IT'S not really necessary to have a flat number when your home is as distinctive as Pauline Suaco-Juan's. The elevator door opens onto an inspiring mix of vintage pieces and color-clashing accessories that one would not expect outside an apartment.

For those used to the structured, pragmatic lifestyle of the city, Suaco-Juan's home may come as a surprise. The 252-square-meter flat in Manila, the Philippines, gives full rein to the style instincts of its owner, who is editor-in-chief of Manila's biggest fashion magazine Preview.

"In the initial design stage, I imagined that this place would be what David Hicks (influential interior designer) and Imelda Marcos (former Philippine First Lady and the world's best-known shoe collector ) would make it if they owned a timeshare," she said. "The result, of course, has evolved from that original thought."

Fashionwise, she's drawn to 1970s silhouettes, so even if it wasn't intentional Suaco-Juan wasn't surprised that the space took on the spirit of that decade.

Suaco-Juan described her interior style "glamor with gravitas" and she approached interior decoration like a stylist and editor as opposed to an interior decorator. She chose every piece carefully, as each element had to have its own personality. "Not like an interior designer, I didn't start with a blank slate and a vision. I started with pieces that I love and made the room work - by hook or by crook - via a postmodern mix."

The glamorous fashion editor has lived in this apartment for three years with her husband Raffy Juan and their three lovely boys. It is in Salcedo Village, which is right smack in the central business district. The area was mostly offices but since the family has moved in, it has started to feel like a real village, dotted with neighborhood bistros and restaurants, play schools and a weekend market. "Family and friends also live in the nearby apartments, and it's great to have those who are dear to you close by," she said.

"We've always loved the apartments built in the 1970s and 80s, which are generously proportioned." The apartment building they live in was the first high-rise built in the area in 1980. "We first saw it in 2004, when we were house hunting," Suaco-Juan said. "I was drawn to the expansive balconies, which run straight across the building. We inquired then, but there were no units for sale. Two years later, Raffy chanced upon an ad in the classifieds, and in two weeks, we shook hands on the deal."

Starting from scratch

The flat had been unoccupied for seven years before they moved in. It had to be gutted - plumbing and electricity were replaced - though they didn't move walls, pipes and outlets to keep the costs contained.

Renovation took a little more than a year to finish. The couple was at the site every Friday to check on the progress. "My husband was the one more concerned with the specs of the pipes and the like, but the fun really started for me when we began decorating," she said.

Within this framework, Suaco-Juan skillfully coordinated the furniture and decorative items with an impeccable eye for color. And her rare talent for turning old and forgotten objects into new must-haves is evident.

"The starting point, I must say, was the 1970s-style couch, which I bought, along with the dining chairs, from my aunt when her office relocated. I had it reupholstered in navy suede to give it more of a louche feel," she said.

The coffee table is based on Arik Levy's stainless steel design while the swivel chairs are from the 1970s and now re-covered in caramel-colored Philippine bovine hides. The stainless steel filing cabinet is a Yasu Sasamoto design from Dulton Co Ltd and Suaco-Juan bought it to contain all their sundries. "Each member of the family has a box and you're supposed to put whatever random things you find in the box until he/she can deal with it."

"On top of it is an antique Buddha given to us by Raffy's parents after we got married. The boys have placed all their hard-won medals around its neck. Raffy says it's sacrilege but I view it as offering their efforts to a greater power."

The fashion editor looks for beautiful proportions, colors and patinas, and usually she only finds this in furniture that has a historical element. The dining area started with the antique table, which is made from one solid slab of ipil (a rare Philippine hardwood). She fell in love with its farmhouse look and acquired it in 2004 even though she had no place to put it.

"I love the table's clean, classic lines even if it's proven too narrow for dinner parties," she said. "Ruthie Sommers (renowned LA-based designer) once said to decorate for your life, not for the way you entertain, so even if Raffy has asked to get a wider table, I can't bring myself to replace this. There's just so much character in the patina of the unvarnished wood."

