DESIGN FILES :: THE HOUSE OF LOVE

Nisrine El Lababidi
Nov 27, 2017
5 min read

Moving houses can be stressful. Moving countries for a family is a whole different story, especially when you have a busy work schedule with travel involved for both parents. That's when Harf Noon Design Studio got the call to help and furnish this lovely property in Emirates Hills and aid in the transition into the UAE.

The brief was simple, to furnish this property in understated modern luxury with a touch of eclectic. To keep it family friendly and infuse it with a relaxed vibe. Finally to use the furniture and accessories they shipped and add to it where necessary.

Upon seeing the house and its symmetrical layout, both my clients and I agreed that it would be great to keep that symmetry throughout and to bring in color from the surrounding garden and pool into the house to liven it up. And with that decision we opted for a bold color scheme for the entrance and dining room, while keeping the living and television room a bit more subtle and letting the accessories do the play.

We started with scheming the entryway with pieces they already owned like the console table, which they used in their dining room previously, and reused 4 hammered brass mirrors they owned. We also brought in two chairs they had in their previous house and gave them a new life by upholstering them in a lush yellow green velvet and added a West Elm cushion in its tribal velvet print. We pulled all the pieces together by making the accent wall a beautiful deep green blue from Jotun Paints. Accessories in brass and white marble further enhanced the look and family photos made the entry warmer and more inviting. The final touch was Carpet Centre's beautiful modern carpet which combined all the colors in the entrance.

For the Living room, our client wanted to split the space into two areas - a seating area and an entertainment area where you can sit and play board games with the kids or play the piano and violin. The walls were stark white so we warmed them up with Jotun's 10679 washed linen to play as the background for all the furniture we chose. The look we went for a relaxed luxe feel with lush deep blue velvets contrasted with concrete finish coffee tables and accents of brass everywhere. We opted for a midcentury style three velvet 3 seaters - very Don Draper - sourced from Indigo Living, while the arm chairs in printed linen material and studs gave grounded the overall seating space and created a focal point of symmetry balanced with two linen upholstered foot stools. The Carpets held the seating area all together while the wall art allowed your eyes to travel upwards and venture into the intricate design whether it was in the metal art or the ceramic art. The side lamps reiterated the China blue while the drum stools, which were the clients own, allowed for extra table / seating space when needed.

We then used the piano to divide the space us and placed the game table on the other end of the room. Finished with the concrete we opted to contrast it with beautiful linen dining chairs with a grey toned wood. To keep the balanced look going, we flanked the table with two matching open shelving in unfinished metal and wood (from the one) - which kept the rugged theme going. We then accessorized it with elegant Chinese Jars and canisters as well as brass and African collectibles that the family owned. Lastly we added books and kept a space at the bottom for all the board games to be stashed away neatly.

The selection of accessories came from The One, Maison Du Monde and Home Centre while the greenery on both sides of the wall came from a local plant shop. We also used all of the our clients wooden masks and figurines throughout the house.

In the dining room, we decided a green wall would be so inviting for family dinners and would bring in that greenery from outside in it would also make everything look prettier bouncing off that color especially the dining room and chairs, they had shipped with them. We then sourced the perfect sideboard that would compliment it along with a beautiful brass chandelier from 2XL.

We then hung three hammered round brass mirrors - again the clients own - and flanked them with two beautiful table lamps and bird of paradise plants. For the corner, we added a bar cart which is quite handy for serving and had some art they had bought for the house framed to complete the look. Carpet Centre provided a beautiful rug in golden tones from their IVY collection to finish it off.

Moving into the last room, the TV room, we kept the theme throughout the house consistent with a trail of blue and warm yellows painting the walls in Jotun's masala 10428 color.

Since this was the space where the family would spend the most time in we kept the materials a lot more relaxed using natural wood color mixed with the darker wood and opting for accessories that wouldn't break. In terms of layout, we split the big space into two seating areas. One right in front of the TV and another on the other side. We placed their oat color living room they had shipped there since it was quite light and added color to it in deep blues and ochre and added brass side lamps on rounded wooden side tables to it. For the coffee table we kept the one they owned which was a solid dark wood color and just added a book, some candles and faux aloe vera pot. The finishing touch to that area were a pair of beautiful glass art from West Elm.

In the second seating space we sourced a beautiful heavy duty sectional from ID Design in dark blue and added the Stockholm rattan IKEA tables offset from each other and filled them with books, a tray for all the remote controls and small brass leaf shaped dish from West Elm. We also added IKEA's Vedbo chair as additional seating to complete the area. Finally a selection of beautiful custom made curtains with their golden tribal filtered the light and added warmth to the room.

All in all the project turned out as anticipated and the family absolutely loved their new space which is now a lot more welcoming. We managed to finish the entire project in three weeks and under budget! This was mainly the result of full trust of our client to deliver our vision and theirs in the best way possible. Let us know what your favorite space was!