to resist rotting.  I was deciding between having the bed frame covered in wenge varnish or painting it white but the shop owner advised us that white isn't the best option for mahogany as it tends to bleed through the paint and what you'll end up getting is a white bed with reddish brown splotches. My sister chose the timber's natural color since it suited her apartment better. We finalized our transactions, gave our down payment and exchanged cellphone numbers so that they could notify us when the bed frames are ready for pick up. 

It took a while to return to Tagaytay because the shop operations were affected and slowed down by typhoon Glenda. The store owner asked us for more time to work on the beds, which was understandable. So we waited a couple more weeks and arranged to borrow a pick up truck from my uncle. When we finally got the notification that the bed is ready, my mom, sister, brother and I drove to Tagaytay to see the final product. The headboard alone took 2 grown men to carry as it was really made of solid wood! The surfaces were smooth and are of good quality and I was pretty satisfied with the end result. For a bed that was only 15k and made of quality and durable timber, I say it's a pretty good deal.

Delivery charges are expensive as you might expect. From Tagaytay to Mandaluyong, they said they charge around 3k for each bed delivered! Good thing my uncle's driver, my brother and my boyfriend helped us move the bed into the apartment.

Because of this new addition to the condo, I get more and more excited to come home and rest on my bed. Because of the overhead shelves, I no longer had the need for side tables. I styled my bed with monochromed sheets and a pop of yellow using throw pillows. I also got some led Christmas lights and used it in lieu of a lamp and I loved how it turned out. My bedroom feels more grown up but still dreamy. It took me several months to get the exact bed that I wanted, and seeing how it fit my apartment so well, I can definitely say it's worth the wait. :)

Contact Jasren furniture shop in Tagaytay: 0916-7245331

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Project Condo: Moving In Expectations vs. Reality

The idea gathering phase is easy. Just pin some interesting pegs in Pinterest and go crazy over these sleek mono chromed Scandinavian interiors. In my first Project Condo post, I was so excited about buying furniture that I didn't realize I had to consider a whole lot of other things before making these big decisions. See, I didn't plan on moving into my unit right away because I wanted to do the whole shebang of inviting family and a few friends over to celebrate my big move and of course have the place blessed by a priest. My mom will bring lasagna. I'll serve it on my new Corelle plates and we will eat it using my sparkling cutlery. My sisters and brother will share their thoughts on the awesomeness of my place and I will gush at how my condo really looked exactly how I imagined it. We will have coffee and cupcakes on my Eames-inspired dining set and we will sit on my cozy gray couch while watching T.V. They will marvel at my small albeit beautiful space, and I will tell them how fun and amazing it was to decorate and move in.

The dream living room

But of course, that scenario's all in my head. When the keys to my unit were handed over mid-March, I realized shit just got real. Let me share with you what my moving in experience was like and how different my expectations were from my actual reality...so far. 

The Turnover

The developer, Robinson's Residences emailed me early March to schedule the condo viewing and turnover. My bank loan has been approved and I had set up my account for auto-debit. The engineer showed me around the building--the lobby, mail room, trash chute at the lower ground, function rooms, gym and pool! I had an idea what the pool would look like, but it was even better than the mock up 3d photos they showed online! Expectation < Reality! 

Then we arrived at my unit's door, I was nervous and excited at the same time. I got a one bedroom apartment, and I knew it was going to be small. When my mom and I got in, I was flown back to reality. This is my 3 years worth of downpayment. While my reality matched my expectations because the flooring, kitchen and cabinet finish were great, there was a lot of natural light coming in and the bathroom was spacious and the developer has provided built in aircon slots in the bedroom and exhaust  slots in the kitchen, I had one thing on my mind: How am I going to fit all my dream furniture in this small space?! See, 32 sqm is not a lot. In fact, it's really tiny. In my head, I was already reducing my bed size from Queen to Full and my L-shaped sofa to a 2 seater love seat. I will probably have to scrap 2/3 of my pins in my Project Condo board. Expectation = Reality.

I then started researching on small space interiors from Apartment Therapy and the site has a lot of resources on how apartment owners can style their homes to maximize space. Some featured homes come even in 20-24sqm! That's when I knew my small space had hope. It was all in the layout and design. 

