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  • 2 days ago
Welcome to The Wanti – a guesthouse with a story to tell.
Perched on the same piece of land as Maria’s own home, The Wanti began life in 2019 as a multi-tiered wantilan — the classic wall-less Balinese pavilion, open to the breeze beneath a soaring layered roof. Maria saw its potential and decided to renovate. To welcome visiting by family and friends, she enclosed the space with walls and windows, using natural materials and thoughtful design to keep the spirit of the original structure alive.

The Wanti is full of quiet details that make it special:
● A celebration of bamboo – from round black-bamboo columns and beams to blond bamboo furniture, even split- bamboo floors that feel both textured and smooth
underfoot.
● A light-filled kitchen, built by their own factory, with a bamboo island, a raw-edged stone sink countertop , and cupboards made from fine bamboo splits.
● A surprising bathroom, with lime-washed walls tinted by brick dust, a wooden floor, and a Japanese soaking tub – an unexpected touch of luxury.
● Upstairs, the main bedroom feels like a treehouse, with views of rice fields and temples. The low, black-bamboo bed can be tented at night, adding a cocooning, intimate
Transcript
00:01Hi, I'm Maria. Come and take a peek into my paradise.
00:12So this is our guest house. It lives on our home property and our house is just down the way,
00:19this way.
00:19This structure was actually built by my father-in-law back in 2019.
00:27It was built as a wanty land that was based off of this Balinese structure, this open structure that's multi
00:35-tiered.
00:39Around three, four years ago, we decided to turn it into a guest house because we needed a space to
00:45be able to welcome family from overseas to come and stay with us.
00:50So we added some walls and windows and renovated to what you see now here.
01:06The light is really beautiful because we get both sunrise light and sunset light.
01:13And because there's no outdoor space, I think it really invites people to really go within and kind of retreat
01:21into the space.
01:22It feels very nesty and I really like that.
01:31So because the space is quite small, we went for an open plan design.
01:36This is our kitchen. Our factory and the construction company built this furniture.
01:41So we have a bamboo island here and we have this wooden countertop here, which I really love.
01:46We decided to keep this all windows to let in as much light as possible.
01:51And then we have this stone countertop here around the sink so that it doesn't get on the wooden counter.
01:58For the countertop here around the sink, we decided to leave the stone edge here.
02:04It gives it a more raw, natural feeling.
02:07And also the cupboards here and the drawers are also made out of bamboo.
02:11We use bamboo splits here that are joined together to make these panels.
02:23We also decided because we work with bamboo to really highlight all the different ways in which bamboo can be
02:29used for a structure.
02:30For the structural columns and beams, we're using a round pole and a black bamboo.
02:37I think black bamboo really gives this nice elegance.
02:40But then if you have a whole building that's only black, then it can look a little bit dull.
02:45And that's why we also introduced the blonde bamboo elements.
02:48We have a weave here and we decided to use both the blonde and the black bamboo there.
02:55And it's a really nice feature wall.
03:03For the floor, we also chose bamboo and we chose the black bamboo also splits.
03:10And we've left the skin on the bamboo so that it's very smooth when you're walking on the floor.
03:17So it has this nice texture, but it's also very smooth to the touch.
03:26So we've got the main bedroom upstairs and we wanted to have the opportunity that maybe a second couple or
03:34a second family could also sleep in the space.
03:37But we didn't want to section any part of this downstairs off because it would look very crowded.
03:42And so actually this was a friend of mine suggested that maybe we could have a large sofa here that
03:49could act as a second bed.
04:01So when we added the walls here, the intention originally was to keep going with the wall up until the
04:08end here.
04:08And when we started building it, we realized that, wow, this is such a beautiful feature of our neighbors Balinese
04:15compound.
04:16It's their rooftop temple.
04:18And so we decided to stop the wall here and add a window.
04:22And it just makes for really a beautiful feature and moment that whilst you're here either having breakfast or working,
04:28that you might have the opportunity to see our neighbors giving their offerings either in the morning or in the
04:35evening.
04:35And I think it kind of gives this reminder to maybe stop and slow down and join our neighbors in
04:43that moment of reverence.
04:55And so something I really like about this space is that originally when the building was being built,
05:01they were trying to figure out the angle of the stairs so that they weren't too steep and they weren't
05:06too flat.
05:07And to find the perfect angle, they needed to add this landing up here.
05:12So this is the floor of the landing of the stairs upstairs.
05:16And to support that, they needed to add these beams.
05:20And the beams kind of land quite centrally in the space up on the ceiling and it creates this nest
05:26feel.
05:27So it feels really cozy down here.
05:29Then you can still see the ceiling above, which is the floor of upstairs,
05:34that has this kind of grand loftiness, which I really like.
05:50One of the uses of this building originally, before we turned it into a guest house, was actually a design
05:56office.
05:57And this is actually one of the tables that were used during that period.
06:03And so we kept it here.
06:04I think it fits really perfectly in the space.
06:06It's the right size.
06:13So this is the bathroom.
06:15What I like most about this space is actually the wall, because it's very different to the walls and the
06:21rest of the space.
06:22This is a lime wall.
06:24And I love the color, which comes from the color of brick dust.
06:29And then we have this big mirror.
06:31It's a signature Ibuku and Bamboo Pure designed by Ibuku and built by Bamboo Pure mirror,
06:38which we actually ended up using as the little logo for this guest house.
06:47And then the floor is a wood floor.
06:50And the reason why it's not bamboo is because we don't want the floor.
06:53If bamboo gets wet, then it starts to rot.
06:57It doesn't do well in the wet.
07:01And then we decided to put in a Japanese bathtub, which is really nice and luxurious, even though the space
07:08is really small.
07:09So also it's a little bit unexpected that there's this beautiful Japanese bathtub hiding away in here as well.
07:21So this is the final space to see in the house, and it's the master bedroom.
07:35So what I love most about this space upstairs is that it feels very treehouse-y.
07:41This 290 panorama where we get the view on all these sides just makes it feel like a little treehouse
07:52up here.
07:55We get some rice-filled views over the neighbor's rooftops over there.
08:01And over on this side, we also have the view of the neighbor's rooftop temple, which is really pretty.
08:07I decided to have then the bed be like a tented bed that can be closed off in the night
08:13and not have so much light coming in.
08:16The bed, we also decided to use the black bamboo to match the black bamboo and the structure.
08:22And we kept it quite low on the floor since we're in this kind of loft style space.
08:30We wanted to still feel quite far away from from the ceiling.
08:34So it's low, low down on the ground.
08:36We decided to keep to use the whole bamboo so that you can see the again,
08:41the rawness of the bamboo with the different nodes so that it's in contrast to the splits on the floor.
08:47And I think it's just a nice space here to read a book, relax and see the view.
09:11Thank you Body Interiors for coming to take a peek into my paradise.
09:14See you next time.
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