Refreshing Reprise
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Change is refreshing. Having frequent house guest lately, I decided to construct a daybed in the living room which will serve as my guest bed. With this added and new element in the room I had to rearrange the old elements to unify with the new. Another new feature in the living room is the treatment of the sliding glass windows that brought light and natural air inside without sacrifice to privacy.

Right: The open area by the staircase now has the occassional chair. The low platform with large dry and coral arrangements that used to be in the other corner of the room is now repositioned beside the Thai painting. The bamboo leaves have been refreshed.

Above: I have always had an issue with the window in my living room as it faces the common courtyard depriving me of visual privacy. This window has an iron grill boxed from the outside. While I saw the possibility of creating a niche from this situation, I did not want to see the overbearing pattern of the iron grill from the inside. As a temporary measure when I first moved in, I covered the glass windows with corrogated cardboard salvaged from the packings of my shipment. While this solution deprived me of some day light, I had total privacy until recently when I found a solution to this tricky problem.

Above: The easiest thing to do with a window is to put some blinds over it but I prefer a bare window in this situation. I want the outside light to filter in and allow for natural ventilation while maintaining visual privacy. While the boxed out iron grills gave an opportunity to create a display niche it has an objectionalbe pattern which I did not want to see. To resolve these issues, I installed plastic plants over the the iron grills. Plastic may be cheap but in this instance, I see it as mere color and texture of a building material. Not plastic posing as a plant. The privacy and ventilation issues, were solved. During the day, I can see the light and movements from the outside but I cannot be seen inside. In the evening, the density of the plastic plants makes it difficult to clearly see the inside. The plastic plants also helps in filtering the air when I open the sliding glass windows. Displayed in the window niche is an antique Thai wooden monk's step in a form of a goat placed on top of a Thai manuscript box. The green color is echoed in the Japanese ceramic jar with lotus arrangement.

Above: Nothing changed in this side of the living room.

Click here for a panoramic view of the living room.

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[Fore Front] [Challenges: Changes] [An Assignment] [Malate, Manila] [Fleur Feast] [Color Coordinates] [Lively Lines] [Refreshing Reprise]
[Table Tops] [Sweet Scents] [Prosperity Pillar]
Diversions [Flowering Frisco] [Buddhist Banahaw] [My Mahayhay] [Sign Guest Book] [Read Guest Book]

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