I went to the opening party of Bahay Home last night, and was so impressed with the new showroom.
Located in Culver City, Bahay Home would be best described as zen/organinic meets modern/minimal.
As you walk into the store you cant help but think your walking into someone’s fabulous modern loft.
The space is decorated beautifully with lots of large scaled artwork, and everything in the store can be ordered custom in any size or fabric. One of the owners Kana Manglapus (who was a pleasure to meet) was taking orders all night long!
Bahay Home is located at 3825 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90232 Tel. 310 836 2181
More pics below the fold
Is this a Filipino-owned/operated establishment? 'Bahay' means 'house' in Tagalog, and the general effect is a reworking of the SE-Asian style in the modern vernacular.
yes, i made the same observation. and the website doesn't provide any details.
very curious.
Fils like to lay lowhhhhhh! Those are some very Chinesey looking items. That couch looks perfect for right in front of my in wall air conditioner - in wall - what a bad idea.
Yeah, Turquoise and Matthew in DC nailed the aesthetic of the place in their comments. The pieces look much richer in person. (The above photographs wash out the deep colors and interesting woodgrains.)
I posted my thoughts on Bahay on a previous thread and am cutting and pasting them here for convenience:
"Bahay is everything I'd hoped it would be. I've always loved the exotic woods, capiz, mother of pearl, linens, silks, and primitive folk art of the Philippines. But much of what gets imported into the US is cheesey and tacky--mostly the poorly-made merch that is produced for tourists. Bahay takes these native materials and adds a sexy, contemporary sheen to them. The furniture is clean-lined, modern and looked to be very well-made. The prices are very good--especially for the wood pieces, which are especially reasonable given the quality. Also, I loved that the store stocked a lot of primitive folk-art pieces. I ended up buying a small, primitive stone Tao-Tao statue and a modernist egg made of exotic Kamagong wood. (If I can resolve my email issues, I'll post a pic of my purchases on the Flickr slideshow.) Owner Kana Manglapus was a charming hostess and extended generous discounts tonight on many of the floor models. Bottom line: if you feel like breaking out of the DWR/Room and Board box and adding some *authentic* modern exoticism into your design mix, Bahay is definitely worth checking out."
PS to Matthew. I asked Kana about the manufacturing, and she confirmed that it was all done at a facility in the Philippines.
Enrique--thanks for the detailed response! I'll be referring my family in LA to this resource.
i rarely see a store where i like every single thing, a lot (judging from just the photos).
i look forward to visiting them...thanks for all the details!
Hi guys! I heard so much buzz about this new Filipino furniture store and I just had to come see it for myself. From the moment I walked in, I was speechless. Everything was beautiful. The furniture was classy but not boring. It's modern yet warm and different. The loungy music added a relaxing ambiance to the setting. Finally, a Filipino store in Los Angeles that represented our culture in a hip, cool, elegant, beautiful way. Something that would appeal to Americans. Unlike those other cheezy Filipino stores, this gives you a sense of pride to be a Filipino. I met Miguel who was very helpful and accomodating (very handsome as well) and he said that his brother designs some of the furniture himself like that long black table with a light colored wood inlay in the middle. You have to come see it! Please tell all your friends about Bahay. We need to support stores like these that capture Filipino art and design in the most elegant beautiful way.
I tried to google their website but no luck. Can anyone post the website? Thanks!
Pinky, they don't have anything on their site but a homepage (unfortunately) but you can click on their name at the top and it'll take you there.
Hi everyone!
Thank you so much for your support! And for celebrating with us at the opening. We hope to see you again very soon. Thank you Enrique and Vanessa for your generous posts!
Our website is coming soon, but in the meantime you can see a few photos at www.bahayhome.com.
Mabuhay!
Kana, Sam, Miguel, Marga, and Eugene
the home is sweet... is mix of japanese? i'm studying interior and i don't know yet much of other country's design... but i'm please to see this one...
Dear people at Bahay --
I'm interested in your tusk coffee table, dimensions, price, etc.
Hello everyone! Our website is now officially up so please visit us at www.bahayhome.com. We have a lot of new and interesting items.
view bahayhome's profile
I love hearing about new stores and especially learning to hear that a my native land is in the picture of bringing modern design into North America - was interesting to see the name in a cross link - Bahay meaning "home" - great name for a store! Looking forward to my next LA trip to stop by and take a look. Does this mean Bahay has a retail location in Manila that I can forward clients to versus shipping or having to get everything custom made. Interesting to see the mix of accessories and furniture. I would categorize the furniture to be more of an Asian influence - modern zen - perfect for a touch of culture and texture to a space. I will add to my blog http://gaileguevara.blogspot.com/ under my links as a great "modern zen" source
view gaileguevara's profile