Sunday, July 17, 2011

Beach House 1


At least once everyday, I daydream about my future beach house.  I tuck away ideas in a folder in my laptop & smile when I look at them when I need inspiration.  Here is the beach house for today, from Piet Boon...



I am somewhere at the tip of Northern Philippines right now & I'm totally feeling these interiors.  Looking again at the natural wood, concrete floors & white walls & hearing the roaring surf outside makes me look forward to going back to work tomorrow & bustin' my ass so I could build this veeeery soon.  Have a good day!



Title Story (Part 1)

I chose "Chandelier by the Sea" as my blog name because of 3 reasons:

1. It has something to do with 2 of the things I love most in the world: interior design & surfing.
2. It connotes something smooth & elegant in the middle of something rough, & that's appealing to me. In interiors, art, dance, people, stories....
3.  And because some time ago, one of my favorite design writers, Coco Kelley, wrote an entry titled "Chandelier by the Sea" featuring a beach house w/ a chandelier....and she says that "to me, a room is never complete unless it has a fabulous chandelier in it..." and I couldn't agree more!

Call it fate, or just call me an old soul.  My first job after college was as a design consultant in an Italian Murano art gallery, and basically I sold / sales-talked clients into buying beautiful (and sometimes reeeeeaaally gaudy & overpriced) handblown Venetian chandeliers, just like this:





Yes I know, it's not for everyone. Especially the ones done in the Rezzonico style. But different strokes for different folks, you know! *wink!wink!* ...and up to now, if you ask me to, I could take apart & assemble a Murano chandelier as fast as some people would with a big gun or, whatever. This was a typical sight in the backroom office: 



I had to describe to clients (w/ enthusiasm, of course) what makes them so beautiful & why it was so expensive, over & over again. I recited the process of hand-blowing these works of art so many times (over the course of 9 months, actually) 'til it sounded like I had actually been to Venice & was actually trained under the great masters of this craft.

Looking back, I remember all the glittery chandeliers, some w/ 18 or 24k gold flecks, hanging in the store...illuminating the jewelry & mosaic panels & other glassy things in the store. It was a good 1st job, I would say.  It was handcrafted & that was important to me.  Although I would probably sell more if I was pushing chandeliers that were more my taste, like this: 





...in the next entry, I'll share how these things found its way into my works today as an interior designer. For now I bid you goodnight.  It's an early day tomorrow & surf will be waiting outside  :-) 


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Hello!

A chance for me to share with you (starting with 6 images) the pleasures of living in my world: quite ordinary & random but like I've always believed, happiness & peace of mind is a choice we make, and likewise you only attract as much misery as you give out.  Chandelier-by-the-Sea will be a collection of good stuff I'd like to go back to-- inspiration, smiles, positivity, yes all that-- for the times when melancholy comes my way:








pacific ocean view by my cousin CSG









an interior in my I Love List





The things & events I encounter in my life as an interior designer (w/ a weekend life as a surfer) are quite amusing but moving & memorable sometimes, and this is my experiment to record these moments as they come. 

"Beauvoir" (an interior in my I Love list)


We can always either be grateful for what we have been blessed with or sulk & fear what tomorrow may bring. I intend for this to be a personal collection & reference of inspiration and anyone interested is welcome to take a look.  I don't know what this endeavor will turn into, we'll find out along the way... 
                                 
Sophia Coppola w/ her LV: a fan of both of them

flowers from my mom's garden


my apartment in the city (& yes the flowers are from outside my door)



rom the Kate Spade Adeline bike ad w/c got me obsessed for quite some time w/ polka dots & orange nail polish

And so I shall be ending my 1st entry by quoting my dearest friends and saying, "good karma, good life". Stay blessed, everyone!