MANILA, Philippines — Just like the clothes we put on our backs, the way we decorate our interior spaces says a lot about us. Do you line the walls with treasured family portraits, collect trinkets from all over the world, or just keep it stripped down to the essentials? Either way, the space we move around in can affect the way we behave; a house is not a home if it’s just an empty shell with no flair.
This is why being an interior designer is just like being a magician. They can transform a space into spaces of comfort from different worlds, be it an Art Deco living room or a bedroom straight out of Morocco. This is exactly what the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID) showcases in Glamorous Opulent Luxurious Designs (Gold for short), this year’s graduation showcase and interior design exhibit at Uptown Mall in BGC. And since it’s also PSID’s 50th year, a number of alumni and faculty joined the students in the exhibit.
It all sounds like fun and games, but being an interior designer is no easy feat. For this exhibit, which is also their thesis, the 72 graduating students of PSID had to go through months of rigorous designing, revisions, and construction to achieve their spaces. Nina Tinsay, one of the graduating students, tells me that the entire process took more than three months, which is actually pretty impressive given the amount of work the students had to accomplish. It began the previous term, where they picked their group mates and were assigned their respective themes and room types. Some were assigned bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms and more. Within their given theme and room, the students were given freedom to play around with their execution, given that they can defend their design choices successfully. It’s their thesis project, after all.
And it looks like all the hard work paid off. After weeks of no sleep — the students had to complete the construction of their booths after mall hours — their culminating project was unveiled to the public last Oct. 1. Going through the exhibit was indeed nothing short of magic: each room transports you to different worlds, and stepping into each booth feels like going through a portal. Just don’t get too comfy — if you fall in love with a room, trust me, you’re never going to want to leave.
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Gold: Glamorous, Opulent, and Luxurious Designs will run until Oct. 31 at the ground floor of Uptown Mall, BGC. For more information, visit psid.edu.ph.