Name: Richard Raymundo for Berna Santiago
Location: Makati City. Manila, Philippines
Size: 500 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years
Good friends are hard to come by. Good friends who can and offer to help you redecorate your space are even a rarer commodity. Berna's friend Richard answered her call for some serious help to help decorate her new Manila apartment, decorating her space with a mix of locally sourced items mixed in with some decorative items from Beijing, where Richard travels for business. The apartment is a mixture of modernity with cultural detailing, with simple forms combined with traditional ornamentation that gives the 500 square feet apartment a sophisticated, yet comfortable, presence.
AT Survey:
My/Our style: Modern with strong Asian influence.
Inspiration: Berna bought the apartment from a previous owner. When she asked me to help her decorate the apartment, I was traveling to Beijing for business. That is where I got most of the accessories to make the space unique.
Favorite Element: The living room with framed Chinese propaganda posters. Those are actually from an old Taschen calendar that I had framed. A very inexpensive way to incorporate art in a room.
Biggest Challenge: The budget. We had a tight budget and I had to prioritize certain pieces. I really wanted to get the antique red lacquer Chinese desk. So that was first. We were able to get cheap pieces that were made in the Philippines like the abaca rug and went to wholesale dealers for items such as the Chinese ceramic drum/stool.
What Friends Say: It is cozy, inviting and unique. It is unexpected with the use of Mao memorabilia for a touch of humor.
Biggest Embarrassment: At one point, we went overboard with the candles.
Proudest DIY: The pillow cases. I could not find nice and affordable pillow cases so I had them made. The fabric is called “tinalak” and is from an indigenous tribe in Northern Philippines. Purchased a couple metres of the this fabric and had a local tailor do a simple pillow case.
Biggest Indulgence: The red Chinese lacquer desk. It anchors the room. It was worth the expense given that it is a very good focal point once you come into the room.
Best advice: Focus on a certain theme or style, be it midcentury or Asian. Then put a modern twist to it. Use simple colours and then add one that will pop out. In this case, we used mostly brown shades and then a pop of red.
Dream source: Panjayuan flea market in Beijing. You can get anything and everything. From Tibetan rugs to antiques and reproductions. And don’t forget to haggle, haggle and haggle!
Resources:
Furniture: Mostly local items from the Philippines.
Accessories: The Mao busts are from Panjayuan market in Beijing. The propaganda posters are Taschen calendars that were framed.
Lighting: Locally sourced in Manila.
Paint: Locally sourced in Manila.
Flooring: Locally sourced in Manila.
Rugs and Carpets: Sisal woven rug from the Philippines.
Tiles and Stone: Locally sourced in Manila.
Window Treatments: heavy tweed (used for jackets and clothing)
Artwork: Philippine artist named Garibay. Framed antique postcards in the bedroom from Beijing.
(Thanks, Richard and Berna!)
We've had amazing response to our Apartment Therapy House Tour Submission Form. While we will work with homeowners of our favorite homes to feature full tours, we will also share the best as House Calls — short, quick tours of readers' homes. Submit your home here.
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
Nice use of the garden stools. I use them too as tables in my living room in lieu of having a coffee table because I find them so useful. You can pull one up next to you if you need it to set down a drink or you have ample seating using them as stools.
there was not one single image i didn't absolutely love! seriously, what a great job! i'm loving all the framed artwork, the red console piece, garden stools galore, house plants and candles...it's SO ME and i love it! what a great friend to help and wow, i love their taste ;) cheers!
http://www.casacullen.com
Beautiful house! Can I ask what the paint colors you used are? (Especially the gray in the bedroom!) LOVE THEM!
(Sorry- just realized you already posted the paint colors, thanks!)
I think something is wrong. I only saw six pictures in the house tour and no red desk.
I love those Chinese communist propaganda pieces -- actually put two of them in my baby's nursery! (I got them from a book, not a calendar, but similar idea for low-cost artwork.)
I would really love to see a floor plan, because I can't fathom how all of that fits in 500 square feet!
Great place, though - very serene.
It's a lovely home, but please, AT, edit! There are 4 photos of Chairman Mao and the mushroom lamp.
What a lovely home and great use of local items. Thanks for representing a home in the Philippines!