Architect Tisha de Borja-Samson designed the dining area around that piece. The dining chairs are a modern counterpoint to the farmhouse table. The screen is her ode to David Hicks, which was inspired by his geometric designs. Three cowhide rugs acquired from a tannery in Bulacan are layered to accommodate the length of the table.

Suaco-Juan is good at finding a way to integrate the pieces she loves into the house and she never stops editing the space. The living room, for example, was laid out in three different configurations until she got to this one, which is most suited to the way the family lives and entertains.

"The furniture we selected was a function of what we could afford at that time. A lot of the furniture we have is vintage, sourced in flea markets," she said.

Flea market fan

Suaco-Juan is a big fan of flea markets because the pieces are imbued with personality - not to mention they're cheaper too. She likes to recover the upholstered pieces with a tactile play or graphic pieces to update them, and give them new life.

"Occasionally, there were pieces that came by through serendipity like the brass banana tree in the living room. I was reading a piece on Steven Sclaroff in Domino and he happened to mention that he liked brass trees and I immediately thought that would be the perfect accent piece in the living room," she said. "But where on earth would I find a vintage brass tree? Lo and behold, within that same month, I visited one of my favorite flea markets and they had a brass banana tree just standing around. Lord knows how I contained my excitement so I could bargain it down."

The homeowner doesn't opt for one furniture style. "I like contrast. I like mixing things up. One suite of same-same furniture would drive me mad. I'd like to incorporate something baroque to the room - a Marie Antoinette moment - all along, it's just that I don't think it would work in a house full of boys."

Although some of the pieces are homegrown designs, the Suaco-Juan has been thinking in the last year or so that there's nothing that looks Filipino in her home. She bought a couple of stools clad in mother of pearl and black lip shell and ordered a pair of hooded chairs in solihiya (rattan weaving) to replace the graphic chairs in the dining area to give a more native, but still glamorous 1970s feel to the space.

Colorful art

The backdrop colors are very neutral - white, navy, brown with mixed metallics. The color comes from the art. "I'm drawn to color when buying art. I like highly pigmented secondary colors like pink and orange. You can tell which art works I bought versus the ones Raffy got," she said. "Like the painting by Pacita Abad, there's something about her choice of colors that makes me happy and the kids are able to make up stories based on what they see in the work."

"We are not avid collectors, the pieces that we have commemorate certain points in our lives and are mostly by young Filipino artists (except Pacita Abad)," she said. The nude sketches in the master bedroom, for example, were acquired right after she had her first baby when she was doing a piece on the Blumentritt Art Group for the magazine. The black-and-white portraits in the living room were part of the thesis project of young artist Randy Solon and were a Father's Day gift. The abstract in the living room niche is by Bernie Pacquing and is the first art work she ever purchased in her life. "I'd like to put up more fashion photographs from Preview. We work with some of the most amazing and gifted Filipino photographers but as of now that's still on my to-do list."

Suaco-Juan is also obsessed with wallpaper, as one can see throughout the house. The family/TV room's wallpaper is from Swedish designer Boras Tapeter - she likes it because of the reds and pinks and oranges but it is masculine enough for the boys because of the animal prints. The shelves are displayed with things the couple amassed over various shopping trips here and abroad.

The room to accommodate the three boys is one that would engage their imagination and grow with them. A world map graces the wall and the kids can stick Blu-tack on the countries they've been to. All the black paint is chalkboard paint, so the kids can write on the walls. There's also corkboard galore so they can put up their art projects and school certificates.

Unlike the eclectic feel of the living room, the master bedroom is meant to be a cocoon. "It is Raffy's favorite room. It's the muted gray space that's given a jolt of color with the lemon yellow curtains."

"But really, we use all the space, even when we're entertaining the party moves from living room to dining room to den to balcony," she said.

"We have impromptu get-togethers among friends in Salcedo Village a lot. They often pop by for a bit and we open a bottle of vodka or Scotch and I serve chips. Once a month, I host a luncheon meeting for my staff so we can brainstorm on a new issue."

As an editor, there's a lot going on, so she often has to work late. "Home becomes a respite, where I have no computer and dodgy Internet connection. So when I am at home, the only thing for me to do is focus on my life there."