Friday, August 29, 2014

Welcome to Cebu, Kiehl's!



Special thanks to Marco Paulo Diala of Philippine Street Fashion for lending me his photos! <3
L to R Marco, Joanna, Doyzkie, Vanessa and Karlo


Bagels, hotdogs, booze, good music, and good company. Last night it poured hard at the metro but at the gallery of the Ayala Center Cebu.. it poured, well, something else. 
It was a fun and quirky downtown NYC-themed party last night at the gallery as Cebuanos Celebrated the opening of KIEHL's, the forefront in providing the world's finest skincare . Yep, they have finally arrived at the Queen City of the South, and Zee Lifestyle did nothing short of a good job in organizing a kick ass party! Unfortunately, I got stuck in the crazy rain and traffic missed the party but this was just too fun to not share with all of you guys. What's more is that today, they officially open their doors to everyone. In fact since 1pm earlier, they've been giving out free tote + travel kits to the first 100 shoppers! Isn't that a treat? I'm personally excited to try their much talked-about rejuvenating night serum! I'm a personal believer of investing on skin care over make-up! :)

 What began as an old world apothecary, 3rd avenue and 13th street, NYC, are now the purveyors of the finest skin care formulated using one-of-a-kind ingredients. Check out Kiehl's at the G/F of the Ayala Center Cebu New Wing and be part of Kiehl's timeless stories to getting beautiful skin, hair and body. No rules, just skin care that works. Join them as they celebrate old & new stories from this new-york born and bred brand that's well-loved all over the world! What you waiting for? Headddd. Onnnnn. Nowwww. :)

Congratulations again, Zee Lifestyle and Kiehls Philippines. And thanks to the beautiful Paula G of Zee for inviting me over!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Everything Online! (Weekend Bazaaar)



Everything Online Weekend Bazaar.
When your favorite online shops go offline for the weekend
When meet up schedules will be from 12 noon to 12 midnight 
When the clothes you want are hung right in front of you at your convenience ready for fitting
When your taste buds enjoy what they can't always do on a regular.

Cebu shoppers, if youre tired of the normal shopping scene,  get ready for Everything Online Weekend Bazaar on July 26-27, 2014 at One Paseo, Ma Luisa Rd Banilad Cebu City (Where the Henry Hotel and The Spa at Cebu are located, the road going to Maria Luisa, see map for your convenience). I don't know about you but I like going to events like this because I like shopping and I like new experiences and this is exactly a combination of that, a unique shopping experience, like a pop-up mall, one weekend its there and the next it's gone. 


I know, we've been having a lot of bazaars lately but I just can't get enough. Am I the only one? The combination of food and merchandise stalls plus the feel is always different. And honestly, I like the rarity of what I find in weekend bazaars,  the feeling of not knowing when I'd find a particular store live and in the flesh ever  again. Or the thrill of seeing an item I've been coveting on my instagram in the flesh finally. Everyone likes a little tease, yeah? :)) Tell me I'm not crazy!





What's more, Blind Clothing, your fave indie online brand, purveyor of classy and cool, elegance and effortlessness, will be there. (Ahahaha so biased right now). Just look for this tarp! We're at booth # 6! Also joining us are some of my personal favorites Minted Jewelry, Cesa Ph, Lord of the Ribs and a lot more so I'm excited to shop and eat myself. Also, hang with me and my fellow Cebu Fashion Bloggers loves sell our pre-loved closet favorites at a real, real bargain. All at the convenience of your 5 senses, not just your eyes, for once. 

Tell me I'd see you there! 
:)


**Everything Online Weekend Bazaar is the brain-child of Mint Concepts and Events**


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

House Rennovation Project

                                    

Who's up for some serious design talk? When you see that header, you'll know it's coming. Haha. I've always hesitated to blog about this area of my life because I thought it quite hard to explain architecture in a less astute, more relatable, and entertaining manner that will interest a lot of people as much as fashion does. But hey, this is after all a design and fashion blog that's an extension of me. So deal with it. :)) Here goes!

