UnDiplomatic Wife

  • About TDW
    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • AS SEEN ON
    • Collaborate
    • Policies
  • Diplo Picks
    • Diplo Beauty
    • Diplo Mama
    • Diplo Home
    • Diplo Tummy
    • Diplo Tips
    • Diplo Travel
    • Diplo Style
    • Diplo Baby
    • Diplo Inspiration
  • Living in
    • GENEVA
      • good to know
      • food & drink
      • shopping
    • Berlin
      • Good To know
      • To Dos
      • food & drink
      • Shopping
    • MANILA
      • good to know
      • to do
      • food & drink
      • shopping
    • JAKARTA
      • good to know
      • to do
      • food & drink
      • shopping
  • TRAVEL DIARIES
    • Finland
    • France
    • Greece
    • Germany
      • BERLIN 2022 ITINERARY
      • Willkommen in Berlin
    • Indonesia
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Netherlands
    • Philippines
    • Poland
    • Spain
    • Singapore
    • Switzerland
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam

Inspiring Apartment Design Books

November 4, 2010

TD has been bugging me to order more furniture. However being the anal obsessive compulsive person that I am, I want to design furniture that is double/triple purpose with a lot of storage to maximize our small apartment. This requires a lot of research, imagination and some technical knowledge (i.e. kinds of hinges to use, thickness of the wood to support X amount of Kilos, structural integrity of the design, etc.) My book recommendations and photos of our Manila flat after the jump!

 Design-for-Small-Spaces-cover4

Designs for Small Spaces. I LOVE this book. Fantastic designs and ideas!!! I highly recommend. image via

In Manila I had it easy. When I was decorating my flat, I did the research of what I liked then did two very important things:

  1. Hired interior designers, who had the same vision as I did, to make sense and narrow everything down (It was a very thick pile I tell you!), then draw everything so I can see how it will look before we do/buy anything.
  2. AND get contractors that were not only excellent in their jobs (I found out that there’s a difference between a painter and a finishing painter) but had a very high sense of ethics. (Yes this is very important to minimize stress – no renegotiation of cost or asking for additional budget, highest quality materials were used, etc.)

Because of this I got exactly what I envisioned, a modern Filipiniana look with clean lines, double purpose furniture with MAXIMUM storage space. By modern Filipiniana I meant wood, local materials and neutral colors with capiz and shell highlights.

Modern Filipiniana look for Our flat in Manila: The living room

Built-in custom-made furniture  was the key. Aside from making the space unique, it is the best thing to maximize space (vertically not just horizontally). Those built up shelves in the living room and masters bedroom, are not only for storing books and decor but also serve a decorative purpose and lighting. Doesn’t  it look gorgeous? More pictures after the jump.

Dining room with expandable table, capiz drop lamp and wine rack wall fixture

The dining room

Another built-in, is the display case on the wall. That short vertical line suspended in the middle is actually a brilliant wine rack, which serves a decorative as well as utilitarian purpose when filled with wine bottles. The table, made of Malaysian rubber wood, is for 6, but extends to accommodate 8. My favorite feature is the capiz drop lamp which I got for an absolute steal. (Interior designers can source everything for you, but since I was on a tight budget, I did a lot of sourcing myself. BUT before I made any purchase I would consult with the ID’s first if they thought it fit our look)

Masters bedroom, kingsized bed with velcro headboards.

Master Bedroom

I wanted a king sized bed, which meant I didn’t have enough space for side tables, so we did a built up wall in the back which is backlit. So it’s not only serves the purpose of a side-table, but it is also the headboard, bookshelf, lamp and houses the phone jack and electric sockets. How’s that for multi-purpose?? The headboard was made with cushion and wood, and velcroed to the wall (i think I surprised the IDs and contractors by this idea, but I LOVE velcro and it worked!)

Notice the desk on the side? The one with the miniature version of the Capiz drop lamp from the dining room? Guess what? It’s a working desk slash TV table slash vanity table in one! And it’s simple enough to not obstruct from the floor to ceiling window view of the city. Love it!

Enough about Manila and back to our apartment here in Jakarta! I still want the very same things, BUT (and that’s a really big “but”) we can’t do built-ins and I don’t have interior decorators to narrow down the choices and smooth out the technical details for me. Nor do I have a big budget. So here I am putting off ordering more furniture because I am intimidated and daunted by the task. But as Will Smith said (the gist anyway) for whatever you are going through in life, someone has been through it and wrote a book about it.

