HO of the Day: Tribal Chic

I've used a lot of wallpaper in the duration of my still short decorating career. It gives so much visual impact to any space without much effort. Unless of course, you'll be the one to install then that is so much effort right there. Haha.. There are some stigma to wallpaper these days, since it's not as easy to replace. Plus all the 80's floral wallpaper we've seen and hated --- with matching floral curtains with matching floral bedding set with matching floral dress! haha.. 

But I still love it nonetheless. If you found a pattern and color you love then go for it. If you're afraid to commit for an entire room, just install it to one accent wall.  Just look at his home office set up. Loving the tribal print with those red-orange and pale blue. It's the perfect backdrop for an instant creative space.


Project Industrial Chic: Progress

Since I'm a bad blogger and this post is not real time, the progress is more of a finishing stage look. Of course I have the chaotic construction part, but really that's no fun to write about. All you see is pile of materials and what seems like a scene from some ruins that doesn't make sense. Haha...

You can see the "before" and all the moodboard here.
Here's where we at a month ago.

The standard laminate kitchen cabinets were given a frame and painted pale green to compliment the new backsplash tile.

Shelves were built in the nook in the dining area. Had a custom table built to fit the tight space.

It's still a bit chaotic in here but you can see the white washed brick wall, and the shelves in full effect.

Dining and kitchen view. We also change the entire flooring to vinyl planks. I love it, it has the texture of real wood and the color is perfect. Not too brown, not too gray, not too dark, not too light. Perfect. 

We hang a black wrought iron chandelier in the high-ceiling area.  It needed something big to command attention yet blends well with the look of the space. Wrought iron chandelier = industrial chic. :)

Simple additions like this faux beam can really customized the look of your space. This also allowed us to add mood lightings.

Changed out the railing to this geometric pattern and painted the walls pale blue.

See, almost there. But in reality, all furniture are in place, frames are hung, pillows toss here and there. But it still needs more items to make it more like a home. Books and accessories are up next then we're into the big reveal -- which is my favorite part. Of course.

Dreaming of a Brown Leather Sofa

Let me start this by saying... ANG INIT!!! hahaha... This summer is excruciatingly hot. It's 3:30 in the morning and the humidity is still lingering in this humid air. Yes, that redundancy is my attempt in describing how hot it really is. And all you Philippine dwellers know what I'm talking about. 

That first paragraph is probably not the best introduction to this specific post. Leather sofas does not sit well with hot weather. Eeeky sweaty butt-leather combination is a kinda disgusting thought, but leathers have its pros. Easy maintenance is on top of the list.

I used to hate leather sofas until I realized that not all of them are tacky synthetic looking creature that were very trendy during the 90s. Ek. No. Bleh.

But these pieces? Oh love. Yes come to me. Come to my dream home. I'll live with you forever. Sweaty butt and all.

I want my sofa in a vintage shape.

I'm still not sure if I wanted a classic tufted chesterfield or a simpler mid-century looking piece. But vintage is definitely the way to go. 


Though these tufting are sooo yummy looking. Am I right?


But look at this crisp lines. Gorgeous! Decisions decisions.

Hahaha... I'm talking like I'm in the process of buying one instead of just dreaming one up. 

Anyway, if you're going for a leather, go for a worn looking one. It would be prettier in time. It grows with your home. Just look at this.

And as for the color, this is perfect. I'll definitely get the perfect cognac brown. Not too dark. No red in it. With a hint of orange. Just perfect. 

I know that this kind of sofa will be perfect for our concrete house. It will warm up the stark walls. It will add to the texture of the space. Perfect backdrop to whatever colorful stuff I'll be layering in.

I'm always talking about my dream home in here. As they say, if you want it. CLAIM IT. So this is not the last time you'll hear of it. It will probably be the first of hundreds of posts to come. I've been day dreaming of the perfect house that me and the bf would both feel comfortable in. So a lot of inspirations are in this head of mine, and this blog will be my outlet. :) Someday, instead of just inspiration, I'll be posting the process of actually building it. Now, that is one exciting project I can't wait to get my hands to.

A Happy Pair

I've talked about loving the industrial concrete look here, and I'm so into raw finishes nowadays, so this wall is really speaking to me. If I could mimic this aged looking wall, I totally would! And I think I'll try it in our future dream home, whenever that one would come. Soon hopefully!

What I love about this space is how it combined my new love for industrial, and my forever love for prints and colors. See, you don't have to go all "themey" for your space, incorporate all things you love in just the right amount of dosage and balance then you'll be happy.

Anyway, the print on this hanging light reminds me so much of the fabric I used in the chair makeover here. I still have some remnants, I would have to do my version of this drop light for my future office. :)

Living etc

Project Industrial Chic

I have some finished projects that have yet to grace this blog. By some I mean five. And other four that you've seen but still awaiting its final reveal. But lets do it one at time okay? This is just a one person company and by company I mean my income generating hobby. Lucky me. 

