Newer, better ways to decorate condo units

Property, Real estate, Condo units, Interior design, Real Living Space

Six unique creations from 11 up and coming interior designers and stylists graced the second year of Real Living Space.

Organized by Real Living Magazine of Summit Media and presented by Robinsons Residences and HardieFlex by JamesHardie the expo-cum-trade-show Real Living Space last Oct. 25 to 26 showcased the best of some of the top interior designers and stylists in the country.

Five one-bedroom condo units in The Magnolia Residences, New Manila, Quezon City, each around 30 to 35 square meters in dimension, were designed for a specific client with a distinct personality.

AYET San Jose’s use of color makes the simple quirky and interesting.

Makeover tips

Majority of the 1,750 visitors—beating last year’s record of 1,500—were homeowners looking for ideas on how to decorate their space, and some of them were families looking for condos to buy for themselves, said Real Living editor in chief Rachelle Medina. The participating interior designers and stylists, as well as licensed designers and stylists among Real Living’s editorial team, offered them makeover tips for improving their own homes. Not only that, Real Living Space also hosted a series of craft and home improvement workshops that the visitors participated in.

Real Living Space also featured a mini-trade fair of select products—which were used in the concept designs—from furniture to carpets, and from lighting to plumbing fixtures. Also used were products from participating sponsors Kuysen Enterprises Inc., Whirpool Philippines, Ace Hardware, Fujidenzo, ADA, BPI Family Bank, ELBA Philippines, Häfele Hardware Technology, La Germania, Nippon Paint, Carrier and AllHome. And since Real Living is as much about attainability as it is about aesthetics, most of the elements used in the designs were up for grabs at reasonable prices.

Real Living organized the Real Living Space last year, in commemoration of its 10th anniversary, with a display of four rooms-turned-cozy living spaces by eight designers at The Trion Towers at Bonifacio Global City.

The concept, according to Real Living associate publisher Tom Castañeda, was to have visitors actually standing in and viewing six meticulously designed living spaces by some of the country’s top designers, instead of just reading them through the pages of a magazine.

This year, Real Living has upped the ante and featured the works of interior designers Wilmer Lopez, Kristine Neri-Magturo, Hannah Acab-Faustino, John Vigilia, Kimi Manuel and Ayet San Jose, and stylists Charlene Carlos and Leona Panutat of L’Indochine, and Mark San Diego and YsaVillar of Edition Lifestyle.

The new and improved Real Living Space has more and newer talents, since they “wanted new blood, new people and new designs,” Castañeda said. “Young talents see things in a new light—even those in the business for quite some time will learn,” he added.