Painted Headboard

No space is too small for some smart stylin'! 

If your room can't fit anything else but a mattress, and there's absolutely no space for a headboard, then try painting it on the wall.  Defines the space, adds a point of interest for the room, and is just plain charming and cute.  

This idea was brought to you by Katie Ermillio for Rue Magazine.  

Jacques Garcia for Baker

In love with the new furniture line of Jacques Garcia for Baker Furniture.

Simple lines, luxe materials, sexy looks.

I want that St. James sofa so bad.

It's could be the lovechild of Marie Antoinette and Lenny Kravitz.

Inspired

Pardon the lack of posts, for I have been traveling and went to Paris for business and holiday.  My discoveries at the Maison et Objet Furniture fair were posted last week at Grupo Santamaria -- the  website of my design firm that has a blog feature as well. Just to clear things up, that blog will be the venue for sharing work-related design experiences with you, such as the business trips to lovely cities.  Although I'm sure you'll understand how the lines of work and pleasure are sometimes blurred as I try to live and breathe design...

Chandelier-by-the-Sea, on the other hand, was originally meant to chronicle my weekend and holiday life by the ocean, as I and my friends surf and soak up the sun, smiles, and good vibes that come with a life dancing with waves.  Along with a bunch of random experiences outside the office that leave me...well, inspired.   

I will try to post here more often now that I'm back in Manila and surf season is in full swing.  

Meanwhile, I leave you with my room inspiration for the week: a bedroom in Almunecar, Granada, designed by Susanna Cots.  

Clean, minimal, yet cozy.  

This definitely goes up on my future beach house mood board.  

Hey Sexy

This Vita side table from Uncontrollable Urge

Rare marble base with folded anodised aluminum top.  OMG.

I love simple forms used ingeniously! 

This table is so elegant in its simplicity it hurts to look at it.  

Bring sexy back into your home. 

My Week in 10 Photos

T'was a busy but pleasant week for me and Grupo Santamaria.

Sharing with you some snapshots of the past few days, in random order:

we worked on 2 client presentations

always thinking about my trip to Paris in September

can't wait to do these walking tours when I get there

The UP Architectural Students Association of the Philippines 

did a tour of Grupo Santamaria for their "firm-hopping" activity.  

Although I still can't get over how 20-25 people fit in my office, we had FUN! 

To be blogged soon at Grupo Santamaria.

Was visited by these 2 dear friends...bringing heaps of good news with them!

*wink*wink*

Did some shopping for a returning Client...

...and for me!

(haha! Brought home this new frock from the Zara sale. 

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do)

attended a Production Design talk by Leeroy New

visited a new job site in Alabang

(I can imagine the new house rising---a very good lot, with eucalyptus trees on one side) 

Meet Boulette (French for Meatball). 

I had to dog-sit for my friend Apol from La Pomme, now I don't want to return her anymore.

And the furniture-hunting continues.  

Work goes on, til next week, friends. 

:-) 

Poolside Guest House

If you had an extra 30 or 40 square meters and could build a guest house on it, how would it look like?

I love everything about this place! Note: I wouldn't necessarily say this is how I want my own home to look like, it's a bit too frilly for me.  BUT I think it is perfect for a guest house by the pool (if you have one), or a farm house or weekend getaway on a tiny lot far away.  What I like best about this home is the very smart space layout where the kitchen and the charming little dining area is across each other.  You can see the space is small but you won't really mind it.

Kudos to Tillman Long Interiors, an interior design company based in Atlanta, for this gem of a guest house.

Beach House Blues

This is my beach house inspiration for the week.

A lovely Sag Harbor, Hamptons home by Willey Design who says, 

"Life is too short for an all-beige room". 

I love that the dining, kitchen, and living room all flow into one big space.

The choice of lighting fixtures & the mix of blues & aquas are also superb.  

Two thumbs up!

Batik Love!

I am in love with these fins from Deus Ex Machina.

Inlaid and foiled by hand in Canggu, Bali, Indonesia.

Handmade batik fins.  Oh my. *siiiiigh* 

Perfect for interior designer-surfers like me!!!

Seeing Green

So cool to see this from The Sartorialist last May 20...

...a month after I wore a "green sleeveless print dress" to a store opening in Bulacan!

(the invite told us to wear shades of green,  I'm glad most of the guests complied!)

with my friend Rhycel Marcelo & 

Celine Simbulan-Darcen (Managing Director for Sales & Marketing)

  Thank you for inviting me to be one of the guests of honor. 

Congratulations to The Simbulan Group of Companies for opening "Our House Lifestyle Store!"

To know more about their store click HERE

The Fitzgerald Suite & Other Deco Obsessions

I read The Great Gatsby some five years ago on a rainy-day streak in apartment and I couldn't believe a Hollywood production has yet to be made about it.  Now that it's finally here, I can't wait to watch it and be transported to the beautiful, innovative, and opulent Jazz Age.  I have a date with you soon, Baz Luhrman! And ok, you too, Leo.

I am so amazed at the designs coming from this era.  The playful geometric forms, organic-inspired themes, sharp and bold graphics, bling-bling everywhere! It was just such a modern, positive, unique & assertive age in design! For me it expressed the progress, urbanization, and vigor of the world coming out of the post-Victorian era and World War I.  And I haven't even started talking about one of the most elegant structures it has produced, The Chrysler Building.

interior pegs via

Now how AWESOME is that Fitzgerald Fan? Too cool.

Meanwhile check out The Fitzgerald Suite at The Plaza Hotel in New York (a personal favorite of Fitzgerald), in collaboration with Restoration Hardware.  At $2,795 a night, you can live like Jay & Daisy (the pillows on the bed even have their monograms), watch the film on HDTV, and for the design-obsessed like me, just drown in the Deco details  of the room.

the brilliant logo as woven on the carpet

note how the fabric on the curtains and rugs reflect the Gatsby graphics

Deco details

This makes me want to re-visit the works of one of my favorite artists, Tamara de Lempicka. , an important 20th century figurative painter whose life and works represented the strength and beauty of the modern woman of her times.  I was drawn to her art years ago (and I remember giving Rajo Laurel a book about her for his birthday)...because it reminded me of my favorite book characters, Howard Roark & Dominique Francon from 'The Fountainhead'.  If they needed to be illustrated by anybody, it would be de Lempicka.  

In the real world, her works remind me of Madonna, Coco Chanel, Eva Peron, Wallis Simpson, and Anais Nin-- all collectors of her work.  

On a trip to Singapore 2 years ago, I bought a book on Art Deco prints.  I was so in love with it! Seems like the right time to feature it--- it will be blogged soon. :-)

Here's a teaser: 

Looking at this print makes me so happy. 

 And I'm sure this will, too. 

Thank you for your legendary book, Mr. F.Scott Fitzgerald.