Gal at Home® Design Studio
Interior Design and Decoration | Manila, Philippines
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- by Gal at Home
A couple posts back, I wrote about a two-bedroom condo we had worked on for a space-planning eDesign project. We had to create condo design ideas for a lovely couple who wanted a clean, minimalist look that fit right into the Japandi (that’s Japanese-Scandinavian) style peg.
Our clients are a lovely couple who had just come home from an international job post. The two-bedroom condo they rented was empty, but they had no idea how to arrange their furniture. They wanted to make their new home look cozy and warm, but to still maintain the clean and minimalist aesthetic they were going for.
There were some things they couldn’t agree on, like where to place the dining table, what window treatments to get for their curved walls with floor-to-ceiling windows. They had one furniture brand in mind for the look they wanted, but didn’t want to buy everything from just one store.
We split up the eDesign project into two phases: We started working on the living, dining, and entryway areas first. Later on, we worked on their bedroom and home office.
Phase 1A of Condo eDesign: A welcoming entryway
Since I already talked at length about how we came up with the design ideas for this two-bedroom condo, I’ll just show you the transformation that this once-empty home went through.
BEFORE: Uneventful foyer
When you open the front door to this condo unit, there’s only a short hallway before you immediately see the kitchen and the living room.
AFTER: An entry with purpose and impact
With the help of just three major pieces, we were able to put some function and form to this short entryway.
Our clients had two sideboards with solihiya (woven cane) panels on the sliding doors custom-made by Yanna’s Home. Inside the sideboards is ample storage space for shoes, which, like almost everyone nowadays, they remove and stash away before entering the condo unit.
A brass-framed mirror from Home Cartel stands sentry above items for disinfecting, and catch-alls for small items like keys. To keep things neat and tidy, they picked functional items all in white, for a uniform look.
Here’s another view of the mirror and custom sideboards. By having shoe storage made with sliding doors, our clients were able to maximize the very tight foyer space.
Phase 1B of Condo eDesign: A well-curated living and dining room
To create a Japandi-inspired home, curation is key.
This means you need to select very few pieces that are highly functional, but still contribute to the clean and natural aesthetic of Japanese-Scandinavian style.
BEFORE: Basic and empty living and dining room
AFTER: Warm and cozy living and dining room
Black frames for black and white photos taken by our client adorn the wall of this living room. The sofa was actually a replacement for an Ikea piece that our clients ended up reselling, as they weren’t happy with the firmness of the Ikea couch.
Sofa from Crate & Barrel. Center table from Blims Furniture. Sabi armchair and ottoman from IPW Furniture. Frankfurt floor lamp from Retail Therapy. Curtains and sheers from Shade MNL.
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The Boston center table from Blims Furniture serves a dual purpose as a work table too. Back when we hadn’t yet fixed their home office, my client needed a space where she could work on her art while her hubby used the only electric table in their home.
Nowadays, they use this as a place to rest their iPads…or a bowl of popcorn while watching TV, perhaps?
The TV bench was custom-made by Yanna’s Home, while the Eket bookshelves are from IPW Furniture.
The round tulip table with the marble top is also a customized piece from Avant Garde Retails.
When we suggested a round dining table, our clients admitted they had their doubts. But we made sure that the space around it had sufficient space for moving chairs back and for walking around it. Now, our clients feel it makes perfect sense to walk around the table.
To ground the dining table and make it feel deliberate that it’s floating in the middle of the space, we recommended moving the dining room lamp drop in the center of the table.
The lamp is from Home Cartel, while the mod dining chairs are from Edia Home.
A Cozy and Relaxing Reading Nook
Sandwiched between the sofa and the armchair are the Frankfurt floor lamp from Retail Therapy, and a “coffee table” (more of a side table than a coffee table!) from Mod Living.
The side table was actually another replacement item. More often than not, some of the items we select for our eDesign clients end up out of stock too soon. But because we have provided a design direction for our clients, they were able to source this side table on their own!
We think it looks great, as it still reflects the minimalist palette of white and light wood that we went for in our Japandi-inspired condo.
This corner has actually become our client’s “morning spot”. We think it’s a great place to sip coffee, read your favorite book, and reflect.
Check out Phase 2 of this condo eDesign project in another blog post!
I put up more photos of how home office turned out in another blog post here, but in the meantime, here’s a pic of what it looked like BEFORE we created home office design ideas for our clients.
Read the blog post on the home office by clicking here.
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Download ourfree Gal at Home® eDesign Experience brochureand learn our services, rates, timelines,visual samples of our deliverables,actual client testimonials...and more!
