Furnishing ideas to attain your dreamy, comfy home

WONDERFUL finds at Eclectic Living Shop

For interior design, furniture defines the amplitude of a space. Different lifestyles call for distinctive interpretations of color schemes, design and functionality.

When shopping, it is wise to first look around for furniture options and compare styles and prices. It is ideal to also layout the furniture with tape on the floor to make sure the proportions are correct.

EXPLORER bedroom

Here are some of my favorite shops in the city that give you lots of furnishing ideas to attain your dreamy and comfy home.

5 Signature Lifestyles

Ethan Allen designs are inspired by five Signature Lifestyles—Modern, Vintage, Explorer, Romance and Elegance. Its pieces can be interpreted and arranged to reflect whatever fits your lifestyle best.

What’s good about Ethan Allen pieces is that items can easily crossover between the five Signature Lifestyles. Plus they have a vast selection of fabrics and finishes, which further increase the range of design options.

The Modern Signature is understated, cool and sleek. It has a base of classicism layered with contemporary impressions. The Vintage Signature is an engaging mix of color, texture and distressed finishes, while both the Romance and Elegance Signatures feature distinguished European flair with the essence of timeless sophistication.

The Explorer Signature is my favorite with its intricately detailed woods, global-inspired fabrics, and natural fibers. It has a sense of adventure to it.

COMPLETE bedding line of Linens Direct at Our Home

In the Philippines, Ethan Allen is exclusively distributed by Focus Global, a marketer of premium home furnishings and appliances. Their brands include SieMatic, Sub-zero, Wolf, Miele and Pella.

It is best to shop at Ethan Allen this weekend, as they are having their annual anniversary sale until tomorrow. They are offering huge discounts on all stock items and indent orders. Ethan Allen is located at Pioneer corner Reliance streets, Mandaluyong City, and at The Residences at Greenbelt, San Lorenzo Tower, Esperanza Street, Makati City.

Design principle

Another fave shop is Eclectic Living Shop. The feeling of relaxed eclecticism is the design principle of Eclectic Living Shop. As the name implies, this furniture and home accessories store marries both classic and modern styles into one congruent and beautiful interior space.

Shop owner Joby Belmonte specializes in custom-made furniture, adding his expert design taste. The shop accepts reupholstering, refurbishing and reconfiguring of old furniture pieces as well. Other services include conversion of decorative items into lamps, commissioned artworks, customized window treatments, and ready-made furniture and home accessories.

Eclectic Living is located at 2/F Suite 225, LRI Design Center, 210 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air Makati, with telephone 519-2938. It houses numerous furniture shops and art galleries to create beautifully livable spaces.

Cosmopolitan mix

COSMOPOLITAN mix of furniture and accessories at Nest Shop

Nest Shop is a seamless composition of quintessentially classic design elements with a twist. This home and lifestyle store is located on Jupiter Street corner Paseo de Roxas Street in Makati.

At Nest, you will find a cosmopolitan mix of contemporary and traditional furniture pieces, surrounded by delightful home accessories. Nest also specializes in custom-ordered furniture made specifically to your needs and comfort.

Interior stylists Marissa Lopa and Anton Barretto teamed up with good friends Malu Gamboa and Kitty Jacinto to open Nest. Their shared delight in beautiful things for the home convinced them to open a shop to service friends and clients.

The partners took a trip to Morocco recently so treasures from the exotic country can be found in the store, like antique doors and windows, delicate pottery and old carpets. Marissa and Anton find inspiration through their travels, bringing home pieces to sell at Nest.

Nest also features art, such as paintings by Tessa Alindogan.  Additionally they have delicately crafted accessories by artisans Bianca Santos and Kathy Webb. Recently Nest launched the Rhett Eala line of apparel.

Reasonably priced furniture

No list is complete without Our Home. The Our Home shops in several SM Malls have a complete range of furniture options at reasonable prices. They offer everything to furnish a home—from sofas, dining sets and complete bed sets, to curtains, beddings and accessories. Check out their latest bohemian crafts, all sourced from India.

Linens Direct is one of the collections of bed linens and duvet fills available at major Our Home branches. All sheets are made of 100-percent cotton to provide utmost comfort. The indulgent quality of Linens Direct is most evident in the way the fabric touches the skin providing a smooth glide and allowing the body to breathe. The linens are manufactured in a process that combines traditional weaving techniques and cutting-edge technology.

Lastly, I mustn’t forget MC Home Depot. They always have great options at economical prices. Window shopping is fun at this complex because the options are endless.

After checking out all the interior design stores, always remember to check dimensions first before making that final purchase. Happy interior designing!

Follow @tessavaldes on Twitter or e-mail her at [email protected].