If you know what ‘C.R.’ means then you are well versed in Pinoy culture. If you don’t know, a simple explanation would be . . . the bathroom! Comfort Room is the term commonly used here for the bathroom, over time it has been shortened to CR. I love to share ideas and ways to settle into your new home (or life) in Manila. By creating a space you love you, you can feel settled into your new home.

beehouse bathroom.jpg — One of my favorite comfort rooms at the Antipolo Beehouse

Often times, the bathroom is one of the most over looked rooms in the home but I believe it should still be a comfortable and desirable space. The bathroom isn’t just for ‘wasting time’ but it’s where you usually start and end your day. Today I’d love to share a few ways on how you can bring comfort to your Comfort Room and all while using local finds!

First Things First: Use the hidden storage! Comfort Rooms are designed to hide most appliances, toiletries and linens so please, use the space. Don’t be afraid to create your own storage with my favorite decor item ever, baskets!

hide and cover whatever you can but ONLY what you need

Bring The Culture In: Inabel linens are another favorite item to collect and with local companies you can get your linens personalized with your name or initials. I’ve also found some really fun items from our travels abroad recently.

Personalized local towels from Beyond Stitched

a few tokens from around the world. paper mache pieces from Yangon and soap dispenser from Mexico

my favorite supplier of all things textiles, Abel Ph, has the best color selection!

Recently, I have been using a local based shampoo, Moringa-O2, which has the Filipino super plant, malunggay as the main ingredient. Talaga! For Westerners, this would essentially be kale or hemp shampoo. Malunggay is the upcoming super food that you can take as a supplement (my favorite while traveling), you can eat it (my favorite pandesal) and now you can strengthen your hair with it.

I’ve also started using local soaps I picked up from Ilog Maria and the yummy soap bar from Moringa-O2 as well.

Clean Presentation: Since the comfort room is where you get clean it makes sense for the space to feel clean. A simple way of doing this is to present your soaps and shampoos in matching storage.

I picked up these ceramic bottles on a recent day trip to Silang Cavite at Cornerstone Pottery.

The Moringa-O2 packaging is so vibrant and fun and would add a nice flare of color to any space. The hair care system is color coordinated which I love! If you are a fan of yummy smelling shampoos this is the one for you.

Once a week I attempt to give myself an at home spa service to treat myself! Sometimes it’s a face mask, a volumizing deep shampoo or recently the Moringa-O2 scalp therapy treatment. This is a 3 step process and I really took the spa theme to heart and organized my treatment into 3 ceramic bottles I picked up on a recent trip to Cornerstone. The first bottle is Moringa-O2 Therapy Oil, followed by Moringa-O2 Shampoo and Conditioner (Anti-Frizz)and finishes with the Moringa-O2 Hair Serum. Good news, the Moringa-O2 toiletries can be found all over the Philippines and are super affordable.