*************
They say that when you get your architect's license, your first few clients will be your relatives, and your relatives' relatives. I had an early taste of this during my internship days when our family friend (my godmother) commissioned me to remodel their home. It was a two- storey residence in a subdivision in Punta Princessa, Cebu. Further details to be kept private in keeping with client- architect confidentiality.

It was my first actual design project. During my apprenticeship days, Buddy and I used to work as a full-time intern in an architectural firm on weekdays and made outsourced drawings/ small design works for other architects on weekends. But this, was my first personal design undertaking. It was scary and intimidating at first, but with God's grace I pulled it off with a some help from Bud and of course the support and openness of my trusting clients. :)

The first phase of the project was completed while I was doing reviews for ALE. Yep, this post has been sitting in my drafts more than a year. Haha.


There are a lot of challenges when rennovating a house. There's:

1. Existing structural frame (Beams, Columns)
2. Existing Utility Lines (Water lines, Electrical lines)
3. It was going to be inhabited while construction is ongoing so proper planning and temporary "relocation" should be considered (e.g. where they temporarily cook, where they temporarily watch TV, access, how to keep the house safe and enclosed even whilst demolishing a few walls, etc)

Aside from these, the client wanted to:
1. Create a more contemporary look for their old house
2. Make it more spacious
3. Add an additional bedroom at the ground floor to prepare for old age and mobility issues.
4. Do something about the extreme heat and humidity inside the home esp in the afternoons.
5. Incorporate more natural light into the home to minimize the use of artificial lighting during the 
    day. It had a lot of dark pocket spaces.
6. Convert the husband's office/ shop into a kitchen.
7. Move the water tank
8. Correct the use of perimeter fence as firewall.

And then of course, as in almost all projects.. honest, inevitable design issues like:
1. Budget Constraints
2. Clients' Preference VS Designer's Preference. This is real. 


 Let me give you a quick tour! :)





1.) PORCH.
The house had a huge porch, almost equal to the size of their living room. We divided this porch into half by moving the walls and entrance door forward, and used the second half as a transition foyer to add more space to the interiors instead. We recycled some of their old glass blocks and placed these overhead, chose a more modern and solid door for an opening statement, then placed wall lamps to give the entrance an instant makeover and give it more character. This especially looks charming at night.
 
2.) FOYER.
Instead of completely demolishing the original wall (see upper left photo), we only demolished the upper half of it, preserved the structural column, and topped it with a console table with a wooden top  to serve as a element of transition and visual obsruction from foyer to living room. It will divide the space but by not completely blocking the view, we allow visual continuity to make the space feel bigger. We also added a spotlight for the artwork they will soon mount on the consul table.


3.) KITCHEN AND DINING
At the right side of the original porch was Mr. E's shop/ office (he's a practicing electrical engineer by profession). We converted the space into a kitchen and dining area. Again, to maximize space we moved the walls forward, retained the jailousie window and grills and added a little plant box with topiary plants to make the exterior more welcoming. Plants are my best friends! See the old zoccalo (low wall, like a seat) at the rightmost of the porch?  1/3 of it becomes a full wall for the porch, 2/3 will then belong to the new foyer-- to which we added a glass as a not so solid divider from foyer to kitchen. (See graphics below)

The family's old kitchen was a long and narrow space around 1meter by 6meters wide at the very back portion of the house resting against the perimeter wall was so there was hardly any light, just the little skylights on the roof. (you'll see this later) We made sure that in this new layout, the 3-part-kitchen triangle was complete. Cook--Wash--Store. And that there would be some sun shining through.
We made new cabinet shelves using plywood and MDF cabinet doors, and added some cove lighting under them, and used granite tiles instead of slab to save on cost. ;)
                                              That's the glass partition I was talking about. 
This is the new kitchen and dining, Mr E's old office/ shop. We demolished the wall dividing his office from the living room and made it fully open to make their interior space bigger, and boy did it work wonders. We didn't want any obstruction so the only thing we used to subtly divide the living from the dining was elevation. ;) We raised the living room by one step. Behind the dining, there were existing jalousie windows, we merely lowered the windows to make it longger--inviting more and more day light. We also utilized the same windows for the front of the kitchen.

