Interior designer Gigi Chung decided on a somewhat diagonal arrangement for the furnishings to accommodate the Christmas tree. The tree itself is accentuated with decorative items adhering to the burgundy and gold color theme.

There’s something definitely Dickensian in the home of Oscar and Tina Manahan in Marikina City this Christmas.  It’s not because one half expects Tiny Tim or even Ebenezer Scrooge to make an entrance at any given moment, but because for this season they’ve decided to go Victorian in their Christmas décor.

The choice may have been influenced by the fact that Marikina City experienced quite a lot these past few months.  In fact Tina Manahan was candid enough to admit that they really thought hard at first if they would even put up Christmas decorations this year, considering the devastation that typhoon Ondoy wrought.  However, they decided in the end to put up decorations anyway—albeit in an appropriately subdued manner—to keep the holiday spirits up.  At any rate, Victorian home décor is noted for eclecticism, dark somber hues and ornamentation—attributes that would later prove helpful in coming up with the house’s overall look.

To help her with her vision of Victorian-themed interiors, she again asked the help of her friend—interior designer Gigi Chung—for the project.  Incidentally, Gigi has collaborated with the Manahans for the past 10 years in turning their home into a memorable Christmas wonderland every December.  Gigi notes that even before the actual act of decorating starts, Tina already has an idea of what she wants.  “She’s very particular with the details,” she notes, adding that it helps that Tina keeps boxes of Christmas décor from which to choose items from, thereby making the task of decorating easier, as they would only choose items that would adhere to the theme they have in mind.

The choices to say the least are mind-boggling, considering that Tina keeps about 130 boxes of Christmas décor in storage (all properly wrapped and labeled, mind you).  Although some of the pieces she has are undoubtedly expensive, Tina shares that one doesn’t have to spend much in buying them, noting that one only has to have an eye for quality and design.

Since Victorian interiors may seem too eclectic in its use of disparate elements and cross-cultural references, both Tina and Gigi decided on “burgundy and gold” as their colors of choice for this year.

“Burgundy and gold are very Victorian colors,” Gigi shares, adding that they incorporated touches of red as well in the overall look.  Suffice it to say, the choice of colors served to unify the disparate decorative accents that they used.  Also, the use of a dark color opposite a lighter (though in this case metallic) shade is also very much in keeping with Victorian home interior ideals.

Of course, it’s expected that they will have to buy other decorative items as well that would further reinforce their overall theme.  To this task Tina showed her resourcefulness by actually buying Christmas décor items from an official supplier of Harrods!  Sadly, the said company has since closed shop—a victim of the global economic downturn.  Nonetheless, some of the items that Tina bought include Christmas balls as well as decorative socks and boots—all of which are in the mandatory dark somber hues (with touches of gold and even intricate beadwork and lace) of Victorian design.

The result of all these hard work of course can be seen at the moment in the elegant interiors of the Manahan home.   Although Filipinos in general demand colorful and gaily decorated interiors for Christmas, it nonetheless comes as a shock as to how appropriate darker shades and a subtly subdued atmosphere can be for the holidays!  To say the least, the house’s Victorian interiors actually encourage a measure of contemplation—enough motivation it seems for guests like us to think about the true meaning of Christmas.