Just a day after her attendance at the most recent Milan Fashion Week, Heart Evangelista jumped straight to work to take part in an occasion that celebrates inspired home living.
At Whitespace Manila on March 14, 2024, furniture boutique and lifestyle brand Genteel Home officially launched the 39-year-old actress as the face of its company.
Defined by its signature hand-woven Solihiya design, Genteel Home—through its collaboration with Heart—hopes to keep its promise of paying homage to Philippine interior through bespoke furniture pieces, now made with love.
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TIPS ON BUYING FURNITURE
As a painter who has an eye for maximalist art, Heart personally for "conversational" furniture pieces.
To do this, she recommends not rushing to fill every corner of the house with furniture: "I think when I was building my home, I heard this a lot, ‘Don't rush.’
"You’re not supposed to buy a house and, like, buy everything all at the same time."
She explained, "It’s really like a story. Each piece should have a story. So, it's like when you work with them [Genteel Home], you collaborate with them.
"You’re not just going to buy her creations, it’s collaborative. So each piece is a conversational piece.
"For me, that would be it. Don’t rush. You don’t have to spend right away, so that you have nice, iconic, quality pieces."
Heart compares a home's interior to life—building up bit by bit over time.
"It’s the same thing with your love story, you know? Collect, collect, then select," she wittily said.
"So it’s just like that."
DOES PRICE MATTER?
When PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked Heart about what her considerations are before picking out furniture, she gave two points.
Price wasn't one of them.
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At the risk of sounding like an exclusive luxe shopper, Heart clarified that it's not so much about the price, but more of the quality of the furniture piece that she looks at.
"Honestly, at the end of the day, it’s really the quality."
She elaborated: "So sometimes you get lucky that there are people who aren’t going to ask for an arm and a leg, but they give you craftsmanship.
"I would go for quality which is very gentle in the heart, so that is definitely something that matters to me."
She does have something she always keeps in mind whenever she shops for furniture.
"Anything that you have at home is important.
"So, whether that’s expensive or not, that’s something that I consider."
The second factor she evaluates are measurements— examining whether a piece is proportionate to the room's capacity or space.
"Size is also something I consider, but not necessarily," she related.
"If it’s too grand and my house is too small, I wouldn’t get it. I work around something that makes me feel good.
"I mean if you’re somebody, who likes to, you know, host dinners, go ahead. Get an eight seater, di ba? Like add just small chairs na lang or something."
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FILIPINO-MADE FURNITURE
In the global scene, does Heart believe that Filipino-made furniture is already at par with international standards?
"Oh super!" Heart told PEP.ph with enthusiasm.
She then proceeded to share her insight: "I’m not really in a position to say that I know, but I have certain friends that are really like, I can’t even like believe.
"Like sometimes, I have dinner in their houses and they have, you know, I’ve helped them look for furniture from the Philippines.
"So, yes, you know, that’s why it's so cool that Genteel is out here, really you know, showing everybody that this is from the Philippines, because it's already out there but nobody knows."
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