Our New Electric Fan Looks Like Art

Yesterday, my boss showed me her new Vortex bladeless fan that she ordered from her friend. It looked like an art piece.

And I'm cutting my long story short. I brought home the fan and my boss just ordered a new one for her.

Cool.

Dining Chair Slipcovers

Our dining chairs are made of mahogany wood. Noticed though that there were scratches from buttons of pants, nail marks, etc. and they're barely 3 years old. Repair of one chair costs PhP2,000, according to our supplier!

So I decided to ask our ever reliable mananahi (sewer) to make slipcovers from good quality canvas that we got from Larry's, Buendia. The buttons are made of wood that are available in Divisoria. Carolina's do not have them. Throw pillows are spare pieces from our sofa, all from OUR HOME.

Our house feels much brighter, unlike before which was quite dark due to the mahogany hue.

To Be Techie or Be Artsy

My Nokia N85 is giving up on me. I was told that repair would cost me PhP1,700. Whaaaat????

Though barely 2 years, this 'freebie' phone from my SMART contract was a subject of torture for my toddler/ pre-schooler. I started working again so I have more license to satisfy my wants once in a while. But anyway, I was given another Nokia unit by my office and well, I should say it was more battle-scarred than my N8. I am not complaining though. I'm blessed to have 2 disjointed phones than have nothing.

Hubby is suggesting I should get an Iphone. I am notoriously kuripot. Stingy. Tight. Though I have the tendency to splurge. But my fear is to expose my daughter to computer games. I'm still too old fashioned to introduce her to the virtual world. That's why I do talks about open ended play on the side. I'm Tita Loot.



But everyone has an Iphone!

Ugh. An Iphone or this for my hubby... a Michael Cacnio sculpture from his balloon series.


I really go for the latter. But what about my disjointed phones?

Fixing the Closet ala Sex in the City

We don't exactly have a huge closet space in the house but I devoted half of my day fixing it. I was a party the other night at a bachelorette friend and I drooled at the sight of her closet. It was quite big, very organized and was in fact air conditioned. Not that I am complaining!

Remember Carrie's walk in Closet that she shared with Big in Sex and the City 2? That was the ultimate! (*drooling again*)

I share the closet with my hubby and it was also divided into his and hers. Since hubby is working, his space is a lot bigger than mine. He also owns a lot of jackets so I sacrificed my own space. As I have plans to work next month, I'm sort of worried where I will put my work clothes. I'm planning to invest in clothes again. Actually, we really try to manage our closet by putting away clothes we no longer wear by donating them to charity. As a last resort for clothes we rarely wear, we bring them to our parents' house for storage!



I think the secret to a more organized closet space is compartmentalizing. What I do is put the less worn clothes in the cabinets. As much as possible, I re-organize my accessories drawers quarterly as they tend to become cluttered. I think this works no matter how much space you have.

Of Pictures and Frames

For a couple of years, we lived in a minimalistic themed house. It looked good at night with warm lighting, but if felt dull at daytime. It's cold, lifeless and looked like a furniture store. My husband and I would always tell ourselves that we will wait until we have the budget for the perfect painting, that conversation piece, etc. The walls deserve a work by a national artist.

Mid-2010 when I was in and out of the hospital that my husband finally heeded my requests. I have always wanted some color and warmth in the house. Finally, we made some minor repainting works, and such changes made a lot of difference in the overall mood of the house. From cold to hot! Hot in a good sense-- calm, inviting, friendly.

During the holidays, I braved the watchful eye of my husband by putting pictures on our bar (which we never use) and the console table. I meant "brave" because he's the artist in the family. Very discriminating. But the pictures gave the house a better feel! I love looking at the pictures whenever I can-- while cleaning, moving from dining to kitchen, running after my toddler. Oh yes, the pictures deserved to be printed, not saved in my hard drive.




Though I'm generally stingy, I opted for the UMBRA frames, which are quite pricey. Regular frames from bookstores are fine but the neutral colors might be the ones that might work. My pictures need a better house.

This month's issue of Real Living was quite timely because it had features about pictures. So my mommy instincts are right! I'm not a national artist, but my pictures will outlast even their work both in my heart and in my mind.