Second Condo Project Is Finally Done! – Part 1

This project was already done by end of April but since the owners (my high school best friend, her husband and two cute babies) moved in too soon even before the unit was cleaned for proper turnover, I didn’t get the chance to take photos.

The unit is in Royal Palm in Acacia Estates, Taguig so the floor plan is almost the same as my first condo project in Cedar Crest. Since four people will be living here, ample storage is definitely a must. Here are the built-in storages for this unit:

1. Hanging cabinet and floating shelf in the living area.
2. Floor to ceiling cabinet in the dining area with built in dining seat. The seat can be opened (chest type) for extra storage.
3. Bar counter between the kitchen and living area. The back serves as a shoe rack and cabinet.
4. The kids bedroom has built-in bed with three huge drawers under the bed and a mini closet.
5. Closet in the master bedroom
6. Shelves above the bed and across the bed.

And here are the boring “before” pictures. I like beiges and brown but these colors are far too depressing for me. It just looks old and gloomy and outdated. Sorry, DMCI!

The major change in this unit is the kitchen. I personally can’t stand the brown laminated cabinets and the salt and pepper granite countertop. Again, it screams old! Good thing my friend trusted me with the design. We were like sisters back in high school with so much in common, we would like to marry each other. Haha! Even during college when we didn’t get to see each other that often anymore, we buy the same clothes without knowing it. So when I was doing the design, I just felt like I was designing it for myself. Easy! Haha!

I would have change the entire overhead cabinets but due to budget and time constraints, we just painted the laminates. Instead of buying a gas range, a built in cooktop was installed so there is also an additional storage underneath. We lay the black granite tiles over the existing countertop to make things easier. I am especially proud of this because I spent less than P5,000 for the materials. (30x30cm Backsplash tiles: P23/pc; 60x60cm Black granite tiles: P138/pc from Floor Center)

I originally planned to have an L-shaped bunk bed in the second bedroom but there would be little floor space left. Another option was a trundle bed with drawers plus a narrow floor to ceiling closet but still wasn’t feasible. I wanted to make it seem roomy despite its very tiny size so I settled for this built-in design instead.

One of the challenges with this unit is the large ceiling beams. Cedar Crest has much cleaner design probably because it is mid-rise condo. In the master bedroom, I wanted to incorporate the beam above the bed in the design. I still hate them but I think it looks better after the shelves had been added . Hehe!

So, there, after a month including all the holidays in April, the unit was done. I wish they hadn’t moved-in too soon though… well….

I will post the final reveal this week, hopefully.