The Move

As I've mentioned earlier, there was no urgent need for me to move in, until that week when I remembered I have a 3-day Project Management training in Eastwood on April 2-4. I knew then I had to take advantage of my condo so that I can at least cut my commute time in half if I come from Mandaluyong instead of Paranaque. There was an immediate shift of priorities because of the urgency of the move, so I recalculated. Remember this post? Not one of those items enumerated were bought during the week of my move. I guess taking a more practical route took first dibs because I didn't have an endless pool of moolah to fund all my dream furniture at once. Expectation > Reality.

To be able to move in with the bare minimum, you have to buy the following: 

The bed

1. Mattress - There are so many things that one needs to consider in buying a bed frame and I didn't want to rush into the purchase just because of my 3 day training. I want my bed fame to be made of solid wood, in white or dark wood and with a couple of drawers for storage underneath. So I went futon style and  bought an Ambassador Ortho Prestige mattress in semi double. I knew right from the start that I didn't want a single bed, but a queen seemed too big for my room. A double was a good choice as well, but the OC in me wanted the edge of the mattress to fit a 50 inch frame. I took off the plastic cover on one side but kept the cover underneath to protect the mattress from dust. It has 15 year warranty service and I got it at a discounted price. 

Note: I have yet to give a review of Ambassador sales people from SM though. The mattress is awesome, but the service from SM was horrible

2. Pillows, pillow cases and bed linen - Apart from receiving keys during the turnover, Robinson's also gave me a standard sized pillow. It's soooooo fluffy and soft, I wanted to hug it all the time! Since they only gave me one, I wanted to get the second half of the pair so that my other pillowcase won't be lonely in the cabinet and I have something to hug when I sleep. I also purchased a waterproof mattress protector from SM and a 4 piece bed set that include 2 pillow cases, a fitted sheet and a flat sheet. Buying a duvet or comforter seemed impractical at this point because I haven't bought an airconditioning unit yet!

4. Electric fan - I got a black stand fan for 1,250 bucks in Handyman. It has a 5 year warranty and the fan generates good breeze that I only set it at the minimum setting. The downside is that it has a rather audible whirring sound as well. I will most likely use it for the living room once I install airconditioning in my bed room. 

5. Entry way and bath rugs - I bought two rugs for the bath and for the entry way, just so I won't have to tiptoe around my space and keep the dirt at a minimum. I kept my shoes near the entry way and made sure I use only my indoor slippers (a couple of pairs were provided by Robinson's as well!) when I'm in the unit. Still, I learned it the hard way that no matter how nice a white rug looks in pictures, it won't be white for long in real life. 

6. Trash cans for kitchen and restroom - I got a step on stainless steel trash can for the kitchen and a plastic grey bin for the rest room. If the bath room gets flooded (God forbid!), plastic might fare better in the restroom than the stainless steel kind.

7. Dinnerware and glass containers - I was seriously planning to eat out all the time, but when I came across the Corelle 16pc dinnerware in black and white, I had to take a second look. And what do you know, it's on sale! I also got myself 4 glass containers from Lock & Lock and I got them on a buy 1 take 1 bargain as well. I used it for storing sugar, creamer, oatmeal and ground coffee. 

The Perks and Trade Offs

It's only my second week at my new space and I definitely had a change of lifestyle. My constant concern is the number of furniture and house hold items that I still need to purchase, the utility bills and association bills that I need to pay for and well, my new perspective on independence. I bought groceries thinking of the value that I can get for my money. In short, I became more mindful in consuming. The biggest perk of living in a condo is the convenience. I save time and effort in the commute going to work (I it's a 5 minute walk plus tambling to my office because it's just right across my place) and I get more things done within 24 hours. I get to swim every 7 am and still have time for breakfast and coffee in the morning before going to the office.  Depending on the developer, the building can also offer pretty rad facilities. The trade off? It comes with a price, of course. 

A Thousand Things More To Do

Contractor meet up, check. Suppliers for blinds/curtains, check. Furniture research, check. Appliance canvassing, check. It's a lot of work, living on your own and establishing a life in your own space. I've been learning a lot these past couple of weeks and one thing we need to remind ourselves during the move in process is that there is no rush. You don't want to get trapped into the false urgency of having everything at once. The key is to research, discern and decide carefully so that you will have no regrets with your home improvement purchases. The important thing is to fill your home only with things that you really love and finding a purpose for everything. It's having the balance between function and aesthetic that is essential to making the dream a reality.