The soon-to-be replaced dining table. Can't wait to see how the new dining table and mats we spotted will look on their new dining area. :) Thats Mr and Mrs E with Buddy.



4.) LIVING ROOM
Everyone knows that if this was a play, the living room is the main character. It's also one of the most fun to "direct. :) We didn't move the mirror because mirrors are expensive and this one's a huge. So what we did was cover parts of it with plywood and veneer and placed another console table infront of it so they have a space to place jars and other accents. We used a semi-glossy neutral cream-off white color consistent with the whole house to aid the mirror make the space look bigger and reflect light. Dark brown accents and monochromatic hues add drama to the space whilst keeping it clean. For small spaces, its impt to keep furniture to a bare minimum (no fuss couch, table, 2 stools) and keep an organized and clean look through out.

 

Pillowcases always add a cheap but interesting touch to a living room. They're super easy to play with!
Behind the couch is a big bare wall which we wall with a floral board backdrop. we took this down and made it a clean finish. We'll mount a painting here as soon as the owners find the perfect one. We're relying on this artwork to bring accent colors to the house (Thinking shades of blue reminiscent of the shades of the sea, a little dull green, and some yellow) which we'll later use a basis for additional pillow-cases and other accents for consistency.



5.) BEDROOM
We moved the masters bedroom downstair, to where their old dining area was (behind that mirror) since we already have  new dining space. So we covered it with a wall and then accentuated with an existing piece of furniture. 
Bedroom photos not posted in respect to the privacy of the clients.


6.) POCKET GARDEN
Remember the long strip of kitchen space I told you about above? 
Well, we removed half of its ceiling and turned it into a pocket garden with a full skylight and pergola so they have a space to maybe have coffee in.  It is separated from the interior by a sliding door with a screen so only the screen will be closed in the morning. Its main purpose is to funnel in much needed natural light and air unto the dining and living spaces.


7.) DIRTY KITCHEN
... The other half remains a dirty kitchen, because they need one really bad for "ugly cooking". ;)



The Second floor renovations will be phase 2 of the project.
I would like to thank the couple client for the patience and trust. Seriously, it wasn't an easy transaction but they were alway open to new ideas with just the right amount of skepticism to challenge us. Haha. And they always have snacks for us every time we do site visits. Thanks also to Buddy of Think Factory DS for partnering with me and being my technical arm the whole time.

Also, don't wonder if I don't talk about the water and electrical and structural changes in this post, because I'm quite sure it will bore the hell out of most of my readers. :))
So there! What do you think?
Here's a quick summary of the whole project in photos. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with the turn-out, it was also a great learning curve and a rich experience.
 :)






And just like fashion magazines, here's the cover, I mean the preliminary schemes, that didn't make it:

**SCHEME 1**


ground floor


second floor


**SCHEME 2**




ground floor





2nd floor

*****************

Hope you enjoyed this post.
Later, guys!
 :)




For design inquiries, consultations, projects, collaborations, and whatnot,
please feel free to email atelierdeaurora@gmail.com
Click here for list of services.
**This project is in collaboration with Think Factory DS**

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Blush

 

I am a huge trousers fan. Huge. 
It gives a touch of polish you owe your clients (a sign of respect), and the comfort you owe yourself. 
Like I always like saying, these to me are corporate pajamas, cozy and liberating.
I wore this monochromatic ensemble last sunday which I spent 75% of the time in a cafe doing me time with my favorite (pasta! :) ) in the morning, meeting a client at noon, and working the rest of the afternoon in the comforts of caffeine, cool breeze and cloudy skies, Kenneth Cobonpue in sight 5 meters away, and my own solitude. 




