A cozy nesting place

After rendering dedicated service for a certain number of years, employees are gifted with the traditional pricey wristwatch. Even dogs who display unfaltering loyalty are rewarded by their masters with bones or flea collars. After providing them more than a roof over their heads and ample security for the past 17 years, our friends Rene and Ann Puno happily gave their old residence a fresh coat of paint and an invigorating new look.

Aware of what they really needed at the time they decided to give their house a face-lift, a smiling Ann intimated that the whole thing was a breeze.

Busy with his law practice, this gentle mannered son of retired Justice Ricardo Puno gave his equally talented wife the carte blanche to do whatever she thought was best. Earlier, while photographing a table setting she contributed to this writer for a past article, she expressed her desire of reinventing the interiors of her home without tearing down even a single wall.

Comparing how it looked at the time of the shoot with the way it is today, I cannot help but marvel at how she successfully redid all the public areas of her house sans the help of a professional decorator. Vis-a-vis how it was before, it is now doubly spacious while maintaining the coziness expected of average-sized homes.

One major expense encountered by the youthful duo was the installation of trellises that cover the sides and the ceiling of the garden room, once the easement required by the grillwork to serve as translucent roof that keeps the place dry even while it is pouring cats and dogs outside. Very practical and functional furniture inhabit this space. Vintage round tables, accompanied by ice parlor chairs, plus a mini-bar are the only pieces standing in the area, aside from the orchids and bromeliads that abound.

The growing collection of modern paintings by local artists that used to clutter the public areas, has been visibly reduced. Rene, an art lover, used to hang them like a collage on every available space on the walls surrounding the stairwell, from floor to ceiling. Now, only a few pieces can be viewed by guests upon entering the house but what the heck, I thought, they were the prize possessions of the master of the house after all and not for public consumption.

A cross between a landscape and a seascape carved by the deft hands of Lino Severino reigns supreme in the living room. Luckily for Ann, she stumbled upon an upholstery material that echoes all the hues in the Severino oeuvre. At once, one notices that all the colors in the sala blend well. One clever touch here was achieved by employing a couple of jars to support a pane of thick glass, thus becoming the room’s lone coffee table.

Subtlety is likewise achieved in the simple dining room. A sizeable abstract by Raul Piedra dominates the room. Blond wooden furniture, antique straight backs complement the longish dining table that comfortably seats eight guests. A richly gilded sitting Burmese Buddha on the buffet table harmonizes wonderfully with the golden tones of the Piedra painting. All this tender harmony is counterpointed by Impy Pilapil’s glass sculpture standing guard in one corner of the dining room.

Ann had so much to contribute to the whole artistic collaboration in the upgrading of this cozy nest. Little did I know she had so many artistic ideas in her personal reservoir.

Part of the sumptuousness of the present surroundings comes from the presence of furniture pieces, which have been en-tirely washed, bleached to a blond color and pol-ished with a matte sheen. I spotted a very intricate ala Indian border applied on a vitrine that turned out to be Ann’s original creation. Intricate Moorish pattern modules were produced courtesy of her personal computer. Like tiles, the printouts were decoupage on the surface of the virtrine, polished later with coats of polyurethane.

Rene and Ann are blessed with three kids. Renee is 14, Yago is twelve while Luis is a chubby eight-year-old. On weekends, the Puno house teems with more kids. The three Puno kids invite their friends over and most of the time, they’re allowed by their respective folks to sleep over. On account of this, Rene and Ann make sure their house is 100 percent children-friendly.

Attractive colors are still the hottest thing in house decorating and the Puno couple is not immune to this color "epidemic." They happily joined the bandwagon but with great caution. The color scheme they have chosen is rather conservative. A vivid Prussian blue is paired with rich shades of yellowish parchment. Blue for trims and parchment for the general areas.

I must say they have chosen a very welcoming color combination. On the whole, the interiors sport the rich and warm tone of yellowish ivory that marries well with the colors provided by the paintings and those of the upholstery and throw cushions.

The present Puno house can be summarized as a cozy nesting place for a couple of nice people, who exude kindness sand well-being.

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