Cover Isa Palabyab-Imperial and her daughter, Helena, at home
Isa Palabyab-Imperial and her daughter, Helena, at home
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A look at the home objects Isa Palabyab-Imperial chooses to live with, and why they matter
Isa Palabyab-Imperial is a dermatologist by training, a field grounded in close observation, continuity and care. Her understanding of beauty is shaped through attention to detail and an appreciation for how things evolve over time. This perspective carries naturally into her home, where aesthetic decisions emerge through habit, familiarity and use.
A particular intimacy is revealed through objects rather than architecture. The pieces kept within reach, returned to daily, and lived with over the years offer insight into personal values and rhythms. In Imperial’s space, these selections appear intuitive, forming a quiet relationship between function and presence. Each object occupies its place through relevance rather than display.
Viewed through a design lens, the home is defined by clarity of choice. Materials are selected for their capacity to age with grace, forms resolved through proportion and objects valued for their ability to hold memory alongside function. These are the items that endure through daily life, shaped by use and sustained by meaning.
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Above An Ilocano Armoire is flanked by two folding stools
An Ilocano Armoire is flanked by two folding stools
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Ilocano Armoire
Sentimentality matters in Imperial’s home. Her spaces treat objects as emotional anchors rather than mere decoration, allowing memory, inheritance and personal history to shape the room. By resisting sterile minimalism, she proves that interiors can be deeply contemporary while still honouring nostalgia, intimacy and lived experience. On this Ilocano Armoire, she notes, “I love how this piece was in the living room of my childhood home and is now in the living room of my own home.”
Above Soft monochromatic tones in the home
Soft monochromatic tones in the home
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Grey Couch
The generous grey sofa functions as a social anchor, its softness and scale clearly designed for lingering conversations and post-meal unwinding rather than formal display. The muted palette and surrounding artworks suggest an interior where comfort, togetherness and emotional ease are treated as essential design principles, reinforcing the idea of the living room as a shared, lived-in space.
See also: ‘Heumanism’ and intuitive domesticities: exploring Beata Heuman’s interior design
Above An embroidered pillow bearing Imperial’s son’s name
Above Classic and pink elements were chosen for her daughter’s bed
An embroidered pillow bearing Imperial’s son’s name
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Monogrammed pillowcases by the Olive Tree
In Imperial’s home, the embroidered names and playful motifs on crisp white bedding suggest an interior shaped by intimacy, care and the quiet ritual of personalisation rather than display. These details infer a belief that sentiment, especially in domestic spaces, is not decorative excess but a form of emotional architecture, one that makes a house legible as a home.
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