This Renovated Philippines Apartment Has a Sleek Slat Wall and Clever "Cloffice"

Adrienne Breaux
·6 min read
1
Neutral living room.
Wicker pendant lamps in neutral toned apartment.
Wicker pendants hung in living room.
Pendant hung above wooden rectangular dining table.
Artwork hung in light filled apartment.
Wicker framed floor length mirror in bedroom.

HOME TYPE: Apartment

LOCATION: Manila, Philippines

STYLE: Contemporary, Organic Modern

BEDROOMS: 2

SQUARE FEET: 1300


BJ Macatulad says that she and her husband, Jeremy, have been living overseas for most of their adult lives, “most recently in Shanghai where we met. After 17 years there, we decided it was time to move closer to family. We moved to Manila (where most of my family lives) at the end of 2022 and spent four to five months renovating an apartment in the heart of the CBD that we purchased several years ago. After years of living in rented apartments in Shanghai, I was excited to decorate and live in the first apartment that Jeremy and I actually own together as a couple.”

Wicker pendants hung in living room.

BJ’s husband was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and she was born in Manila, but she says they both consider themselves “global citizens. We’ve each lived and worked predominantly overseas, in the U.S. and around Asia. While our home in Manila is primarily an ode to the many wonderful artisans of the Philippines, it also reflects the many countries we’ve adopted as our own throughout the years.”

Neutral living room.

Though BJ says the couple didn’t make any structural changes to the apartment, they did do an entire gut renovation, replacing all the electrical and plumbing, redoing the kitchen and baths, and refinishing the original wood floors, which BJ says was a selling point for the couple.

“The apartment was originally a two-bedroom, which the prior owner had converted into a one-bedroom,” BJ writes. “We didn’t want to bring back the original guest bedroom, but we did want to have a space to serve as a media room and guest area. We installed a wall of wood slats to create a feeling of separation while keeping the home’s open plan concept.”

Artwork hung in light filled apartment.

BJ explains that they also knocked down a wall between the kitchen and living room to open the space up a bit, and in the primary bedroom they made the bathroom a little larger and created a walk-in closet. “This made the sleeping area smaller, but we don’t mind sacrificing the square footage to create a more functional bathroom and dressing area,” BJ writes.

Woven curtain covering home office supplies.

A small but impactful update happened in the living room, when they transformed a closet into a “cloffice. My friends at @soumak.ph (from where most of our rugs, mirrors, lamps, and accent pieces came) then created a custom-made, hand-woven abaca fiber curtain panel that rolls down to hide my office when we have guests come over. It took the weavers over a month to make the two panels, but well worth the wait!”

Resources

Wooden bench under painting in art filled apartment.

ENTRY

Painting — Le Thanh Son
Wooden Mask — Flea Market
Hurricane Lamp — Soumak

Wicker pendant lamps in neutral toned apartment.

LIVING ROOM

Abaca Rugs — Soumak
Accent Chairs — Soumak
Floor Lamp, Table Lamp — Soumak
Carved Wood Box Painting — Van Tho
Wall-Mounted Wire Ram’s Head — A.Garcia
Mirror with Carved Wood Frame — Soumak
Pendant Lamps — Arte-Cebuana
Curtain Panel — Soumak

Pendant hung above wooden rectangular dining table.

DINING ROOM

Pendant Lamp — Arte-Cebuana
Dining Table — Left by prior owner
Midcentury Modern Chairs — Left by prior owner

Wicker framed floor length mirror in bedroom.

BEDROOM

Mirror with Wood-Carved Frame — Soumak
Table Lamp — Soumak
Paint-Dipped Stool — Shopee (the local equivalent of Amazon)

Thanks BJ!

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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