Designing for Life by Experiencing Life

An Interior Design Studio based in New Manila, Philippines

Blurring the lines across fields — art, science, construction, and multiple trades — bridging the individual and the built environment — while grounded with intent, sincerity, and whimsy.

Every Pace Has a Place

We offer five (5) types of Interior Design Services that are Time Bound and Intention Led

  • A 75–90 minute session to review your space, discuss ideas, and give straight-to-the-point design advice

  • An extended consultation where we work alongside you for the day, offering real-time support for planning, sourcing, and set-up

  • A furnishing service where we help you layout, select, source, and place key pieces - a refresh without construction

  • An end to end service where we do furniture swaps, layout adjustments, and finishing tweaks to elevate the space with minor construction

  • An end-to-end design service where we develop the design, make drawings for custom work, support through construction, assist with multi-trade coordination, and oversee set-up

Work With Us

Frequently Asked Questions

  • You can send details about the project to our form studiojosefkarol.com/contact and we’ll reach out to you. To check out our design offerings, you can browse through our services & rates primer located on the same page.

    If you’re unsure which set-up works best for your project, you can book an onsite or online consultation so that we can discuss ideas and weigh options!

  • We’re flexible — we can recommend our go to builders and suppliers we work with. If you already have trusted trades, we’re happy to collaborate!

  • We’ve worked with multiple styles — sleek Japandi interiors, midcentury modern lounges, eclectic maximalist spaces, and themed historic rooms! We love exploring and expanding our design horizons. But our signature design process focused on gathering data from our clients and methodical design development — remains unchanged. This formula has worked for us the past 7 years of practicing, and we hope to continue sharing the interior design love through this user-centric approach!

  • Not at all! Just 3-4 of your favorite photos is a good start, then 2-3 key words that best describes your space.

    If you’re still unsure of how it looks like, you can zone in on how you would like your space to feel. Your preferred style can be a mixture of multiple ones! We believe it’s best when the space reflects the user the most.
    We define the mission, align on the vision, and we keep going back to the mission-vision throughout the process!

  • Our online consultations have reached Australia and the United States, even European cities like Lisbon and Amsterdam! We’re happy to help out wherever you’re based in our little blue planet.

    Most of our Interior Design Sourcing, Styling, and Full Out projects are located in Metro Manila, Philippines. For projects outside of these areas, feel free to message us and we can sort something out!

  • Through a Consultation, while discussing what you have in mind for the space, we can discuss the running averages of a sourcing project or a full blown renovation. There are a lot of factors to consider when budgeting — preferred brands, when the project is taking place, where the project is taking place, how much change are we talking about, what are the existing conditions of the utilities, etc.

    A discussion on the topic works best to have a more accurate view of numbers!

    We’ve worked backwards in the past well. You can share with us a working budget, then we can recommend what can be done with said amount. We have five (5) time-bound and intention led Interior Design Services for you to choose from, and work with what we’ve got!

  • You can reach us anytime via our contact page or email us at studio.josefkarol@gmail.com

    We aim to respond quickly—usually within one-two business days!

  • We can talk about your options through a Design Consultation, and check what can be achieved with the preferred timeline.

    We believe we can still move things along even in a limited amount of time — perhaps book Designer for the Day where we buy furniture and decide on the spot, maybe even pace design elements into phases.

    Taking 75-90 minutes to discuss what’s best for the situation would be beneficial nevertheless. You can send details on our form to get the ball rolling!

  • It depends per project and per client. We always suggest creating a project brief first (or just a simple list of needs and wants) so that we can anchor our recommendations with what you have in mind.

    We have five (5) time-bound and intention-led design services that you can choose from. We can help you discuss options through a Consultation too!

  • Understandable! Change, though wanted, can sometimes be an arduous process. We can start small, say a Consultation to discuss options. Maybe do onsite, so that we can sketch out some layout options!

    Then we can discuss which Design Service works for your project.

  • Consultations and Designer by the Day are paid in full after the session.

    For Interior Design Sourcing, Styling, and Full Out, after acceptance of our interior design service fee proposal, there is a downpayment to get things started. The remaining balance then are settled through milestone progress billings.

  • Collaborative, honest, and straightforward! We're here to guide the process and keep things moving (possibly give a joke here and there!)

    We understand that renovating can be stressful, with multiple factors to consider and with various trades involved. But at the end of the day, we remind our clients (and ourselves too) that we are living the dream — to be able to manifest our visions to life is a privilege. Let’s make the most of it!