WHY LOFTS FIT PH HOMES: If You Want Yours to Have One, Call Me

Early this morning while I was idling in bed, I thought about how lofts are perfect for my small dream house (I hate mansions on earth). I've always been crazy about attics, mezzanines and lofts, not because they're seen in the US, but because they're practical space savers. In fact, ancient Pinoy architecture often included them as storages or extra quarters.

Why don't home builders always incorporate them in their projects and promote them to their clients? They're comfy, aesthetic, smart, and add room.

When I get the chance to build my own house, I'd put lofts on the living room, bedrooms, and my study. And then also put a small attic on the loft of my master bedroom. You'd have to adjust your ceiling height a bit to accommodate them, plus the cost, but that's okay because you get extra rooms.

Lofts, attics and mezzanines not just give you extra room--they're also excellent heat insulation. If you want your house to be green-relevant, employ these semi-floor levels. Especially when climate change have worsened temperatures in the country, you can cool down your house a bit with them. And they're cute and fun to have, especially if you have kids. Kids simply love them.

Lofts, for instance, are both multi-functional and have multi-tasking benefits. It can serve as an extra room for your library and study (especially if you want them to be in the same room--the lower level as your mini library and the upper level your study, or vice versa) extra room for your bedroom, living room ,kitchen, or dining room. A small dining nook will be cute on a loft.

There's my lil pal peeping
from the loft.

Besides, having different levels in your house is healthy for you. You get to climb up and down different levels and that works you up aerobically. That's why I love to have staircases placed in my future house, even to 4 levels--a second floor with a rooftop and attic. I'd love to run up and down them early in the morning, especially if it's raining and running outdoors is not an option.

Are these semi-floor levels safe for small kids? Sure. It all depends on how you design it. Just use your common sense. And anyway, small kids are not designed to be left alone. :D

Here's more on lofts and functional small homes.

Space Savers: Today's Home Trends in the Increasingly Congested MManila

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Since college, I've always been fascinated by well and accurately designed small spaces.

Big houses and mansions were welcome sights, but my heart jumped with delight whenever space savers popped up in classroom discussions at the institute of architecture in FEU.

Small but functional, that was my favorite cup of tea. Even today. I incorporate the concept in my house, workplace, ministry, and martial arts.

Land doesn't increase (except for reclaimed areas, which is a dangerous way of cheating nature), but the population does on a daily basis.

As of 2010, Metro Manila population was said to be growing annually at 2.2 percent, registering 11.8 million plus for that year, says the National Statistics Office. With a land area of 638.6 square kilometers, how much does each of us get if we divide Metro Manila equally among us?


A 2.2 percent annual increase is 259,600 yearly. Correct me if I'm wrong. So, if we're 11.8 million in all in 2010 and it's 2015 now, we're 13,098,000 people now in MManila, more or less. Divide 638.6 square meters by 13,098,000 and we get 4.87 square meters each. Definitely not enough. And add to that the fact that the land is not really equally divided among us. A tiny, minuscule percentage of the rich owns big chunks of the land. So we're left with small, small cuts of land.

That's why, like it or not, space savers have got to be "in" today for most of us. No wonder subdivisions today have lot cuts of not more than 300 square. The common cut is less than a hundred, and in that you get everything---living, dining, kitchen, bedroom, CR, and carport, if there's any left. The tragedy is that, small as it is, most homes are not even designed well. You still see wasted space, nonetheless. Attic ideas are seldom exploited. Lofts or mezzanines are seen as mere added cost.

I was fascinated by the picture above. That small closet enclosure itself is enough to be an entire room. It has a stand-alone functionality---complete with bed, drawers, hangers, storage, and shelves for accessories and books. Just add in a bulb, a small collapsible working desk with mirror underneath, and you have a full room. In a 4 by 4 meter square area with wide windows, you can probably put up 4 to 5 "rooms" like this with common windows.

If you have a a 60 square meter lot, you can build 3 levels (first is the living area, second are the dining and kitchen, third is where the small "closet rooms" are (you can make about 4 to 5 of them), and then have a loft  just a bit above. Then put a roof top and an an attic on top of that. That would be more exciting and awesome to me than mansions constructed from pork barrels.

What if you have a car? Turn your front setback into a garage.

The Six O'Clock Habit

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I and my wife have been very seriously considering doing it despite our impossibly hectic schedules. It's all worth it to have a six o'clock habit,  a time for laying everything aside and discussing the Word of God with gusto and in a relaxed atmosphere--you know, with a tall glass of iced fresh fruit juice and some fresh strawberries or grapes while in the cool comforts of our terrace overlooking the village. Every 6:00 pm.

We managed to do one successfully and are about to launch our second one. It's supposed to promote family bonding more, more openness with each other, and deeper Scripture familiarization. And health, too, especially when we also plan to do a short Zumba session right after--or something to that effect. I think every family needs to do this, I mean together, at home.