I just came from "Rock! The Worship Concert" the night before this and though it was exhausting, I woke up early to catch up on backlogs so I basically felt as lazy as I look, thus the equally slouchy top. Pairing it with anything crisp, collared, or structured will only make that day feel like a monday. And you know it's a golden rule for me to "dress like the weekend when it's a weekend". ;)

Blush, peach, salmon, old rose.. Ever since the day I found that I could actually wear them (used to think they were only for really fair skin tones) I never stopped adoring them. They're just so soft, fresh, feminine and very flattering, like it makes you glow. It makes me want to be more refined if that even makes sense. So I did a monochromatic look using these pretty shades that day and broke it off with a brown belt that matched my low-heel sandals. Brown is a great accent to blush, so are washed denims and whites.

Really loving comfortable,  low-heeled sandals. since 2012. Haha.
They contribute so much pull a look together without demanding so much from your feet. :))
Gotta say I'm so happy this pair from Zalora came in my exact size, that seldom happens to my online shoe purchases. So happy with the very good customer service and quick hassle-free delivery, too! :)

I hope you don't mind the laid back outfits lately. In a world full of false pretenses and tight guard on self image, I'd like to remain to be my candid old self and dress for myself solely, and then allow so to reflect on what I post. What you see in this blog is what you get, and this polished but chill girl right here is me on a daily basis, with or without intents of taking that #ootd :))

Hope you're all having a great week so far!  :)
X
Dawn


**Tank: Forever 21**Trousers: Blind Clothing*Sandals: Chloe Edit at Zalora

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Weekend Hustler



For private practitioners, small-scale business owners, free-lancers like myself, 5 working days a week are usually not enough. I like to pack all my errands, meetings, or site visits on saturdays when I can get driven to where I need to, move about in minimal traffic, and not get tied to office work at the furniture HQ. Nothing makes going out at night or having a good time with friends later on sweeter than knowing you had a productive week. Since I started working, I've been very possessive about my weekends getting used up for relaxation. But even still, nothing gives me more rush than knowing I maximized my saturday mornings/ early afternoons to the brim before I go out and have myself a good time.




For most days spent like this, my uniform of choice is a breezy but corporate button down, flats, and shorts. If you may imagine, replace these shorts with a skirt or pants and you have yourself some office wear. But just because its a saturday and I gotta feel the off-duty vibe SOMEHOW, we just gotta bring out the shorts. ;)

Black and white is always a life saver because it reduces my changing time to 5 minutes instead of 10 or 15. With Blanc et noir, you no longer need to think about palette. The trick with this is just pile on a good amount of variations and accents or maybe pop another color somewhere there (like in my case, gold) to turn the look from waiter/ butlery to chic, from drab to interesting. Basically, keep your eye entertained.



I've never been more convinced about the power of basics, It's getting stronger as I age. I'm talking about a good white shirt, a good pair of jeans, a black pencil/ bandage skirt, a thin gold belt, little gold accessories, black/ brown/ white low heels or flats, a beige blazer, neutral colored midriffs or inner shirts, a good timeless watch, and a good bag. And when you got that covered, the plaids and the cut-outs and the prints etc etc can come in. Basics are the key to a versatile closet that doesn't require too much bank breaking. I think a practical girl should have 70% basics, and 30% trendy pieces. That way, you wont find yourself outfit repeating too much. Trendy pieces tend to be too memorable to outfit-repeat. You'll also have a broad range of choices to mix and match whilst saving time, perfect for those girls on the go!

Man, I miss blogging.
Hoping to be able to write again here more often! 
Catch up soon! :)
Dawn
x


** Top: Mango ** Sequined Shorts: WAGW ** Flats: Primaluxe MNL ** Bag: Parfois ** Necklace: Bazaar Find