The last time she had a pictorial with Inquirer Entertainment at her home (for Out of the Closet), she was pregnant with daughter Lia, who’s now five years old.
Now, for her second home pictorial, she is preggy again.
“As of Dec. 18, I’m 13 weeks and four days in the family way,” she relates. “I’m due to give birth June 21.”
The baby is also a much-anticipated holiday gift for Giselle, husband Emil Buencamino and daughter Lia.
“Lia has been longing for a playmate,” Giselle explains. “That’s why she loves going to Christmas family reunions — because she gets to play with her cousins.”
Every year, the holiday season is a dizzying whirl of parties for the Buencaminos.
“We have dinner with my family here. Then, we have noche buena with the family of my husband’s mom, the Martinezes. The following day, we have lunch with his dad’s side naman, the Buencaminos. It’s really tiring, but it’s also worth it — especially since Lia almost always has a ball in these parties.”
Lia also relishes decorating the house for the holidays, mom notes. “She enjoys our holiday traditions.”
For the Christmas décor, Giselle likewise turned to professionals, designer-friends Merrick and Patrick Malinis. “They helped decorate the homes of all our friends,” she says.
Giselle chose blue as main motif.
“I got the tree and most of the adornments from Rustan’s, but I bought the Christmas lights in Divisoria. Since you have to change the lights every year naman, you don’t have to buy the expensive ones.”
In keeping with the winter wonderland theme, she has a wide collection of snow globes from different countries. “Every time I have a show abroad, I make it a point to buy a snow globe.”
Thus far, she has a crystal souvenir from Vienna, Milan, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Dublin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, Beijing . . .
“But they don’t have snow globes in Hawaii, so I brought home a dancing hula girl figure,” she says, laughing.
A certified globe-trotter, Giselle was inspired by a tourist destination in conceptualizing her home.
“When my husband and I visited Malaga, Spain, we fell in love with the white houses by the beach,” she recalls.
She collaborated with the architect-interior designer/husband-and-wife team of Jericho and Joy Adriano in sprucing up the four-story home.
“It’s Mediterranean Zen, clean and minimalist,” she says. “We added a Filipino touch by putting in rattan furniture.” Most of the pieces are proudly Philippine-made. The sala set is by Budji Layug, the circular mirror by Vicente Padua Jr. and the round, wrought-iron chair by Anne Pamintuan.
Giselle is particularly proud of the Pamintuan chair — the only one of its kind in the country. “That’s for export, only sold in Italy and other European countries. I begged Anne to make an exception for me.”
Herself a budding designer, Giselle personally took charge of the guest room on the third floor, which she dubbed the “Vigan Room.”
“All the pieces in that room are from Vigan — including the headboard made from capiz windows,” she notes.
She got the idea from designer-friend Ronnie Bugay who crafted the antique window décor in the second-floor guest room.
Another brilliant design concept is the headboard of Giselle and Emil’s bed, which also doubles as a secret bookshelf. “I saw that style on Madison Street in New York,” she says.
The master bedroom is a place of refuge for the couple. “I put the closets in a separate room so that our bedroom would be uncluttered. I want my husband and I to look forward to coming home every night.”
She loves opening all five French doors (which lead to the terrace) in the bedroom to let the cool breeze in, especially in the early morning hours.
“It’s very relaxing here,” she says.
She believes she is living in her dream home.
“When I was a kid, I wrote down on a piece of paper: When I turn 30, I’ll be living in a white house with a swimming pool.”
That’s the power of visualization.
“On my 30th birthday six years ago,” she recalls, “we had this house blessed.”
E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com
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