So I am now going through these books and trying to imagine how I can apply them to our apartment here. Remember the furniture cannot also be so specific, because we have to bring them to our next post (we have no idea where!). It has to fit in there too! ARGH!

150 Best Apartment Ideas

Store it! Where to put all the things you need to keep. Can’t wait to dig into this one! Such great practical ideas!

You can see the theme here is all about space saving, storage and multi-functioning design. For more ideas and inspiration on The Look I am also reading 25 Tropical Houses in the Philippines (by Elizabeth V. Reyes) and Modern Asian living (by Wongvipa Devahastin na Ayudya and Sakul Intakul).

There are so many ideas out there, but the most challenging is narrowing them down to what I can apply to our home. To be honest, it is the hardest thing for me! First items on my list of furniture to order are:

  1. Dining table extension (so we can have a dinner for 8 instead of just 6) that is foldable into a display table when not in use
  2. 2 additional seating for #1 – I am torn between bench with storage or stool with storage, but leaning towards a stool that can be used as side tables for our living room when not needed
  3. Console for entrance hallway that doubles as shoe storage
  4. Bench for entrance hallway (for when people take off their shoes) – I wanted it to double as shoe storage but how do I ensure that it doesn’t look cluttered? If any of you lovelies have an idea, I would LOVE to hear it!
  5. Super slim shoe cabinet for the rest of our shoes in the hall – There are so many available designs but sadly I am not feeling any of them. The closed design, for me doesn’t allow airing out and could lead to molds/mildew. The open one doesn’t look very presentable when there are guest. Eeeeep.

What do you think? Any suggestions on these 5 furniture designs? Would love to know your thoughts! Wish me luck and hopefully this post will jump-start my work on this project! Will post pics when new furniture arrives.

Here are some new updates on our home:

  • Check out our new console, bench and shoe cabinets
  • It’s a GOLD Christmas at our DiploHome

22 Comments · Diplo Home

Comments

  1. Anna says

    November 4, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    There is an italian company fhat specializes in space saving ideas. I think i posted a link on my fb page a while back. You should check them out.

    I think if you could only accomodate 1 wish from your wishlist, itll have to be the table that can expand to seat more!

    Reply
    • thediplomaticwife says

      November 4, 2010 at 2:40 PM

      Hi Anna,
      I actually have to do all… and much MUCH more! Stress! We got an unfurnished apartment so no furni except for bed. And it’s my task to fill it up before we leave for our next post! Sigh…pressure talaga. Thanks for the tip sweety and will check out the link on your FB! Mwah!!

      Reply
  2. Tala says

    November 4, 2010 at 2:42 PM

    I have to say kudos to you for making the Manila flat awesome! It’s like a hotel sweetie!!! Galeng! Good luck on the Jakarta one 🙂 I’m sure you can do it or even better! Mwah!

    Reply
  3. Duckses says

    November 5, 2010 at 8:18 AM

    How about a bench/shoe cabinet with wooden or bamboo slats – I see these benches in old houses, my great-grandmother had one. She used to joke that it was for keeping chickens. The slats can be like bamboo bars or carved into designs.

    I’m trying to find a picture but can’t seem to turn up any on google.

    Corinna

    Reply
    • thediplomaticwife says

      November 5, 2010 at 2:34 PM

      Hi Cor,
      Shucks I would love to see a picture of this! Is it just a box made of bamboo, then can be opened to reveal shoes, or do the slats serve a purpose to hold up the shoes? I’m intrigued

      Reply
  4. Kaho says

    December 4, 2010 at 4:15 PM

    150 best apartment ideas sounds great!! I love interior designs and design blogs and I’m always browsing and drooling. I love it! In our life, we cannot bring our furniture except for several posts, so we have to decorate with what we are provided with, but I enjoy the challenge. Have you seen apartment therapy blog? It has a lot of ideas as well. I find it a bit hard to navigate, but it’s a good site. I think you’ll like it. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

    Reply
    • thediplomaticwife says

      December 5, 2010 at 6:34 PM

      Oh wow… that’s hard if you can’t bring your stuff. You have to sort of start decorating again in every post. We’re definitely lucky that we get a container and get to collect furniture from Jakarta to bring to our next post. They have so much good teak here and it’s so reasonable compared to many countries! I’ll definitely check out the link – thanks for posting it!

