New On Rilane: Editor’s Pick for Home of the Month
We surprised you, didn’t we? Here at Rilane, we aspire to inspire and because of that goal in mind, we always want to bring you the best when it comes to interior design. We have shown you great ideas for your bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, furniture, outdoors, etc. but we want to expand your source of inspiration for new ideas. We want to bring you what’s real and what are the actual designs that are being used in different houses all over the world. We took the day off and scouted some great houses around the Philippines and because we believe that ideas are not enough when not put into actuality, by that we mean you do not see the beauty of a dress or cloth unless you wear it, we promise to bring you awesome houses every month so that you get the idea of how those pieces of furniture and design ideas would fit perfectly the moment they are put together in a house. This twist of ours will also give you a clearer picture of what design goes well with what furniture or what kind of fabric would fit into what kind of furniture. Join us every month as we give you the Editor’s Pick for Home of the Month.
For this month, since April is a month which spells changes, we are featuring a house located in the Philippines which stands next to the owner’s original house. The real change here is that while some people are so used to the idea of breaking what’s old and fixing it into something new, the owner’s idea is to retain the good things and add more wonderful things. This house truly inspires us. Here is our House of the Month for April. Let’s take a tour one by one.
The Careful and Colorful Welcome
Upon entering this modern house, you are welcomed by the relaxing sound of flowing water and swimming fish. The pond just outside the main door is an appetizer before the owner showcased to us what the house actually had in store. This design reminds you that despite the modernization that we go through everyday, we must always remember the symbiotic relationship that we have with mother nature.
Watch Before You Knock
So, you should have noticed by now that those are floating pieces of wood. Well, not really. Those are cemented blocks made to look like floating pieces of wood. Great idea isn’t it? Of course, you have to be careful you don’t slip into one of those spaces or the fish would love to give you a nibble (no, they’re not piranhas!). At night, the lighting of this water system looks even more attractive with color-changing lights. The wall is actually made of wood and painted white. The designer and his team did a tedious job carving those walls. Wooh!
The Eccentric Living Room
Just take a look at The Eccentric Living Room. Every detail of this living room was made into perfection. This living room uses earth tones which neither bores the visitor nor excites him. It balances nature and modernity by adding plant elements like bamboo, some hay, and a leaf. It uses rectangular shapes on the rack, side and center table. You can put at TV on the rack but it actually looks best without any electronics. One thing is for sure though, it gives the visitor an idea that there is something more to look forward to in this house. Check out that samurai on the top shelf!
The Kitchen Of Elegance
Next to the fridge is this really neat kitchen counter which has consistent tones with the living room that we saw earlier. This kitchen looks simple and doesn’t have a lot of fuss to it. You go there to prepare food. That’s it! Just like this kitchen, make sure that your kitchen counter is always complete with the tools and ingredients that you will use for cooking. Some people devote so much time in their kitchen but others choose to keep it simple, like the designer/owner of this house. This kitchen has an exhaust disguised as a compartment. That two-level kitchen compartment also contributes to the simple and clean look and matches the counter top. For more kitchen ideas, you can check out our Kitchen Designs.
Look up and you will see something like chimes, but, look closely! They are crystal candles illuminating the room and are arranged into three waves.
This dining room, when the lights are off, looks nice with the detailed design of the chairs and that beautiful mirror but turn on the lights and you will be awed by this great lighting. Putting a chandelier might be too much that’s why those crystal, chime-looking lights look perfect. This dining room is dual-purpose. You can eat here or invite your colleagues over for a meeting. Since the Philippines is a tropical country, you will notice that there are electric fans in some rooms. There’s also one in the living room. Also check out our monochromatic dining room ideas.
The Floating Stairway to Heaven
Let’s take this tour a notch higher. These suspended steps look scary when you’re already on top of it, but don’t worry, it’s not going to give. Rest assured that this house is made from exported materials which are of high quality. This type of stairs do not take up much space and are very easy to clean. Of course, be careful when you’re drunk because it doesn’t have any railings that you can hold on to. This type of stairs adds to the modern look of the house.
The Magical Crystal Pendants
When you get to the second floor, this magical piece will surely catch your eye! This type of lighting is simply amazing. If you notice, it is consistent with the lighting of the dining room that we saw earlier. Crystals! They look really elegant and expensive! We wish there’d be no more high-intensity earthquakes around the Philippines. Anyway, we’re pretty sure it’s hung up in there tightly and securely. (Note: Did you see that lizard trying to photobomb? Well, there are a lot of them which can be found in Philippine houses. Don’t worry! They’re harmless.)
Feast your eyes some more because you might only see this wonderful piece once in your lifetime! If you look closer, they actually look like water droplets or rain. Okay, first, the waves and then the resemblance to water droplets. Can you see the symbolism?
The Maze
The wall on the second floor is carefully designed like a puzzle. The owner doesn’t design or put anything here for no reason. This wall actually minimizes echo and noise so that private conversations inside the house do not have to be heard by everyone below. In between these lines which go left and right are boxes which light the room. At night, these brighten the room a bit when the magical crystal pendants are turned off.
