They say you’re a reflection of your environment and if I consider the number of places I’ve lived in over the last 10yrs, I can definitely see how my interior decor preferences have evolved over time. In Sweden I fell head over heels in love with the Scandinavian design style – clean lines, pure & light materials and muted colour palettes with natural tone accents (think green plants & fur rugs, etc). Quite the contrast from my mum’s house growing up, which kudos to her (Mary) was rather tasteful when compared to some of the awful decorative ornaments typically found in many a Zimbabwean homestead…mantels laden with wood / stone carvings of the entire animal kingdom, crochet doilies thrown way too liberally on the headrest & armrest of the entire sofa set…and don’t get me started on the hard-to-miss “copper” wall clocks in the shape of the country map or heads of the ‘Big 5’ engraved on them (oh yes they did!).
ANYWAY so coming back to the point – I’m a big fan of less is more and have been trying to get some inspiration on refreshing a corner or two in my humble abode. Great thing living in UAE is the variety of home decor stores – from well know brands to smaller home-grown boutiques. If you’re also a fan of Scandinavian inspired design, local faves to checkout include: Danish brand IDdesign with stores in both Dubai & Abu Dhabi (you can view their online catalogue here), The Bowery Company, West Elm (I’ve been known to frequently pop into the one The Dubai Mall wondering around aimlessly with no intention to buy) and ofcourse, good ol’ value for money Ikea. ;) x0
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