(Stay) At Home With Katrina Torre

by Japs Medina October 18, 2020

(Stay) At Home With Katrina Torre

Katrina Torre - Seek the UniqHaving around a decade of experience in art and creative directing, Katrina Torre shows what goes on in her own little world that she calls her home

If the name Katrina Torre rings a bell, it's probably because you have seen her name along with the title Art Director for top publishing companies Preview Magazine (for a whopping eight years) and Mega Magazine. Today, this 33-year-old has set foot in the world of advertising as an Associate Creative Director for one of the country's top digital ad agencies.

When she's not wearing her creative director hat, Katrina shakes off her stress through barre and yoga workouts, as well as baking. Another notable interest that she picked up recently is tablescaping, in which she uses every opportunity to set the table when friends or families come over.

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"I would say art directing shoots for the past 12 years has really helped me identify what my style is," Katrina shares. "It also helps that my husband has the same taste as I do so it’s not hard for us to agree on things we want for our home."

Peek into the home of this artistic lady (which and her husband built over time) and get to know a little bit more about her.

Tell us a little bit about your home and the people (or animals!) you live with.
Our home is a unit at Salcedo Village in Makati. I share it with my husband, our 8-year-old daughter and two helpers. I’ve been living in Salcedo Village long before my husband was and he actually surprised me by moving in to this unit and this area before we even got engaged to be closer to me. Our home doesn’t really have an exact theme to it, other than it's moody but homey. Majority of the walls are painted in blue because my husband has strong affinity to this particular color––his room in Bacolod is painted the same. Some people might be intimidated by such a bold color, but it actually made for good canvas for me to decorate our place eventually. Each area of our home fits all our needs and is just the right place for us—not too big and not too small.

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Describe the style of your home in 5 words or less:
Our home is––an organized chaos, it's moody but homey and ideal.

What is the best advice you have given or received when it comes to interior styling?
Best advice would probably be to not rush decorating your home. Don’t buy everything in one go and most especially not in matching colors or sets––instead, take the time to “live” in your home and start filling up your space based on what feels right as you go along.

Recommend three Netflix movies or series to watch while in quarantine.
Unsolved Mysteries—I have a slight obsession with crime and thriller movies and documentaries and this one tops that category. Homeland is another favorite that my husband and I bonded over and binge-watched for weeks. But Modern Family is really our family’s go-to series. It just plays on our TV almost everyday that we’ve seen every episode more than 5x.

Ice cream or cake?
Cake! If it were up to my daughter though she’ll choose ice cream.

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What was the biggest design challenge you faced in designing your home?
Biggest design challenge would probably be not having a lot of natural light that pours in from our windows. We live in a condo that is surrounded by buildings on all sides so natural light is something that falls short for our home. We make up for it by having lampshades in almost every corner of every room though.

What is the biggest embarrassment in your home?
Biggest embarrassment would probably be that since we have an open-type kitchen in a fairly small space, the smoke and smell when cooking flows over to the rest of the house most especially the living room. It has become a challenge specially when we have guests over because the whole house tends to smell of smoke and food.

What makes a house a home?
Of course, family is what makes a house a home. And a home-cooked meal. My husband is a great cook so we usually have friends and family over for dinner and drinks.

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Name the top 5 Instagram accounts you follow for home design.
I seldom check Instagram or social media pages these days, but when I do, my go-to Instagram accounts for home design are:
- @archdigest But more so on Youtube actually where I’m a big fan of their home tours. I think I’ve seen every episode.
- @atlantishome One of the first people I started following for home inspiration (after my seaofshoes blog obsession)
- @kitty.bunag for local inspiration! I’m a big fan of Kitty and have had the pleasure of working with her numerous times. It was an achievement to have art directed her for a shoot at her own home.
- @bo.decor my #1 and real life home peg, tied together with @hunt.and.scavenge! In love with their cool interiors from the dark walls to the big plants!!

Which room do you spend the most time in? Which room do you spend the least time in?
I for sure spend the most time in our bedroom (master's), just because I am able to work at my office corner there. I would say I spend the least time in our daughter’s room. It’s really her space so we try as much as possible not to overstep.

If you could source anything from anywhere (regardless of cost or logistics), what would it be and from where?
If I can source anything from anywhere it would probably be exotic indoor plants and flowers. Those that can strive indoors with minimal light but still make great accent pieces for decorating your home or for tablescaping!

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What’s your ultimate tip for organizing clutter at home?
Biggest tip for organizing clutter at home would probably be to invest in furniture that has a lot of storage space. We asked our good friend Bart Locsin to make most of our furniture but we made sure to ask for a lot of drawers and shelves in them just so there can be a space for everything from small things to bulky items.

What advice would you give for creating a home you love?
Advice for creating a home you love would probably be to not be swayed by too many pegs on Pinterest or social media. Instead, go with what feels right and feels more like you and your family. You’ll be surprised by how beautiful things will come together when you really invest in the things you love as opposed to things you saw on other people’s pages or pictures.




Japs Medina
Japs Medina

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