A Peek at Revivalist Chic

Bungalow 300

Anyone who has visited charitable Parisian lifestyle store Merci, the brainchild of Bonpoint childrenswear gurus Marie France and Bernard Cohen, will immediately feel at home stepping through the custom-designed door of furniture and interiors trove, Bungalow 300. In fact, co-owners and designers Vernice Songco and Marga Espiritu cite Merci, along with cult interior bible Dwell magazine, as major influences on their swift ascent from occasional pop-up ‘pre-loved’ collection to full-fledged design store in a little over two years.

The duo’s shared love of style blogs and vintage furniture led them to develop a style they now label as ‘revivalist chic’, taking old pieces and conserving and restoring where necessary, whilst assembling a range of contrasting accessories to ‘pop’ the shop!

And pop it does. Set up as a series of room spaces, Bungalow 300 carries a beautifully balanced and curated collection of mid C.20th Philippine narra wood furniture paired with art deco lamps, Stanley Ruiz palm reed baskets and lamps, ceramics from local design gallery A-11, as well as their own signature, graphic Marimekko-esque zephyr, shell and fretwork pillows in fresh summery hues.

The walls are adorned with an ever-rotating series of contemporary works from Silverlens Gallery’s roster of young turks, and there are lectures, exhibits and even good old-fashioned crochet workshops. How do they choose what pieces to feature? Espiritu sums it up easily: as ‘emotional sellers’, they only select things they know they wouldn’t wish to part with. But luckily for us, they do.