Living by design

Gina Consunji could not help but feel pleased when she overheard the workers commenting on t he green clouds on the painting they were putting up on the wall. “It is actually a beach scene, and I painted the sky and the sea green,” Gina explains, referring to the abstract painting hanging on one wall of the model unit at The Manors at Celebrity Place which she designed.

Gina has been designing interiors for over ten years now. She married young, at 20, one year before finishing college. Three children later and with more free time in her hands, she decided to enroll at the Philippine School of Interior Design. She then set up her own firm, Imagina Design. “Imagina is Italian for design,” she explains.

Her first client was DMCI Holdings. She designed their new office in Makati where they moved from their original office in Pandacan. “It was a milestone since that was when they first traded internationally and they needed a Makati address,” she relates. She also designed the interiors of DMCI’s first housing development in Merville, Parañaque.

Gina likes designing model units. “I like working from a clean slate,” she says. She makes sure that each design is different from the other. “I do not like repeating myself,” she says. She looks at the other model units in the development and she usually comes up with a design that is the opposite of what is existing. “The model unit is a marketing tool,” she explains, “and I like to give the sales force different options.”

The first thing she does is evaluate the space. “I imagine the people who will be living in it,” Gina says. “I like to make it livable.” Unit buyers usually like to keep the interiors exactly as she designed it. She gets materials and accessories usually off the rack, and she keeps the price tags on the pieces so the new owners will know where to get them. Some of the furniture are custom-made, scaled to fit the available space. Color plays an important role. “It is the most subtle tool,” she says.

In the model unit at the Portchester building in The Manors, Gina worked with the original ivory and eggshell color of the walls. “It’s very subtle,” she points out. “The light, monochromatic color opens up the space.” The lighting fixtures are both decorative and functional. The cabinets and shelves, built into the walls seem to float, adding to the sense of space. The mute walls are brought to life by the abstract paintings – in bright yellow above the sofa, and deep red in the dining area. The predominantly pink abstract painting in the master bedroom is entitled “Swirl.” “It represents happy emotions,” Gina says. “It has to be happy, because we are selling a dream.”

For more information on The Manors at Celebrity Place, call 888-3333 or visit www.dmcihomes.com.