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Art Stalking: Molly Hatch Furniture and Ceramic Paintings

So if you're one of the 5 people who read this blog (hi sisters, Jim and Mom!), you've probably read a recent entry about my brand spanking new apartment to be turned over to me within this month. I'm due for final unit viewing next week, before I receive the keys, so I'm absolutely excited about this milestone and the process of buying furniture, decoration and finally moving in. I've been Pinteresting for HOURS for ideas, and I've been going gaga over my awesome discoveries in the cloud.

Today, I discovered ceramicist, printmaker and painter, Molly Hatch and I absolutely covet her work for my apartment!

Just looking at it makes me soooooo happy! It's not even mine! 

These chairs were hand painted based on historical prints for *drumroll please* The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Anthropologie! Can you imagine being in collaboration with THE MET and ANTHROPOLOGIE? Geezus, this lady has mad skills.

Apart from designing and working with furniture, Molly is also known for painting on ceramics. Photos above are the the installations that she made at her solo exhibition last year during London Design Week. I absolutely love the idea of using plates as canvas. And and her use of space is very clever. The ceramics can be used for display as an one unit on the wall, or individually for, well, serving food. But of course, these pieces are not for sale (as if I can afford them), but it's pretty cool that she makes art that's both decorative and practical.

Less colorful, but still equally awesome works from her exhibit Reverie at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 2013. She is very influenced with history and a lot of her paintings are reminiscent of those 18th century drawings from Europe.

Check out more of her work at her official website and her process at her blog

Photo credit: www.mollyhatch.com

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Project Condo 2014

The previous post about our beloved Whitney's passing away was kinda heavy, I feel like I needed to look at the brighter side of life and celebrate the better things that are happening or will happen this year. I will be going through a big leap these next couple of months, because I am set to move into my new apartment by mid May!

Three years ago, I invested on a condo unit for my 25th birthday. It's not really big--just a one bedroom apartment in the city so that I can save commute time by not having to pass along the South Super Highway everytime I go to work. My place is a few minutes away from Ortigas, Makati and Taguig, which is perfect for me since my office is located at McKinley Hill. I have already submitted all the necessary paper work, my bank loan has been approved, and I'm just waiting for the keys to be handed over by end of March. Ahhhh, my own space and my own real estate! While I have experienced living alone when I travel, I still think this is quite a milestone, because aside from moving out of our home in B.F., it's I am perfectly aware that my lifestyle is going to change. I'm going to cook for myself, buy groceries for myself, clean the condo, do my own laundry, rely on my own alarm clock to wake me up in the morning... Haha. It's surreal, but at the same time, it's reality--I am indeed a grown up. *oh snap*

I've been Pinteresting for the longest time about how I imagine my bedroom and living room would look like. The plan is to keep it as minimalist and as neutral-colored as possible. White walls and then white, grey and black furniture. The key pieces of my new home will be in neutral colors and other decorative elements such as pillow cases, wall art, bed sheets, curtains can be changed into brighter colors depending on my mood.

I've been doing a mental checklist of the things that I need to buy, I only have the top 5 things that I plan on buying by May 2014. 

1. A bed, preferably double bed size or if my space permits, queen size. I've been staying in a single bed for most of my life, I want a change this time! I'd like to have a cushioned headboard so I wouldn't need a pillow when I read. If I can't find a cushioned one, then a headboard with a shelf would be nice, so that I don't have to put side tables. Oh I'd invest on good white and grey bed sheets too, and get pillowcases of different colours! 

2. A work table and a work chair - I plan on putting this near the window for more natural light. Solid wood with drawers for my art materials and crafty trinkets. It would be against the wall so I can put my own pinboard/mood board for illustration ideas

3. A book shelf where I can put more books and CDs. Since I don't have a lot of space, I probably would only bring art/design books with me and a few fiction reads and leave the rest of them at our house in Paranaque. I want to make sure that the things that I bring to the condo are functional and would help me remain inspired. 

4. A sofa and coffee table. I want my sofa to be grey or black, with changeable throw pillow cases for pop of color or maybe patterned design if I get bored with seeing stuff in neutral colors. I want it to be a 3 seater sofa, because I will be scrimping on dining room space. I probably won't even buy a big dining set! 

5. A dining set for 4 or 2. Visitors, let's just have pizza na lang! Or sandwiches! Or shawarma! Anything that you can just hold while eating! Haha. 

I'm very excited about this new phase of my life. Now if only I have enough moolah to buy them all at once!

Check out my pins for Project Condo 2014 here!

Disclaimer: All photos in this post are borrowed from: Planete Deco | A Merry Mishap Blog

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