Valentine Pinks

Valentine's Day came and went and these are some pink & red images to remember the day by:

from VT Interiors

Behati on a pink sofa

Victoria's Secret
stripes & polka dots will always look great in pink
(but then if you look like her you'll look great in anything!)

Chinoiserie from a wallpaper book I was browsing in Singapore

from Vintage Vogue

I don't recall where I got this...it's 1 of my fave images

Jackie O in a pink wool suit

from Nuevo Estilo

by Helen Frankenthaler.
1 of my fave abstract painters of all time.

That's about it...a short roundup of pink & red images for this month.  

Put a li'l love in your heart :-)

remember to love yourself this Valentine's Day and everyday, my friends! 

In a pink Brown Belly bedjacket...a happy day at Zambales, November 2010.
click on this link to vote for your favorite image at Brown Belly's contest:
"What Makes you Happy?"

Au Revoir!

Africa Dreaming

I saw this today and couldn't take it off my mind.  I want to go here 1 day & see a different but no less beautiful side of the world.

This is a resort in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park.

It's like romance & knowledge & adventure (yes, that combination, haha) await you outside the door.

For an interior designer, there is something about tents & wooden floors & canvas fabric & sisal rugs that make my heart beat faster!  The wonderful textures and colors that connect the indoors & outdoors to create a unique, furnished world-- it is a palette not familiar to this island girl but nonetheless as captivating as the tropical one.

Keira Knightley for Vogue

And ok ok, fine, include the tigers, hyenas and the zebras as well.  They're as exciting & as worth seeing too.

To all the places we want to see & all the adventures in store for all of us, CHEERS!

This Week's Work

Top of the drawing board this week:

1.  A kick-ass showroom for wall & floor coverings.  The first of its kind (promise)! Designed with the convenience & shopping pleasure of architects & interior designers in mind.  Location: Libis

Approval obtained from Client this week.  On to the Bill of Materials!

A friendly note to the reader:
I slaved over these drawings and designs for several sleepless nights & surfless weekends.  DO NOT STEAL & use for other purposes other than for our mutual inspiration, anticipation, and apreciation.

If you are going to share, at least post a link back to this site.
Thank you very much! 

2.  A joint dermatologist's and ophthalmologist's clinic.  Super smart & charming husband-&-wife team.  Harvard & Boston University-educated.  Location: St. Luke's at Fort

Property of Grupo Santamaria Interior Design

3.  A bridal / wedding lounge owned by my good friend Charisse Tinio of NicePrint Photography.  Location: Shaw Boulevard

their new logo, 1 of their photos that will be displayed at the lounge,  & my initial schematic study.
We set this up already last night, almost ready for turnover.  Will post photos soon. :-)

4.  A 2-bedroom city condo for a family of 5, in the casual, modern minimalist style.  Location: Rockwell

the 1st page of our Concept Book

The approved Master Bedroom
Property of Grupo Santamaria Interior Design

5.  A 3-bedroom residence renovation in the "urban retro" style (house was built in the 1960's).  Fabulous details from original structure inspire! e.g. oversized jalousie and clerestory windows, high ceiling & walls with wooden strip panelling.  Location: Malabon City

Above: photos from our 1st site visit last year.  

The retro door, the awesome daylight on that living & dining space, the supercool stair balusters...I fell in love immediately.  And check out those "giant" jalousies on that window.  They don't make them like that anymore!

Our dining, kitchen, & bedroom proposal perspectives.
Property of Grupo Santamaria Interior Design

And that, my friends, has been what this week's busy-ness was all about.  I dream of finding a new tube of Kiehl's Midnight Repair on my desk when I wake up tomorrow (hello eyebags).

So tomorrow morning I'm meeting a new client for a sporting goods store in the Fort.  And it's right across Bubble Tea! Oooohhh, I will be looking forward to job site visits for this one. :-)

Almond milkshake, here I come!

 My work desk as shot by Charlie Gomez.



“There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time 


for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” 


― Coco Chanel

(I was going to object with a "but what about time for surf?" But then I realized surf is love.  So I guess that covers all bases!)

Ribbon Ring

And speaking of coffee, isn't this image just lovely?  

That ring...just the most delicate and pretty thing to look at before I head off to two construction sites today and wallow in dirt & grime! 

The ribbon ring and the morning room.  Something to carry in my head the whole day.  :-) 

image from pinkbow

Morning Room

Interior Design by Andra Birkerts

One of those rooms I would wish to wake up in.  

The only thing lacking is a cup of coffee and a telescope. 

Good morning!

More Whites

More whites on my mind.  This all started weeks ago when I was asked to design a bridal lounge & I went all out French neo-classic with a twist of Hollywood retro (friends, think Barbara Barry gone Scandinavian), thus igniting in me a thirst for all things white & metallic...and a (well, temporary) distaste for all things bright & colorful.  

I dug DEEP into my files to share with you more of my fave white images.  The first one is the most persistent one. This was my peg for the bridal lounge I am currently designing for a friend.  

That mirror designed with Hermes saddle straps...it is just too elegant.
Adnet Collection by Jacques Adnet

volumes of Vogue in a Hollywood home, from Habitually Chic.   

My future kitchen would definitely be white.  

heavenly whites, brass tray cart as side table

all 4 photos above from Rue Magazine

Hotel Acuzar in Mexico,  as shared by
From the Right Bank

White has also been on my friend NdP's mind a couple of months back.  Check out Color Obsession: White  It's such a classic look, a classic color (or non-color, if you want to be technical), and my eye is always looking & welcoming it nowadays.  Awesome when paired with gold...

like gold trim on white porcelain 

like golden skin. A VERY young Kate Moss 

or when paired with natural wood
(the flower girls' dresses at her wedding last year)

or, like when paired with bamboo

Art Deco dresses by Jasper

gold speckles deliciously & perfectly spattered on dirty white...
another hypnotic work of art by Nena Saguil

*Notice how Nena Saguil's paintings pop up in almost every other entry in this blog? I don't think I'll ever tire of going back to her work for inspiration.  And this is exactly what C-by-the-Sea is for me, a journal of inspiration to go back to anytime. :-)  (and you are very much welcome to share it with me)

 I've always dreamed of a white office-- like the late, great Yves Saint Laurent's.

and the most famous "white" office ever--
Anna Wintour's.

I guess I'm not the only one who likes fresh roses in the office.

and more roses...from my friend Mikko's wedding back in 2009.

Which white do you like best? 

I think it's just irresistible the way nature made it...whether hot or cold, sand or snow.  

See below. 

"The game of kings is the king of games"---or something like that.  Polo in the snow, from Nowness

 a photo I took at Palawan Island, Philippines, 2006.
Yes, it is the BEST & WHITEST sand I've ever set foot on.
Or ever laid my eyes on.
(no photoshop here, friends)




All that incredible, blinding white.  What a sight.  Goodnight!