00:00 Hello OG! I'm Anilyn. I'm Jeric. Welcome to our minimalist Scandinavian home here in Bulacan.
00:07 Come on in!
00:21 In 2020, our plan was to fulfill our dream wedding.
00:29 We started in January and then in March, the pandemic hit.
00:35 All of our plans were halted because of the pandemic.
00:41 We didn't know when the wedding would continue.
00:44 We were thinking about where we would use our savings for the time being.
00:48 So we decided to invest in a house because our property is increasing every year.
00:54 So we decided to look for a house.
00:57 We first looked for a house in Manila.
01:01 We could only get our money from studio-type condominiums.
01:07 We couldn't live in a house like this because it's small and the cost of living is high.
01:14 So we decided to look for a house in the province, in Bulacan.
01:19 It's cheaper and accessible. It's only 1.5 hours from Manila.
01:25 We call the design of this house Scandinavian.
01:35 We haven't been together yet. We're still traveling. We like to staycation.
01:44 So the inspiration we got from the places we went to,
01:48 she's really attracted to light colors, white, and clean looking.
01:55 So she said, "When we get married, this is what it will look like."
02:00 [music]
02:10 Originally, this house was still built.
02:15 So we just extended it. We maximized the space.
02:19 The measurement of this lot is 65 square meters.
02:24 And the livable area when we turned it over is around 39 square meters.
02:29 In the renovation, it became three bedrooms.
02:34 And then from one bathroom, it became two bathrooms.
02:47 One is downstairs and the other is upstairs.
02:56 And then the kitchen, this is the extension in the back.
02:59 This is our kitchen. And then on the side is the service and laundry area.
03:05 We didn't dream of a big house, but at least the ceiling is high.
03:13 One of the cons when we got this house is that the ceiling is not that high compared to what we wanted.
03:20 But it's okay because we're not that high.
03:23 But what I want to achieve is a wide door when you enter.
03:28 So originally, this dorm was not in front of it.
03:34 And it's just in the standard, 70 inches.
03:38 From there, we made it 100.
03:41 We extended the front, so we put the main door there.
03:44 And then it became 100 wide.
03:47 We couldn't achieve the high ceiling, so what we did was we enlarged the main door.
03:52 So when you enter, you can see the foyer first.
03:56 And then I just put a mirror there and then a small cabinet for the shoes, the slippers.
04:02 And then here, next is the living area.
04:06 So most of the time, we're here.
04:09 We're both here when we're not working.
04:12 We watch here together with our fur babies.
04:15 And of course, when there are visitors, we entertain them here.
04:19 This is the dining room.
04:22 So it's not because there are only two of us.
04:25 We didn't enlarge it to make it six-seaters.
04:28 So it's okay for the two of us.
04:32 And even if there are visitors, we can still extend it.
04:36 This is one of his requests.
04:43 To have a mini bar, a coffee bar, or something.
04:47 So this is what we did.
04:50 Because we both like coffee.
04:52 Especially him.
04:53 So we really put an area for that.
04:56 And then the secret in a house is the lighting.
05:00 The lighting is the main factor for a beautiful house.
05:04 So even if it's not just one big one, it should be spread out.
05:10 The lights should be spread out.
05:13 It's okay to have small lights, but spread out.
05:17 It's better than having just one big light.
05:20 The light fall-off is not good.
05:23 And then upstairs, as I mentioned earlier,
05:28 it's originally from two bedrooms, but now it's three.
05:31 What happened is, we converted one into his office, his man cave.
05:39 And then the other one is in my mini closet.
05:42 Mini walk-in closet.
05:45 Walk-through closet.
05:47 It's small.
05:49 And then the other one is our bedroom.
05:52 So his office is converted when we have guests.
06:04 That room is really functional.
06:06 When we have guests, it can be a guest room.
06:10 They can sleep there.
06:12 If you notice, our house has a lot of mirrors.
06:16 So my idea is to have mirrors in the living room and dining.
06:23 Because for us, and for those who will read our books,
06:27 the mirror makes the space spacious.
06:30 It creates an illusion that the space is spacious.