      Reply
      • bren says

        April 17, 2011 at 7:57 PM

        Love your blog..love the ideas!

        thanks! I will be checking in often:)

        http://www.lohintl.com

        Reply
  5. Kaho says

    December 4, 2010 at 4:16 PM

    Your apartment in Manila looks absolutely gorgeous, by the way! I forgot to mention it in my previous comment!

    Reply
    • thediplomaticwife says

      December 5, 2010 at 6:28 PM

      Thank you Kaho! I’m glad you liked it =)

      Reply
  6. elawela says

    February 17, 2011 at 12:55 AM

    Can’t believe I just saw this now! Haha 🙂 Great post and will surely buy books from your list!!!! Thanks!!!!! 😀

    Reply
    • thediplomaticwife says

      February 18, 2011 at 3:06 AM

      Thanks Ela glad you liked my post! Enjoy the books! =)

      Reply
  7. Starlet says

    April 14, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    I saw the colorful nesting prep bowls on the cover of that book just last weekend, and I was contemplating of getting it. Of course I didn’t, and of course I regret it, because it really is a cute space saving kitchenware.

    Your Filipiniana look is amazing!! It’s glam yet very down to earth with the natural woods.

    Given that this post was months ago, I’m assuming you’ve got some furnitures and has decorated your new place in Jakarta? I know a friend who is a great architecture and interior designer. He designed a set for one of the TV show over there. He might be able to direct you to the right ID if you’d still like one for Jakarta?

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      April 15, 2011 at 9:52 AM

      Hi Starlet. I’ve some furniture already. However it is not wise for us to get and ID here because we are only a little more than a year in this posting. Thank you for offering to refer me – so sweet of you! I don’t know if you seen my entries on Furniture but yes I’ve much more furni now. I’m still in the process of ordering them though. I’ve so much more to go!

      I love love love the nesting prep bowls. Even if they are expensive it was so worth it. I regret not buying it as well. I am sure you will see it again! =)

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Our new custom-built teak hallway furniture « The Diplomatic Wife says:
    December 30, 2010 at 3:41 AM

    […] Interior Design inspirations… From Manila flat to Jakarta Apartment! […]

    Reply
  2. STEAL ✄ DEAL: Sale at Aksara Bookstore! « The Diplomatic Wife says:
    January 27, 2011 at 12:08 AM

    […] is one of my guilty pleasures here in Indonesia. They have super awesome novelty/gift items and great books too! (Remember this book?) It’s not that cheap though – I can never find a book under […]

    Reply
  3. STEAL ✄ DEAL: Vinoti Living 12 Year Anniversary Sale « The Diplomatic Wife says:
    February 4, 2011 at 1:31 PM

    […] are rectangular or square. One thing I learned from my interior designers K+M while decorating our flat in Manila is that I can’t have to many square/rectangular elements in an area. I have to balance it out […]

    Reply
  4. DIPLO HOME ♖ Bespoke teak hallway furniture | The Diplomatic Wife says:
    October 7, 2013 at 7:22 PM

    […] Interior Design inspirations… From Manila flat to Jakarta Apartment! […]

    Reply
  5. DIPLO HOME: Modular Bookshelf Prototype | The Diplomatic Wife says:
    October 28, 2013 at 6:43 PM

    […] other suggestions that might help with this Diplo Lifestyle? (The furniture that I had designed for our permanent pad in Manila is so very different from the ones I’m having done for our […]

    Reply
  6. DIPLO PARTY: First Party Hosting – Christmas 2010 | The Diplomatic Wife says:
    November 21, 2013 at 5:28 PM

    […] kitchen bowls I’ve been eyeing for so long (it was also the cover of my favorite design book, Design for Small Spaces, and finally a Dynamo label maker. Weeeee! I’ve been wanting one for so […]

    Reply
  7. DIPLO HOME: Vinoti Living Lamp says:
    January 2, 2014 at 4:51 PM

    […] are rectangular or square. One thing I learned from my interior designers K+M while decorating our flat in Manila is that I can’t have too many square/rectangular elements in an area. I have to balance it […]

    Reply
  8. Modern Filipiniana Condo Interior Design Tips says:
    January 28, 2014 at 3:59 PM

