‘Kayu’ showcases teak in Eastwood

Five enterprising wives of Filipino expatriate professional managers in Jakarta recently opened a furniture and house accessories store called ‘Kayu’ (Bahasa for wood) showcasing antique pieces from different Indonesian provinces.

The store is located at the ground floor of One Luna Lifestyle Center, Eastwood, Libis, Quezon City, in front of Citibank.

The wives are Gina Perdices Mojica, Annette Lichauco del Rosario, Jeanine Nakpil Lagman, Irene Insigne, and Vicky Genato Picornell.

The ‘Kayu’ collection is a mixture of antique pieces of Indonesia and new designs, leaning on modern taste but using old wood from dismantled houses in Java. About 90 percent of the wood in ‘Kayu’ is teak.

The wives personally handpicked the pieces in ‘Kayu.’ Among the items that were gobbled up by customers in the first week of the Eastwood store’s launch were a wooden solitaire set with precious marbles, a CD cabinet with intricate carving, solid teak console table with pewter masks and artifacts, teak bed with slots and a wooden lone seat, teak rocking chair, Ikat runner on an old batik wooden hanger, antique day bed, square teak coffee table, Lombok candle holders, and a pewter seahorse in a frame.

The range of furniture pieces and accessories is varied. What attracts buyers is the items are reasonably priced and unique.

"We’ve gone all over Indonesia to look for pieces that are unique to the Filipino market," said Lagman, granddaughter of national artist Juan Nakpil. "We buy the items from the source so we are able to skirt broker markups and sell at the lowest possible prices."

Del Rosario, the daughter of businessman Ernesto Lichauco and the late Ninoy Aquino’s sister Maur, said the pieces in ‘Kayu’ are items the five partners would buy for their own homes. It’s that personal touch that makes ‘Kayu’ one of a kind.

For details, call ‘Kayu’ at tel. 633-53.51.