06:33 It also adds an accent.
06:36 So we chose a mirror as an accent to make the space spacious.
06:42 Because it's not that big, and though it's not that small,
06:46 it's just right for us.
06:48 So upstairs, aside from the three rooms, we have a balcony.
06:54 Here, our challenge is to take the different lot
06:59 and build it from scratch with our own design.
07:03 So since we don't have that, we don't have a lot,
07:06 we took the townhouse, the house and lot.
07:11 We just thought of the house and lot.
07:14 So we took the house and lot.
07:17 So since we don't have a lot, we took the townhouse, the house and lot.
07:23 We just thought of a way to improve it and make it bigger
07:29 so at least we can add the design we want.
07:35 That's one of the challenges when you take a townhouse
07:41 and you want to design it.
07:43 It's not possible.
07:45 So what you can do is to improve what's already there,
07:49 then you can improve what you can.
07:51 And then second, budget.
07:53 Because initially, we prepared it but we over budgeted
07:57 because along the way, we saw that we can still do it
08:04 or we can still improve it.
08:06 And what we saw is that we need to do it now
08:11 because we can't do it when the house is done.
08:15 It's hard to do it when there's someone living there
08:19 because it's dirty and messy.
08:21 The good thing about us is that we check it every now and then.
08:31 We eliminated the issues that we already did
08:36 and it's not okay.
08:37 So we'll do it again from scratch.
08:38 We'll waste the materials and time.
08:40 So for us, we saved time and cost.
08:45 Of course, we learned how to do DIY
08:48 because the cladding and the walls are not included in our contract.
08:54 So we did it ourselves.
08:56 It's really DIY.
08:57 It became unique because it fits in the two of us,
09:06 in what we do.
09:07 Our visitors are surprised that there's a tailor here.
09:11 It's like everything is done for our profession.
09:14 I, as a hobbyist, I take photos.
09:16 Wherever you are, you can shoot.
09:19 It's custom-made for the two of us.
09:22 My favorite area is obviously my man cave.
09:34 Your office.
09:35 My office.
09:36 90% of it is DIY.
09:39 Even the PVC wall.
09:41 The shelves, the pegboard, I drilled all of that.
09:46 As a freelance video editor,
09:48 I'm there almost 20 hours a day.
09:55 Sometimes, I even sleep there.
09:56 Our work is sometimes very toxic.
10:00 So we need to fix the look of our workplace.
10:04 We just need to make it look good.
10:06 If he has a man cave, his office,
10:10 my favorite part of the house is the bathroom upstairs.
10:14 Because I have a time when I just want to be alone,
10:17 without being bothered, or I don't want to escape.
10:22 So that's my escape room, the bathroom.
10:32 So because we are in the subdivision,
10:35 it's really different.
10:37 So that's one of the things that others think,
10:41 that when you're in the subdivision,
10:45 you'll get what you want.
10:49 But there are people who allow us to improve,
10:54 as long as, as I said earlier,
10:56 you don't violate the rules.
11:01 Our advice to those who want to build a house,
11:04 first, you should consider your work.
11:08 How far you will be from your work.
11:11 Because if you work from home, you can probably move away.
11:14 But if not, you might still think about it.
11:17 So the second is how far you are from your relatives.
11:21 Because it's also a factor.
11:23 And the last is the budget.
11:25 Because like us, our budget is very limited.
11:28 We can't move to Manila.
11:30 We can, but it's small.
11:32 Also consider the people you trust.
11:36 It's very important that you have someone to rely on
11:40 in the house that you're building.
11:42 And the theme of the house.
11:44 So from the start, decide what you want.
11:48 So that you can base it there every time you buy something.
11:52 [Music]
12:01 So that ends our video.
12:03 I hope you learned something from our story.
12:05 And I hope you're the next one to be featured here on OG Channel.
12:09 Thank you for watching.
12:10 Bye!
12:12 Want to share your house and get featured?
12:16 Email us at stories.onlygood@gmail.com
12:20 and tell us about your interesting home story.
12:22 For more videos like this, subscribe to OG and be part of the community.
12:27 [Music]
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