Colorful Girl’s Bedroom
This bedroom looks vibrant and cute. Look at all the stuffed toys! Every girl would love to be in this kind of bedroom. The big headboard and comfortable pillows can make you feel like a princess. It is also complete with a study area and compartments where you can store extra stuff.
Check out this cool dresser with a unique mirror! It completes a perfect bedroom. With the use of red, blue and dominant colors of purple, the room looks vibrant and full of energy. The cushion also matches the pillows on the bed.
Let’s Get Entertained
Now, let’get to the room that most of you would really love. It is the entertainment room. The entertainment room could get really noisy, therefore, similar to the wall design that we saw earlier, this ceiling has an echo and noise reducer. It wouldn’t be a problem if guests would watch movies in full blast. Wow, that would be awesome considering the satisfaction and comfort you can get from this room.
Over here are those orange MnM inflatable lounger, a wooden coffee table where the guests can put their drinks, and floor pillows that the guests can just get and sit on for that exciting movie night! That is a three-level coffee table so you can put your drinks on the bottom most level, your food on the second and your cellphones and peanuts on the top most level. Be careful not to spill on that navy blue rug! As you can see, there are speakers overhead. This is a surround sound system! Yup, just like in the movie theater or even better. Can this room be more perfect?!
A nice, colorful inflatable for the guest’s children or family members.
This room can definitely accommodate the whole family with the two-level horizontal loungers.
When watching a movie at midday, the sunlight should not be a hindrance. These blinds will do the trick. These are not the ordinary blinds that open or close when you twist a rod or stick. These alternately dims when you pull a cord at the sides.
A Private Living Space
If we go to another room in the house, there is a more private space where the couple owner does their daily routine. This is a more private living room, indoor closet and bathroom in one level. This is the sofa, again, with the wavy prints for the pillow cover.
This is the bathroom and the indoor closet in one. The closet door is made of mirrors so that you can see your whole outfit and see if there is something missing or wrong. There are actually two sides to this indoor closet, the left one is for the lady and the right one is for the gentleman.
Finally, we have reached the top most level of this house and that is the master’s bedroom. Before we get a glimpse of that, here is how the second living room looks like on bird’s eye view.
As you can see, the colors and elements used in this house are very consistent from the ground floor until we have reached this floor. This is the view from up there. That rug and glass table looks perfect for the color of the floor. Now, take a deep breath as we show you the master’s bedroom which is on the third floor.
The Master’s Lair
This whole bed is covered with a plain grey sheet for hygiene purposes, we presume. That headboard looks really cool because of the lighting and we bet it would have a very nice effect at night with the correct lighting and the view of what you are about to see.
We mentioned earlier that the owner has his old house next to this new one. The red roof is actually the roof of his old house. From here, you can see the meadows and maybe some cows grazing in the morning. This glass is reflective, so in the morning, the inside cannot be seen from the outside. Well, that’s pretty safe. At night, they have to dim the lights a bit so that the inside could not be seen.
You’ve probably already noticed these three hanging balls before this picture -another set of ball lights. So up to this room, we can still see the continuity of the rooms and the over-all interior of the house. The fact that the owner does these things manually, and then you look at this piece, it will just amaze you at what talent they have with handicrafts and designing.
Here are some other pictures of the master’s bedroom. Since the owner is inclined to almost everything creative, he has a mini research corner where he probably does a lot of researching, the rest is up to the wildness of his imagination.
Now that we’re done taking a tour and checking out the interior design of this amazing house, let’s head out and check the outdoors.
The Wonderful and Relaxing Outdoors
You can exit through the dining area and you will see this colorful dining set. This time, the outdoors look more colorful. We found out that the owner plans to build a swimming pool in the future, exactly in front of this dining set. The blue water and the colorful chairs will be perfect for kiddos in the family!
The Giant Ethnic Door
Now, if you walk a bit forward from where you were looking at a while ago, you will see this detailed ethnic wooden door which is supposed to lead you to the soon-to-be-built swimming pool. This room actually connects to the guest room. It would be great to pass by that door and dive into a swimming pool!
Here is a relaxing bench and table where you can sit with friends or alone and just drink a cup of tea or coffee.
This is a simple outdoor lamp which you can mount on the soil to keep you safe while walking on the path walk at night. Here are other outdoor lamp ideas.
Of course, just like our previous post on charming garden path walk ideas, you can design your path walks with colorful bushes and flowers, depending on the look that you want to achieve.
Here are pictures of the exterior:
And finally, the facade!
There you have it! That is our first editor’s pick for home of the month. We hope you enjoyed checking out this house from the Philippines. We sometimes think that achieving our dream houses will only remain as dreams, but just like the owner who does most of the things hands on, a little diligence and motivation will go a long way so why not start now? Invest your time and energy into something you’d smile at and live in the long run!
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