    […] tons of research (these are my favourite books) I knew what I wanted in terms of the overall look, storage options and other features. I got a lot […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome

Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

READ MORE
 

LET’S GET SOCIAL

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

TRAVEL DIARIES: Fischer’s Fritz Zürich

Summer hack: Portable Neck Fan

Summer hack: Leguano Barefoot Wet/Dry Shoes

Excellent Chinese Food at Le Tsé Fung in La Réserve

AirPod Anti-lost Accessories Philippines

DISCLOSURE

I am an Amazon affiliate, but all opinions are my own. The content of all my blog and social media posts are products and experiences that I truly enjoy and I only work with brands that fit my life and style.

GOOD TO KNOW GUIDE

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @UNDIPLOMATICWIFE

HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport? We are very lucky th HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport?

We are very lucky that the Geneva Airport is very near because it is located 4 km northwest of the city centre. It takes us less than 15mins by car & is easier to get to than airports outside the city.

BUT also means that many of the Geneva residents suffer from AIRCRAFT NOISE POLLUTION. 

In some parts of Geneva, like Vernier, Meyrin, Bellevue, Versoix, etc will have the airplane pass on top of you or very near you. This is something to consider when you are MOVING TO GENEVA & looking for a home.

When we were in @bioparcgeneve recently, it felt like airplane after airplane was going overhead every few mins. The poor animals were screaming each time.

A  report by the European Environment Agency(EEA) in 2017 said that 12% or 73,500 Geneva residents have their hearing disturbed by aircraft noise. Probably the figures have risen with the natural increase population & travel?

“The EEA describes noise as a pervasive pollutant that directly affects the health and well-being of humans and wildlife. Populations exposed to high noise levels can exhibit stress reactions, sleep-stage changes, and clinical symptoms like hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. All of these can contribute to premature mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) reckons that humans exposed to noise levels above 40 decibels at night experience adverse health effects.

Across Europe it is estimated that noise contributed to at least 900,000 additional cases of hypertension in 2011.” - @le_news_ch 

DID YOU KNOW that owners of homes affected by the noise can request for soundproofing to be paid for by GVA? 

Check if your home meets the conditions for FREE SOUNDPROOFING c/o Genève Aéroport here:

https://www.gva.ch/en/Site/Geneve-Aeroport/Questions-Reponses-FAQ/Bruit#

SAVE or SHARE this now with someone you know who might be moving to Geneva or is already suffering from aircraft #noisepollution. 

#UDWinGeneva #UDWgenevagoodtoknow #expatingeneva #diplofamily #expatlife #genevaswitzerland #expatingeneva #filipinoingeneva #pinoyingeneva #movingtogeneva #movingtoswitzerland #movingtogeneva #genevaexpats #switzerlandexpatlife #geneva #genevaswitzerland
MERCADONA HAUL Whenever we go to Spain, we love t MERCADONA HAUL

Whenever we go to Spain, we love to go to @mercadona. It might be small but has a good affordable selection. It’s my thrifty Spanish MIL’s favorite.

We were so lucky that we had a @mercadona right beside our hotel Marina Badalona. Very convenient.
Our favorite things to bring home are:

☕️ frozen porras (bigger than churros)

🐑 baby lamb chops (the only lamb I eat coz it’s not malangsa & all you need to do is fry till crispy in olive oil with S&P) it’s called Chuletas Cabrito but TD calls it lechal 

🐽 chicharon or crispy pork rinds

🥔 Homemade potato chips. The best potato chips for me are from Spain. I don’t know how it’s so much yummier! The olive oil???

🎣 canned Sardines & tuna for me and Yaya B

TIPS:

🧊 For frozen items, we usually ask the hotel before we buy if they can put it in their freezer until we fly.

✍️ I usually bring different sizes ZIPLOCK BAGS, MASKING TAPE & MARKER when we travel so we can put everything in, label with our name and room number.

📸 then I take a photo so we can just show it to the staff and they can easily find it in their freezer.

