THERE’S a lovely playhouse of Barbie and Ken dolls we build out of bricks, and then there’s a lovely playhouse we build out of Mandaue Foam—that is, if the building is what makes a house and its interior is what makes a home.
For what’s now atop the home-furnishing brand (which, from its modest beginnings as a backyard business in 1971, has expanded from foam to mattresses to cabinetry and what have you) are custom-built products that are chic, functional and true to its design philosophy to suit just about any lifestyle.
Because we are a pampered lot in so many ways and believe that the home is an extension of one’s personality (so you want that couch channeling Fifty Shades of Grey’s hero/antihero, or in a One Direction print?), Mandaue Foam, which is in the business of pampering, has put design democracy in our hands.
Recently, the company curated an exhibition at the Rockwell Tent of the infinite possibilities one can achieve with its offerings of furniture and home accessories, with the mockup home spaces designed by its newest ambassadors—celebs in the guise of a travel blogger, an athlete, a bachelor, a newlywed, a writer, a mom with two kids.
It was an “afternoon of comfort, design and leisure” graced by a cult of so-called headliners and hosted by RJ Ledesma and Tessa Prieto-Valdez.
For the newlywed Saab Magalona, moving into a two-bedroom apartment with the better half would take some getting used to, and she thought it would be somewhat of a challenge to design their living room that reconciled both their aesthetics.
But, Saab said, with Mandaue Foam, she has been able to “compromise without really having to compromise,” what with a comfy living room tinged with gender-neutral earthy colors.
“Since we’re newlyweds, I wanted a small change lang muna. I just wanted a love seat—a two-seater—that could [sit well] with the dining table and everything. But [my husband] said the couch had to be really comfy para sa gaming n’ya,” Saab said.
Saab was very particular about what she wanted to bring into her home as a married woman, and what she loves about Mandaue Foam is that it’s very flexible.
“I saw some stuff I liked but, given the limited condo space we have, we couldn’t bring the pieces home. Instead, we were able to have some items custom-made according to size.” Meanwhile, for model-slash-beauty columnist Kelly Misa Fernandez, who has been meaning to work on decorating her home office since they moved into their three-bedroom townhouse, doing such becomes so much easier with Mandaue Foam.
An L-shaped desk punctuated by cabinets behind it, according to Misa-Fernandez, would be handy in preventing clutter and compartmentalizing things.
“I really like space to flow as this helps with inspiration. Kasi, s’yempre, when you’re writing, mahirap magka-writer’s block. You really need to have that environment where you can be inspired, so that you can inspire other people.”
“I also like the little seating area by the desk, [where] I can work and entertain at the same time. It’s clean, functional and stylish—just how a home office space should look like,” Misa-Fernandez added.
In mother-of-two Mylene Dizon’s home, child-proof, pizza sauce-proof furniture is the order of the day.
“There’s a lot of children in my home all the time. [The furniture] has to be very comfortable [on which] you should be able to jump up and down, you should be able to lie down while watching TV, and the color has to be neutral enough para madaling linisin,” Dizon said, adding that the thing with Mandaue is that you can choose from an endless gamut of fabrics.
Is everything in this day and age of mommy porn so Fifty Shades of Grey, or is it just us? One could swear the mock-up bedroom designed by Phil Younghusband looked just like the place for the footballer to canoodle in his own sexy starrer.
But a room of an athlete is the room of an athlete, and, Phil said, “As an athlete, the most important [part of the house for me] is the bed, where I like to rest, spread out and make the most of my downtime.”
Really, who needs a fancy interior designer when you can orchestrate your own home space? After all, all of us have an inner artist, only that few of us are gifted to translate our aesthetic sensibilities into a livable and stylish space. Then again, with Mandaue Foam, you can finally create a piece of living art where you fit perfectly as part of the picture.