Building A Forever Home With Camille Co Koro and Joni Koro

Design-oriented by nature, Camille Co Koro and husband Joni Koro share what makes a good home — beyond style and aesthetics.

A power couple best known and admired for their good taste and eye for design, Camille Co Koro and Joni Koro have recently debuted their dream home, one they proudly call their own and one they’ve carefully designed together, of course.

“We have a very harmonious design relationship, so there weren’t really a lot of things to argue over
or discuss,” begins Camille. “Both Joni and I love watching Architectural Digest and The Local Project
on YouTube. We really love looking at Scandinavian design, modern architecture, and minimalist types of
design, so I think you can see that we drew a lot of inspiration from that.”

Still, the two are adventurous and wanted a home that’s built on their own terms. “We wanted
our house to not look like any other house,” Camille adds. “We wanted it to be really unique.”

Here, Camille Co Koro and Joni Koro take us through the thought processes behind their sleek, savvy,
Scandinavian-style home.

Keep only to what’s necessary.

“We didn’t want it to be a grand one,” reveals Camille. “Because I feel like in the Philippines, people
always think of having a showcase home, like it has to be so grand. But for me, it’s such a waste of space. I hate it when something is there, and it’s just really for show and not doing anything.”

Joni adds: “If you want an area where families spend time, it cannot be a mansion with an entertainment room, a living room and a living room for guests, a formal sitting room and an informal sitting room, a service kitchen, and a display kitchen. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Consider how the spaces influence how the people in them will interact.

“I remember when we were planning the house, Joni would always say that he doesn’t want it to be a house where the kids will grow up just locked inside their rooms,” says Camille. “He wants them to go down into the common area and actually spend time there, which I agree with, and that’s why we really wanted the focal point to be in the common area.”

“Joni and I really love an open layout, where there’s not a lot of divisions, and we can really see the entire house,” she says. “When you go to the common area, you’ll see the view, and it feels like you’re one with nature like nature is our backdrop. It’s bright, with the natural light coming in, giving the space a different look depending on the time of the day. It just makes you feel more energized. It’s such an exciting room.”

It needs to be a calming space.

“I love visiting eccentric homes, but I wouldn’t want to live in one,” says Joni. “For me, coming home from work, you come to a calm, cozy space—that’s more important.”

“I always say that our home still has to feel like a home even though it’s clean and minimalist,” adds Camille. “It’s not supposed to feel cold or feel like a museum. That’s why we designed it with a lot of curves.”

Think of the future and how your family will grow.

“I feel like that’s what a lot of people forget when they are building or designing a home. We’re in the Pinterest age where it becomes all about the vibe, that they forget the practicality,” Camille points out. “Will it grow with your needs?” she asks.

“It’s more about future-proofing the rooms,” adds Joni. “It was Camille’s idea for Sienna’s closet, for example, to design it in a way that when her clothes grow, we can keep adjusting the height of the shelves and racks. And when she’s big already, then she can get her cabinets there.”

Explore before investing.

“In the Philippines, people always say to buy a house or a lot right away, don’t rent, you’re wasting
your money,” Camille shares. “But for us, it was the opposite. And because we rented first, I feel like we were able to be more experimental. It wasn’t really a commitment, so we were able to play around with it.”

“I think I was able to really release all of the trendy stuff that I wanted to do,” she adds. “So now, I understand that, okay, this is the style that I really want, the style that will really
stick with me—that we will love even when it’s not trendy anymore.”

While no one discounts the merits of having an aesthetically pleasing space, your home stays with you for a lifetime. As Joni and Camille have elegantly showcased, it comes down to creating a dwelling that feels authentic to your personality and grows with your evolving needs—secrets to a forever home.

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