Michelle Hui Lao fills her abode with a colorful collection of art pieces and memorabilia for a modern, timeless, and multifaceted style.
This is an excerpt from Lifestyle Asia’s May 2023 Issue.
Visitors to Michelle Hui Lao’s apartment know how it evolves from time to time. “My eyes and taste are constantly seeking new paths and adventures,“ the fashion consultant and businesswoman admits. “At the moment, they’ve unpacked their bags on the lap of Danish design. But what remains unchanged is my thirst for beauty and quality.”
There’s certainly a lot of beauty and quality packed in Lao’s mesmerizing 100-square meter residence, where the works of contemporary Filipino artists coexist with designer furniture and the breadth of her diverse collections picked up from local sojourns (“from La Union to Bangkal”) as well as travels to foreign places. The layering of the seemingly incongruous pieces can only be achieved with the confidence of someone immersed in the world of design, and gifted with the intuitive ability to put together things from various styles and provenances to create a cohesive whole.
The living area, for example, features key pieces by Scandinavian design heavyweights Poul Kjærholm and Olof Ottelin to encapsulate Lao’s current fixation with the clean lines of mid century style. Kjærholm’s leather and stainless steel chairs face a cushy HAY Mags sofa, nearby Ottelin’s pine wood masterpiece. The setting is defined by a custom-made abaca carpet from Albay, Bicol, at the center of which stands Kjærholm’s white honed marble coffee table where pottery artist Siegrid Bangyay’s head sculptures take a corner space. A lamp by Lao’s own brand, Solano Lamps, provides mood lighting at night.
Art all around brings pops of color, like the large painting by Rinne Abrugena hanging behind the sofa, next to a smaller work by Nice Buenaventura. On a panel between the living area windows, Kiko Escora’s canvas draws the eye before leading to a grouping of art pieces (by Marc Aran Reyes, Max Balatbat, Pinky Urmaza and Kurt Luch) on an adjacent wall.
Read more by purchasing a copy of the Lifestyle Asia May 2023 magazine via SariSari.shopping or select newsstands in National Bookstore and Fully Booked. Subscribe to the E-Magazine via Readly, Magzter, and Press Reader.
Photos by Ed Simon of KLIQ, INC.