✈️ When it’s time to pack, I placed our beach towels around the frozen packages coz I know they will SWEAT & I don’t want our other things to get wet 💦 

What  grocery do you usually like to shop for when in Spain? Where do you buy them?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries #udwtraveltips #udwtraveltip #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW C FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW Calisthenics Park 

📍Chem. des Tuileries 140, 1293 Bellevue

After the lovely BIOPARC we headed across to this chill park with ample PARKING that had so many things for kids & anyone who wants to move & work out:

⚽️ The kids wanted to kick around a football so we borrowed a ball from @boxup.app (they also have pumps, 🏓, 🏐, 🏀, etc) just download the app & turn on your Bluetooth & follow instructions! Return after 3hrs.

👟 Outdoor gym - this was a huge hit with the kids

⚽️ football - this too!

🏀 basketball court

🏓 Ping-pong 

🏐 Beach volleyball court

🤸🏻 Monkey bars

🛝 small playground

Thanks for the wonderful afternoon guys @lidia_otilia_botezatu! 
How lucky are we to have these beautiful, clean open spaces. And the free rental gear is AMAZING! so convenient.

This is in Geneva, about 15mins drive from where we live.

SAVE THIS on your list of PARKS to visit!

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. It’s not as close as the bioparc but bring earplugs/earphones if you are sensitive.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
BIOPARC GENÈVE Yesterday was a holiday in Switze BIOPARC GENÈVE

Yesterday was a holiday in Switzerland (except for Geneva). It was raining & miserable so I wanted to take @diplobaby out for a few hours. Thankfully midafternoon it stopped raining.

We met with our friends @lidia_otilia_botezatu in @bioparcgeneve and had a lovely time in this volunteer run zoo.

TIPS💡

🆓 It’s free for families on your FIRST visit!

🦢 you walk inside animal enclosures so wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty/stepping on poop. We wore boots & happy we did

🅿️ there’s parking inside on wood chips, if it’s full there’s another pavement parking (free up to 4hrs) across the roundabout 

🦔 Do not feed or touch the animals no matter how cute they are

🗺️ There are 2 routes (purple & blue) and 1-1.5hrs #diplshould be enough 

❎ Park closes at 4pm

SAVE THIS NOW if your looking for a fun & not too you can do in well und2hrs. It’s nice that you can go inside unlike most zoos so it’s quite unique.

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. @diplobaby who is super noise sensitive did not mind as much as I thought he would because he was so entertained by the animals.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
MARINA BADALONA HOTEL At first we were going to MARINA BADALONA HOTEL 

At first we were going to stay in the heart of Barcelona, where we stayed 8 years ago (I didn’t even know that @diplobaby was already in my tummy at 2 weeks old) but the “hotel” is now expensive with no amenities & small rooms. So TD found a hotel in #badalona - a 20min taxi ride from Barcelona city center - that was so fabulous & slightly less expensive.

SAVE THIS NOW for future trips to Barcelona

WHY I LOVED marinabadalona
🤍 All white interiors was so beautiful & calming
🤍 Gorgeous view of the Marina 
🤍 Everything was so aesthetic, even where you tap your card to enter the room
🤍 Massive bed
🤍 Electric curtains
🤍 Lots of closet space & hangers
🤍 2 TVs
🤍 Refrigerator
🤍 White/cream Nespresso & kettle
🤍 Architecture & interior design is sooooo me!
🤍 Small rooftop pool with unbelievable views (need to do a separate post)
🤍 5min walk to the beach
🤍 Gorg esplanade
🤍 Yummy restos beside
🤍 Mercadona right beside - so convenient!

FEW RECOS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
✌️ Loved the textured wall paper, but it’s difficult to keep clean inside the bathroom
✌️ The bathroom surface area was a bit small & our stuff kept falling off the sink
✌️ Not a single chair in the family room so when we had room service we had to eat standing
✌️ No salt & pepper with room service so we called to ask & were told we would be charged for them taking it up. After TD clarified that there was no S&P with our meal, they said they would bring it up. The person brought a small bowl of of salt & pepper combined. The salt was for DiploBaby’s salmon, but he can’t eat pepper, I wanted both for my pesto. Had to run down in my slippers & the resto staff were very apologetic coz who serves a mixed S&P ever? They gave me individually packaged ones which I really appreciated.
✌️ Since the hotel has a pool & is by the beach, I wish there was a place to hang & dry swim suits. Our suits & watershoes did not dry in the tub.

All in all the value we got from staying in this hotel was so high compared to a more expensive hotel in Barcelona. No hotel stay is perfect.

Now, would I stay there again? YES PLEASE! Would you?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Designed by Fancy Girl Design Studio.