Saval the red desk is located under the frist large photo. Thanks girl from oaktown I agree.
Really lovely! I love the paint colors too.
Any closet space? How does this all work in 500 feet?
Saval, I had the same problem with only the first six pictures appearing. There's some sort of a bug. Go to the "show thumbnails" view, click on the next pic in the series, and then you'll be okay from there.
this place is lovely...but it's just so "decorated", it reminds me of a "sell this house" place. also, not sure why chairman mao is "funny."
Nice place but why all the images of Chairman Mao? He was after all a mass murderer and did much to destroy a lot of "old" Chinese culture. Is a tour of an Aryan Nations member in the offing? Time to dust off all those Hitler busts!
I agree with Hilton and hrhprincessfiona on the Mao images. I think that the "funny" Mao memorabilia is just a sad attempt to appear edgy and interesting. Kind of like how people put buddha statues all over their houses to appear interesting, cosmopolitan, and spiritual. Is the murder of millions of people funny? Both sides of my family had to leave mainland China during the cultural revolution, and I assure you, they did not find Mao ironically amusing. It is also really annoying when hipsters think it's cool to wear a Mao T-shirt. Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox!
I looked at this yesterday and had the same reaction about the Mao stuff...patooey!
Also had to laugh at the lv bag "casually" placed on the couch.
Good point, @geckotoes1. Here's why I think it has happened with Mao and not with Hitler. Most of the Hitler propaganda was destroyed post WWII and most people would be ashamed to be caught with any. But the cultural revolution divided China with lucky ones escaping and others staying under Mao's rule and becoming indoctrinated into that mindset.
I remember my first trip to Hong Kong going to the Stanley flea market and being shocked to see bins laden with hundreds of red & silver Mao campaign buttons. Several million buttons are still in existence along with all the other memorabilia. Mao became synonymous with Chinese "kitsch", especially when China's own artists began satirizing him.
Yeah, I'm with the others on the inappropriateness of the Mao "art". I think I get the value of propaganda as an art form, but this is a home tour, not MOMA. Millions of people died because of this man, and disturbingly few people seem to instantly think of that when they see his likeness, especially in the US. I am concerned that seeing his image so casually displayed will only serve to reinforce this ignorance and offend those of us who do know what Mao did to China. How can people so easily forget the atrocities of the great leap forward? Please consider removing these pictures. The home is lovely on its own, and although removing the pictures may compromise the completeness of the Home Tour, at least doing so won't compromise AT's reputation as a mindful and sensitive forum.
FengShuiByFishgirl, I think you're totally right. There is a difference, though, between a Chinese artist satirizing Mao and someone who may have little understanding of the suffering and death the man caused using his propaganda as decor to appear cool.
this is a well designed 500 sq. ft. home. serene and certainly uncluttered. It doesn't feel small at all.
"AT's reputation as a mindful and sensitive forum."
Hahahahaha! OK, now that I got that out of my system...
kristenatcal: I don't think that it's really about compromising the completeness of the house tour, I think it's about not censoring this person's home as to appease the masses (or the few).
Disgusted at the Mao images. MoMa or The Met? sure. Here..no.
Casually placed LV speedy = laugh. That's not a design element.
Mao? Really? I'm with the others....save it for the Met.
BTW, there wasn't just ONE "money" designer shot: there was the LV bag on the couch AND the Hermes orange box set discreetly (?) on the bed in one shot.
Nice place but not sure I'd hang out with the resident.
I love that the same items can receive praise on one post and negativity on another.
Everyone looooovvvvvvved Hollister and Porter and their Hermes bag hanging on the front door in all its ironic hipster glory, but it's somehow seen as pretentious in this setting...Interesting.
CDC93:
I agree. Showing off a Hermes scarf box is pretty lame (why would it magically just be sitting on the bed?), as is showing off (in bag snob terms) the lowliest LV bag.
I have nothing against displaying designer goods in a useful and tasteful manner (ie a vintage LV or Goyard trunk as a side or coffee table)..but those being thrown in the pictures serve no real purpose except to show off.
All gloss and no personality. There are a lot of interesting homes in Manila. This one just looks like it came off the assembly line.
