All white is all right, says designer Junior Makapugay

One only has to browse the latest issues of locally published design magazines to discover that there’s a silent underground movement among the proponents of home design. The Eighties saw the proliferation of interiors decadently brimming with details and accessories choking every room setting. Rooms were filled to the rafters, as if they were some kind of pirates’ lairs.

I guess that just like in a cycle, what goes up must come down. A renaissance of sorts is taking place and every designer worth his calling is following the cue of those who have discovered that indeed, less can be so much more.

Talking Design was recently invited by Junior Makapugay to view his handiwork in a large house given a fresh, reinvented look. This house was designed and constructed half a decade or so ago. I did not see how it looked before, but judging from the architectural features and some details, it was easy for me to imagine that the house was filled with luxurious pieces of furniture and embellishments in its original conception. Curtains could be one classic example.

The spareness of the foyer, unpredictably situated at the rear of the house, prepares guests for the house’s well-studied minimalism. A pristine white wall sports nothing but a small abstract painting that hangs atop a very unique console table, a solid sculptural piece of clear glass acquired from Roche Bobois.

Just like most foyers, this one leads guests to either the guest/sitting room, the living room or to this alcovelike secondary anteroom that connects to the staircase, bringing one to the bedrooms on the second floor. Across is the door that leads to the formal dining room.

The living room is a perfect opus in simplicity. Color is hardly present here – all the pieces of furniture like the four-seater sofa, the couple of armchairs and even the ottomans are handsomely slipcovered in white sailcloth. The coffee and the accompanying cigarette tables are made of wood dyed and polished into a rich shade of chestnut brown.

One very arresting feature of this living room setting is a quartet of dreamy semi-nude paintings all backgrounded in a misty shade of jade green. The four slim and long paintings created by French feminist Leonore Fuini are simply framed in wood delicately gold-leafed. This set of paintings found in one of the galleries in Soho, New York, and titled "La Pravent," was done by the artist in the Twenties when Art Deco was in its heyday. Flowers are meant to add some splashes of color in any interior, but Makapugay opted for immaculate white dendrobium orchids to further fortify the serenity that the lady of the house so desires.

The sitting room, which converts to a guest room through its floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, is endowed with the pleasant view of the property’s expansive gardens. When privacy is needed by visiting guests, thick Roman shades can easily be drawn down. And when sleeping time comes, a three-seater sofa readily converts to a queen-size bed. In this room, pieces of furniture are again slipcovered in more white sailcloth.

The dining room is the perfect spot for Makapugay to display his proficiency in wall finishing. All the walls, and even the vaulted ceiling, he personally faux-finished. He utilized the shiest shade of glazing to produce a texture mimicking the gentle appeal of light-hued Carara marble. A perfect round table is topped by a thick pane of glass resting on a cylindrical pedestal, which is likewise faux-finished. Eight straightback chairs accompany the dining table. They are all slipcovered and generously skirted in almond-colored linen.

While staying in the US, Makapugay took up a course in decorative arts involving the painting of walls with sceneries or trompe l’oeil that can give the most expensive wallpapers stiff competition. In one of the bedrooms on the second floor, which belongs to the occupant’s daughter, the walls are painted with oriental foliage and delicate birds in flight. The effect is something very much like Chinese wallpaper panels made famous by Gracie’s.

With the current proliferation of room accessories coming from places like India, Vietnam, Bangkok, Africa and other exotic off-the-beaten tracks, one is easily tempted to congest rooms with these global artifacts and whatnots. We have encountered a lot of friends and associates who have fallen victims to buying beautiful things that eventually become the cause of the "where can I put these beautiful things that look so out of sync in my present ambience" syndrome.

While doing the shoot of our featured house, it was easy to sense that while Junior Makapugay was doing the interiors, he succeeded in holding on to his horses. Bravely, he ignored and smartly avoided being taken in by such attractive ethnic gewgaws. He stuck to his guns and luckily for him, he was able to create an atmosphere or look so different as it is refreshing. Secure about himself as an artist, he knew when and where to stop and, looking at the different settings in the house, I can only conclude that indeed, this shy fellow, who refuses to be photographed, has got what it takes indeed.

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