LOVELY NEST: SASA HANDYBUNNY

One sunny morning, we visited an interesting space owned by Sasa which is located in South Jakarta. From the outside, it might look just like the house around the neighborhood. But once we stepped in, we can totally see how distinctively beautiful the inside is. The house consists of two floor with the first floor being the garage-slash-workshop for her project and the second floor for the living area. Even the stairs from the first to the second floor is unique and shows how this house is inspired by nature a lot.

The 150m2 area upstairs is designed with a combination of white color and wooden texture. The floor is covered with wood panel while the wall is made out of exposed brick in white. The space is basically divided into two big area. The first one consists of a bed, table, television, open storage and small pantry. The other area which is a bit more adjustable works as a living room and a working space for her project. Located in the second floor, the right amount of light slip in through the window and doors during the day. In the evening, Sasa chose yellow light for the lighting to give the room some warmth and comfort.

Many may have known Sasa as the lady behind an up-cycle movement specialized in promoting sustainable living called HandyBunny project. But on daily basis she is actually a full time and the only female creative director in MullenLowe Indonesia as well as the founder of a talent agency called Roarjkt.com. Apart from that, she told us that she is also an impulsive solo traveler and of course, a proud mother of her lovely daughter Paz.

3 words that describe yourself
Stubborn, Happy, Dreamer

Tell us about the design concept of your home
I’m always fascinated by treehouses since I was a kid, I loved to read books up on a tree and even fell asleep on one of its branches. Maybe that’s why I love branches up to this day and the 1st thing installed in the house was 2 branches transformed into bookshelves, that later on inspired the whole look of this nest. The living areas were also built only on 2nd floor for that reason, making a tree kinda feeling in this home.

Where do you get your home decor inspiration?
1st, Nature. 2nd, Greece. 3rd, memories.

Where do you usually get your furniture as well as your decor stuff?
I made most of them using my own designs, or with my own hands. I always try to stay true to what HandyBunny project believes in. For tiny little things in the house as for arts, books, lamps etc. I got them from journeys I take when I solo travel.

What is important to you in a living space?
That the living space breathes, speaks and lives up to your dreams about a home.

If you can pick one item from your home, what is your favorite and why?
The red shabby frame on the TV shelf as I call it memory hanger. It was the 1st thing I created with my own hands in HandyBunny project, inspired by the birth of my baby.

How do you usually spend your time at home?
Random activities, playing with Paz, my daughter, or paint or carpenting, or read, making new designs.

Let’s talk about your Handy Bunny Project, how did you start it? 
I started this project when I was in maternity leave, and I’m so glad I did. Before I joined University of Indonesia in Communication major, I once registered to Paramadina majoring in Product Design and they said my test score was the highest among other students registering at that time. But following my parents’ advice, I cancelled Paramadina and decided to go for UI. That decision managed to force me to forget all about product design thing… up until I had a moment that allowed me to do more than I usually could; having a baby (which for some people sound truly contradictory). Proudly to say, the project wouldn’t happen without my baby, Paz. So all the credits should also go to her.

Just out of curiosity, why do you name it HandyBunny?
Basically that’s how I called the project in the beginning since it was inspired by my baby (I always think she is a bunny :), that sounds not too serious in a way, but still handy. When the project grew to become a business, I decided to keep the name HandyBunny to inspire people that being a petite woman like me you can still do handy works like cutting woods, drilling, painting, or basically, building your own home. So the business is not about making furnitures, but making believes that you can be resourceful, if you really want it.

Where do you get the inspiration for the HandyBunny project?
Nature, children, pinterest, advertising, problems, many.

Can you share some tips on recycling stuffs so that it can be more useful?
Start recycle from things you need to have. When you need something you’ll start to think of ideas. When you start thinking of ideas you’ll see things transforming into things that you need. For example: you need a tissue holder, whose shape is like a can. Then you see your baby milk can, you see that can work. Then you decorate the can as you want it then voila! You have got yourself a customized tissue holder for your house.

Why do you think is it important recycle something?
Because we never stop consuming. If we continue consume without thinking the side effect of producing, we’ll end up with piles of waste. We don’t want that for our future, it’s gonna be a very dark future. Just like in Wall-E movie, remember?

Do you have any future plans for the home and the business?
For the home, I will let it evolve organically. A home should have a soul that grows with the owner so I will let it flows with me. But for the business, if I have more times, I will do more workshops to expose HandyBunny project, focusing more to educate children so they can start being resourceful since their early age. HandyBunny project is going to be a “school” someday, that is my ultimate dream.

Thank you so much Sasa for letting us visit your lovely nest. We are so inspired by your HandyBunny project for the energy that you poured there will surely bring a positive impact not only for people but also the Earth. We wish you success for the business and hopefully your treehouse will grow wonderfully.

Our Lovely Nest video is in collaboration with Samber Rejeki. 
Text by Filicia