Good point mjr,
I don't think it's the LV and Hermes I was feeling the negative vibe from so much (I spotted them right off so what does that say about me?) but more the "try hard"-iness of posing such items so they are obvious in the shot. I wouldn't be nearly as turned off if I saw a picture of a closet with a few Hermes boxes stacked on top of each other for storage, or an LV bag hanging with a few other handbags. There's class and then there's the try-hard. This one fell into the later category for me.
for some German hate, head over to http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/look/look-inscribed-shower-enclosure-111770
just to be equal and fair. at least no one called japanese an ugly language...
first of all, whoever has an hermes scarf in manila is seriously trying way too hard. it's freaking hot there. There is no use for one. This place has no personality whatsoever. This feels like a work of a wannabe interior decorator.
come on people... be open minded... a home is a place where one should be free to do whatever the residents want. ... this is personally soooo not my style but maybe this reflects the personality of the homeowner... like it or not ... if a home makes the resident happy... I'm all for it... Why judge? This is a person's personal space . She can do whatever she likes. It's just so interesting that most AT readers seems to only notice the Mao sculpture, LV bag and Hermes box... btw, there are tons of Mao sculptures for sale in new york especially in flushing... travel more people , then you might understand.....
I agree, Little Lulu. Aiya, it's ok, no need to be so harsh, folks. These are people simply sharing their interior decor hopes and dreams with everyone. I'm Chinese, from SE Asia and though this isn't quite my style, I don't find the "Mao" pictures that offensive. If you look carefully only one picture on the wall is of Mao and that is so over the top that it seriously looks like a satire. The other pictures actually hearken back to an earlier tradition of Chinese art. If you look at advertising from the 1920s and 1930s Shanghai, they used a lot of the traditional images and "lucky" objects to make posters which are fairly charming/kitschy in their own right. You see the same style in Japan of the same era. One reason I like AT is that it's fun to peek into other people's houses and I appreciate those who are brave enough to share their living space.
really love the wise use of the calendar as posters
The bust of mao is a bit OTT. i'm not sure i would want such a person's bust in my house.
the red desk is AWESOME!!!!
man, you people just don't get the humor, too bad it's wasted on you. it's no different from people using lenon posters or che guavara stuff. it's a lovely home!
I have the same posters waiting to be framed. DOn't listen to these haters.
Also, Hitler propaganda would be pretty interesting work to have up. Some people are just artier than others. Some people don't want to put up pictures of bowls or their kids.
I USED to enjoy AT house tours and (sometimes) witty comments but lately, increasing numbers of people hiding behind stupid little titles are making really obscene, cheap and low comments that reflect on the personalities of the people living in their homes - NOT THE HOMES.
How many perfectly hideous homes have I seen on AT and simply closed the article and moved on to something else without comment?
How many times have I sighed at the ridiculous and then became stunned when it was admired by others?
How many times have I whiled away the morning admiring some very inspiring and beautiful homes, dropping off a small comment in appreciation for their creators having shared with us?
Why all the need to make snarky little comments about every last personal detail about other people's lives??? Hasn't anyone EVER taught these mean little people some manners?
1. One gets a tour of someone else's home (be it real or virtual).
2. One admires the nice things, gushes over everything, or smiles and says nothing other than THANK YOU for sharing.
Certainly, I will NEVER EVER show my home(s) on AT and have nasty little creeps making utterly useless comments that reflect on my lifestyle, philosophies and/or beliefs and not on my taste in interior design.
Definitely, Mao was an utter monster and if people are so dumb as to think that it is 'satire' to depict and show him endlessly, then their taste in art is limited but it's still THEIR TASTE.
Jzeese.
I am the recipient of Richard's generosity with his talent, time, personal effects left in my pad, and most of all the passion invested in bringing a bare and tired-looking 500sqft condo unit to life. I am proud to show the unit to friends and even non-friends who are curious to get a glimpse of the transformed condo.
Why the Mao bust and communist inspired decors? Richard knows me quite well, including my idealism back in university days. I was one of those who ended the Martial Law in the Philippines by marching on the streets. We were, of course, unpopular with the government and were tagged as communists!
It was a very good idea to immortalize my past in the decors chosen for my condo. It reminds me and my children of my bravery and what I was willing to do for the independence of my people.
Richard, I owe you for life!