So lets cut the chase and let me introduce the one of five yet-to-post project. If you follow me on instagram, you might have seen some sneak peek of this space. I call it "Project Industrial Chic" since there'll be some industrial elements here and there. But its mostly chic, understated chic that is. Nothing too frilly or girly, just a casual homey fun space.

(Not sure what they're looking at but I was sure tempted to ask. Haha) 

One wall that goes way up in this loft unit will have white washed bricks installed. We're going for something a little raw and rough around the edges that will give character to the space. 
We're replacing the tile floors into a beautiful wood looking vinyl planks. The walls will be milky white. The perfect background for our greens, oranges, and pink furnishings and accessories.  


A big black wrought-iron chandelier will fill this high-ceiling spot that goes up to the loft upstairs. New beams will be installed that will house different mood lighting.
Oh yes we're painting the main door green!


This little nook will serve as their banquet style dining space-- orange tufted seats, black dome lights and all. We'll have some display shelves built on the left wall. (not scene from this angle).

When I'm doing a perfectly new kitchen but in a not so chic finishes, I usually make it a point to just use the existing cabinetries and just refinish it or add some sort of detail to it. Such a waste to replace it, but we can't just leave it as is.

We'll be adding a backsplash tile, cabinet door trim, and repaint the entire thing. 


On the loft upstairs, we're replacing the existing railings with some patterned wood work to enclose the space a bit and give the bed a nice backdrop. We're using their existing bed and just add a simple graphic bedding.

So that's the direction this space is going. It feels a lot more grounded than my usual girly space, but there's still a sense of femininity in it. Hello oranges and pink! I love how this client gave me free reign in designing this space. She just told me her style preference, and that's about it. She fully trusted the design process and just visited the site probably twice since we started. Haha.. We're doing accessorizing now, and will be done very soon. Super excited!

By the way, I love doing moodboard from before photos of blank spaces. I can just add all the finishes, furniture, and accessories directly into the photo and I can show the client almost exactly how it will look like. A lot easier to than doing everything from scratch. Haha.. 

So stay tuned for all the other projects I'll be sharing here.

Concrete Dreamin': Our Future House

These past few days, I've been daydreaming of building our own home. Not just buying one and renovating, but actually building one to specifically meet our needs. Why not dream big right? But of course, even in those dreams, I'm still thinking of being realistic in terms of budget. Well, I want that dream to be attainable.

Since we are budget conscious, I want everything to be low cost. Note, low cost NOT low quality. I thought of things we can forego to cut cost but still have a nice livable home. I'm imagining not buying any tiles, paint, nor even putting up a ceiling. We love love love the industrial loft look so why not use that inspiration to have a budget conscious home. 

Being all dreamy, I look for pegs and I AM SOLD. I love all these.. concrete and all.






elle decor


The keys is having high ceilings and big windows, and tada!! New york smack right in Manila. Haha.. The concrete is the perfect neutral gray for all the furnishings, plus I love how it got a lot of texture and specks. Besides, if we ever get tired of the look, we can always have it painted. :) 

Now I need to go back to work to make that dream house of ours a reality.

Lights. Camera. DuoDeco.

DuoDeco Studio was truly blessed this past weeks. Aside from selling major pieces, Preview and Real Living will be featuring the store in their July issue, yes they make those issues this advance! They had a shoot at the showroom and here are some snap shots. 

I'm shooting them while shooting us. Haha.. For Preview Decor.

Feeling model. We're so not used to this that I even asked them what to do with my hands. Haha

Prepping to shoot. Real Living.

Styling team of Real Living working their magic.

Well hello professionally photographed showroom. 
I was seriously amazed on how their pictures look like. My own showroom photos are all dark and artificially lit, but theirs are so fresh and light and airy looking. Haha.. I'm asking for those photos for sure!

With the Real Living team.

Big thanks to Jae Pickrell for recoing us for Preview Decor. Thanks to Jerome for the write-up. Thanks hair and make-up team for making me camera-ready and kulot that day. Haha (not the photo above)
Thanks Kath Valle for sharing our shop to Real Living and thanks Ms Rachelle Medina and the entire team (Joanne, Shine, Dagny, etc etc etc!!) for dropping by the shop. It was super fun. Thanks to both photographers for making the showroom and us decent looking in photos. Haha.. Thanks to the art director and stylists for making the showroom super nice for the shoot. Hala parang award winning speech. Haha


Anyway, here's our new home page for the website. Links of the items below. 
1 Daffodil Throw Pillow P420     /     2 Honeydew Throw Pillow P420    /    3 Brushed Flora Throw Pillow P420
4 "Swamp Romance" P1500    /    5 School Console P6400   /   6 Lucky Bookends P2400 set 7 Red Ribbed Side Table P2400    /    8 "Western Wired" Chair P6200
9 Industrial Farmhouse Table  P6500   /    10 Buddha Hulk P900   /    11 Industrial Mare P7000
12 Wooden Oso P1200   /    13 Doorknob Candle Holder P1400 set   /    14 "Fantasy Fowl" P2200


Visit DuoDecoStudio.com to see all our latest stuff, and like us on facebook too! :) See yah!
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