Neutral Territory: Juanjo & Judith Berenguer-Testa

There is a show on the Lifestyle Channel called Designing for the Sexes and the premise of the show is that most couples have such divergent tastes in decorating that the TV-host/interior decorator has to come in as some kind of United Nations Peace Keeping Task Force and keep the marriage intact. Week after week, the featured couples have a spiel that goes, more or less, like this: "I like Shabby Chic and he likes Italian Renaissance. We need help."

Well, this newlywed couple will certainly never be featured on that show, as the decorating process for their first flat has been smooth sailing all the way.

For one-time commercial model Judith Zapanta Berenguer-Testa and her husband, businessman Juanjo Berenguer-Testa, decorating their new flat was just further proof that they were meant for each other.

Judith declares, "I guess I wanted something modern tropical, so that’s why I have all these palm prints, but I wanted the pieces to be simple. I hate clutter!"

Juanjo deadpans, "My style is the ‘whatever makes her happy’ style."

Judith then quips, "I can tell you one thing we agreed on was the bar."

In fact, as we were shooting the bar, made by Designs Ligna and a wedding gift from friends, Juanjo asked me, "Is there too much tequila, should we take out some bottles?" While Judith said, "Bring out the Bombay bottle, the color will look good against the wood." One senses immediately that there will be many unforgettable gatherings in this home, fueled by fun conversation and free-flowing drinks.

Though the couple had a lovely, lovely wedding, Judith was never one of those brides who dropped out of the real world to the zonked-out zone of Planet Wedding Planning. She left many of the details to her designer Rajo Laurel and friend Anton Barretto, and expended more of her energy on the couples’ soon-to-be home. I remember her very distinctly saying, "I’m more worried about finding a place to live in and making sure it will be ready for us to move into after the wedding. I guess I’d rather concentrate on starting my married life than just the wedding."

The home is definitely a joint venture. They didn’t really have an interior decorator in the strict sense of the word, but Judith turned to her childhood friend Anton Barretto for advice. "It was easy because of Anton," she admits. The dining table from Sitting Room was one of their favorite finds. They also brought in quite a few pieces from their respective family homes. "My family has a lot of stuff. But I found an Eames chair just sitting in Judith’s garage, so now it’s being restored," Juanjo admits.

They both had also picked up some pieces while they were single. Juanjo found a wooden model of a vintage car in Baguio and old French posters on a vacation in the States. The fact that their tastes meld so seamlessly was also a big plus. "I went ahead and bought the ceiling fans and doorknobs when I saw them online, without showing her, but it worked out," says the man of the house.

Judith also says, "The den is his. I don’t have a say, he can do whatever he wants. But the rest of the house is mine." Then she adds thoughtfully, "But even if I had nothing to do with the den, I spend most of my time there, because it’s the smallest room, and the coziest."

Any decorating do’s and don’ts for other newlyweds out there? Judith says emphatically, "Have friends with good taste! All I can say is, thank God that I got the gifts that I registered for and really wanted." Some of their favorite pieces include a retro-looking phone that actually works, carved lamps, and lots and lots of good glasses.

On a more serious note, she says, "I’m very impulsive, I want to get things right away. Like I bought these lamps even before I got the tables for them, and it’s not like I regret them but now I know I could have waited and found something with more mood, more character."

The night before we did the shoot and interview, I ran into writer/model/radio DJ Lexi Schultze and she had mentioned that she had just come from Judith and Juanjo’s place. She said, "Oh, it’s so cute. You’ll love it." I never really considered Judith to be cute. For me, she was more a diva, all straightforward talk and definite opinions. When I stepped into her clean, contemporary space, I knew that she had created a home worthy of her dramatic and yet no-nonsense persona. She has combined a few, well-chosen pieces and created an airy, spacious, comfortable flat, that may be very new, but is clearly and palpably, a home.