The First Conversation

Written by Richard Vladez - www.RichardValdezRE.com

When people think about interior design, they often think about furniture, paint colors, lighting, or beautiful photographs clipped from magazines and saved on Pinterest boards.

I think about conversations.

Before I select a single fabric. Before I sketch a floor plan. Before I suggest a light fixture or a sofa. I want to know who you are.

What makes you feel at home?

That question has become the foundation of Casa Alon.

As my husband and I begin designing our residence at Fortis Residences in Makati, I find myself returning to that question again and again. Not because we’re designing a condominium, but because we’re designing a life. A life that spans two countries, two cultures, countless memories, and a future that feels both exciting and deeply personal.

The Pinterest boards are beautiful. They always are.

But beautiful rooms are easy.

Meaningful rooms are harder.

The design direction for our Fortis home is inspired by the house we sold in Santa Barbara. It was a home filled with light, stories, dinner parties, lazy Sunday mornings, and dogs who believed every sofa belonged exclusively to them. It wasn’t perfect. It was better than perfect. It was ours.

As we looked through images for inspiration, we noticed something interesting. We weren’t drawn to trends. We weren’t chasing what was fashionable. We were looking for feelings.

Comfort.

Warmth.

Belonging.

The result is what I affectionately call “controlled maximalism”—rooms layered with history, personality, books, art, collected treasures, and pieces that tell stories. Spaces that feel curated rather than decorated. Elegant but approachable. Classic but not stuffy.

And perhaps most importantly, romantic.

Not romantic in the grand gesture sense.

Romantic in the way morning light spills across a dining table.

Romantic in the way a favorite chair waits patiently in the corner of a room.

Romantic in the way a home remembers the people who live within it.

As Casa Alon grows, I hope to share more than before-and-after photographs. I want to share the stories behind the spaces. The people behind the floor plans. The dreams hidden inside mood boards and architectural drawings.

Because I’ve come to believe that good design is not about imposing a signature style onto someone’s life.

It is about listening.

Listening carefully enough to hear what someone values.

Listening patiently enough to understand what brings them joy.

Listening deeply enough to create a home that feels like an extension of their heart.

The Fortis Residences project is our first design story under the Casa Alon banner, and it feels fitting that it begins not with a furniture selection or a color palette, but with a conversation.

After all, every beautiful home begins with someone feeling seen.

And that is the kind of design I hope Casa Alon will always create.