My third request from James and another investment aside from
Previous entry: Sub Zero December 5, 2011
Previous Entry: Mattress from the Four Seasons Hotel January 6, 2012
was the garden. As we were rushing to move into the house after 18 months renovation already, I requested James that if we move in, I wanted the garden to be finished. And it was a good thing I insisted on this because it makes a world of difference! We don’t have green thumbs and don’t really know about gardening, but it was important to us that we have a nice garden that will surround us. Thank you to Timmy
and Marcia ( with her Chihuahua in pink 
) who put together our garden!
To appreciate more how it was transformed, I am showing photos of the before and after
Front of the house - I heard that our neighbor put these trees so that it would match their frontage
We removed it and then changed it to Buddha belly bamboos. I like it because it gives some sort of privacy instead of placing a wall
Side of the house
Changed to this
Another view, I found it a bit messy having different kinds of trees in one area
Now
The other side
Now
The main garden from the Balcony of the living room
And now It’s just so soothing for me to come home and see this
Another view BEFORE
AFTER
Close up on the wall. James had them remove everything. At first we were thinking of just adding, but then James just removed everything and started from scratch
We are waiting for the bamboo to grow more leaves so that we can have full privacy from the neighbors
This was the wall before we stripped off all the plants
The back garden BEFORE
AFTER!
I love the pink flowers growing on the tree. And take note of the round balls around the garden. So beautiful when they are lit at night. James wanted those capiz balls hanging on the trees, it’s a good thing Timmy found this for us! Very unique yet so simple and elegant
The side garden BEFORE
AFTER
James did everything for the newly renovated house. There were only a few specifications I asked for and one of them was to order for me the mattress from the Four Seasons Hotel! I have stayed in two Four Seasons Hotel ( Singapore and Vancouver ) in my life and in those two times, I remember having a comfortable experience and slept very well during my stay there.
The mattress is so comfortable because it is plush yet firm at the same time. The reason for this is that it has a pillow top layer on top of the mattress
Other important components of our bed:
1.) Down comforter
2.) Comforter cover with the highest thread count that you can get! We got ours from Rustan’s department store
To order you need to contact the hotel that is nearest to your shipping address. So for us, it was the one in San Francisco:
Gordon Yee - Director of Purchasing
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco
757 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Voice: 415-633-3463 Fax: 415-633-3512
Mailto:gordon.yee@fourseasons.com
Web Site: http://www.fourseasons.com/sanfrancisco
2 Days before Christmas, we decided to move to our new home. We are very happy to celebrate Christmas in our new home. James bought a fresh christmas tree and had it decorated by Rustan’s Flower Shop
Thank you Michelle Rufino Bartolome for the beautiful Christmas cards
Click below to see more from Carousel
Thank you Jigger and May for inviting us over to your new home!!! It’s beautiful!! The three years in the making was worth it! They took their time and within that timeframe, they were able to buy special pieces which they liked from their travels. May told me she also enjoys accessorizing, so all the bathrooms and the kitchen accessories are chosen by her. Jigger on the other hand who is very particular of everything, made sure that everything is to his specs most especially his air-conditioning system. The hospital bed in the master bedroom is his due to his acid reflux problem. I found out that we have the same problem and he has to sleep in airplane position, upright.
I just had to take a photo of the staff of Jigger - they were all there to assist in the setting up of the place - from his executive assistant and driver, to the tailor and the computer guy from the office
I am happy to introduce you to my highschool batchmate, Arlene. She has a blog and I love reading her posts. In many ways, I see myself in her because we have many similarities - in the way we think, the way we express ourselves and the way we look at life.
Blog site: Make Room For Bliss
Arlene is a contributing writer for Real Living magazine and is currently featured in the October issue
Arlene is a very creative person, she is an architect
Do visit her site:
Blog site: Make Room For Bliss
Click here to go to her website: Make Room for Bliss
A beautiful home of Toddy and Mel. It’s so nice and cozy. I most especially love the art collection which they have built up through the years. Congrats Manny for the beautiful architecture! I hope I can feature more of your works. Mel, you are so creative, love the furnishings and interiors!
Architect: Manny Lozano
Interior Architect: Tina Periquet
Interior Design and Furnishings: Mel Francisco
Den
Powder room
Dining
Kitchen door
Stairways leading up to the second floor
Amanda’s Room
Kitchenette for the second floor which has proven to be very useful
Ante room
Master Bedroom
The Queen’s dressing room :-)
Thank you M. Donnie and Crix for sharing your beautiful home with all of us! They told us that they had bought the house as it is and just renovated it. It took a year
M. Donnie told me that he totally left everything to Crickette. Crix told us that she always keeps all her things and furniture pieces and uses them depending on what will fit in each part of the house. So if it is a piece from an old house, she either uses it again or if it does not fit, she will store it somewhere or park it in one of her sibling’s places She worked closely with Interior designer, Andrew Laurel.
M. Donnie’s “Mancave” :-)
Of course! :-)
And Of course, a beautiful portrait of Mom :-)
And Crix has her own place too
And a sketch by Bencab!! WOW!!! Crix told me that Bencab did this for charity and she had to pay P 50,000 to have this done and the money went to charity. Priceless!
Going up to the rooms
Family room
A home gym! They are such health buffs! That is why they are all so fit and trim
Christian’s room
The Twins’ room
and the Master Bedroom
M. Donnie’s nook in the bedroom where he works and prays! Crix is so lucky to have him !!! and of course the other way around too
Master bathroom
His dressing room
Her dressing room!
Dining room
Kitchen
