Turning to his roots as architect, designer Christian Espiritu creates and throws in wildly diverse bits and pieces of fixtures into an unexpectedly well-balanced look
Christian Espiritu, the designer who dressed up such icons as Imelda Marcos, Chona Kasten, and Tingting Cojuangco, has reinvented himself as a decorator and home accessories designer. Although he spends most of his time editing Ayala Alabang's newsletter, he is constantly finding ways to transform his creative energies.

His latest is his new home. Espiritu not only conceived the shell but also designed some of the furniture made from construction material scraps.

"Designing has always been with me. I'm not much of a craftsman but when I had my shop I would supervise the embroiderers. It was out of necessity that I started decorating and designing my own furniture. From excess materials in the construction, I've created my own line of pedestals, sculptures, and tables. When I was doing my house, I would instruct the carpenters and welders in making the furniture," he says.

"I'm an architect. The training I got from the late Leandro Locsin is seen in my house. At the stage of planning, he was already considering the interiors. He worked hand in hand with the designers during the construction. From the bare walls, they could already foresee the interior design."

For a man who loves collecting things, it's natural that the home would take an eclectic look. Eclecticism is not so much about integrating styles and themes in the same space; it's about fancying more than one style and discovering clever means to pander to it. African art and Marcel Breuer leather chairs? Tang Dynasty horses and Buddhas, with Onib Olmeda's portrait of Espiritu's daughter Talitha? Why not?

Over the years, Espiritu has kept many objects for sentimental reasons -Chinese figurines, mid-century furniture, contemporary designer furniture, Biedermeier cabinets, Filipino antiques, African tribal crafts and Filipino modernist paintings. He explains that they were mementoes from all his homes and they've become apart of him.

How does Espiritu juxtapose styles that create an individualized look without looking cluttered?

Most of his furniture and accessories are in earth tones and warm colors. They are set against a neutral wall color to ground them.

Espiritu knows which furniture styles can be combined and which can't. He looks for common elements to meld them together. For instance, the lanai is furnished with a modern sectional sofa and coffee table that he designed made from mosaic tiles and acacia and Frank Lloyd Wright's tub chair. The clean geometry is highlighted by the textures of the accessories, made of natural materials: solid wood pedestals, Indonesian and Tausug reed mats, a sisal lamp and leopard skin rug to keep the style on track.

In the master bedroom, Calvin Klein-inspired platform bed, the Bedermeier secretaire and a Filipino antique cabinet, which showcases Espiritu's crystal collection, mesh nicely with the Chinese opium bed as both have straight lines.

Although his accessories are diverse, they are related in some ways, in color, theme or texture. Carved wooded African sculptures are placed with an egg crate-patterned coffee table both being wood. Bertoia's metal Wing Chair blends with Espiritu's own art installation made from metal tie rods since both have a wire frame. The artichoke lamp mixes together with these elements because of the textures. Bertoia's molded plastic wing chairs are paired with his own round mosaic table with a glass top because they are united by the smooth surfaces and curved lines

Espiritu adds that he is good in space planning. "There is a vignette in every corner. I pay a premium on the future of the space. I ask myself, "What could you have in this area?"

Simply fitting in many design elements and making a few adjustments to make things work without breaking the budget cultivated Espiritu's style. "You can keep your old things. It's how you position them and curate the old with the new," he says.

His tips:

Examine the room objectively, be ready to chuck in objects with no redeeming features.

Evaluate the major furniture pieces, do any need repainting, reupholstering or can it get by as it stands? Appraise accessories and arrange them by object to assess -vases, art, etc. That's when you can determine which needs to be disposed. "I'm like a curator. I just have enough in one place. There's never too much."

Determine the shared elements in your furnishings and accessories -color, the lines, texture, material "I'm proud that I might have many things contrary to being a minimalist. One can say my house is cluttered. I'm not like those people who have a collection of Laliques and display them on a coffee table as if they were for sale. I'd put them in vitrines."

There are personal touches. To bring the outside in, he adds giant blades of lemongrass and philodendron leaves, a throwback of '50s décor. He also favors animal skin rugs for their exoticism.