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In The Absence of a Blogger When I sat down to write this post, I hesitated for nearly 10 minutes - Where do I start? Do I pick up from where I left, ..or do I omit the past month from the chapters of the blog and pretend the pages accidentally fell out of the book? I think there's no better way to communicate an emotion than the unrehearsed version of it. Same goes to writing. I'm sorry, I am terribly sorry for many things. I am sorry for our loss, I'm sorry for not having the time to reply to your emails and some of the comments left here (please know that I read them all, everything). And I'm very sorry for making my blog second priority over the past month. Will it ever happen again? je ne sais pas but I rrrrrrreally hope not. What was keeping me away? Well, for nearly 2 weeks, my ISP denied me access to my FTP server (yep, seriously) it took several troubleshooting tickets and a myriad of phone calls to get that activated again, it turned out to be a 'small' technical error (to say the least). Next, and more importantly, I was living the drama of moving from one continent to another. I never knew that the logistics involved in decorating a place remotely, implementing plans, and organizing matters for a move from Abu Dhabi to France could be SO consuming. Lesson learned? Never trust a domestic curtain maker, EVER. After four months of rigorous selection of fabrics, matching, and mind sucking attempts to a fruitful imagination, my interior contractor decided to give me the boot, 1 week before agreed delivery date (which was by the way 5 days before booked shipping date), his explanation was that he was running under capacity due to a new project on board, outfitting of a wedding and the couple's new home. What is it about us in this part of the world? Why does everything have to stop with no chance of competition when it comes to the mention of a wedding? After a series of mini nervous breakdowns, I knew I had to recollect myself, it was time for critical thinking (a course we took at college a century and a half ago). I knew it was a lost battle, and I couldn't afford to spend the time eating myself up on his shortcoming. Instead, I picked up the phone to my own version of 911 (a.k.a. Lamya) & asked her for help. After two days in Dubai, maaaanyyy hours flipping through rows and layers of fabrics at Silk Land & Co. and by some twist of fate (& a lot of luck, if I may add) we met Mr.Sanfoor, my Merlin in this entire pursuit who made EVERYTHING sound possible, despite the slightly confused look on his face. I decided to commission him for everything; the curtains, the cushions, the bed covers, bed skirts, and everything else -- to me, it was a leap of faith (well I had no choice really) and to him, it was "this crazy lady from Abu Dhabi who wants everything done in 3 minutes"      Mr.Sanfoor kept to his word and delivered the first batch 3 days after the date of order. The batch contained: - Bed cover + bed skirt of the master bedroom (my room)       Two days later, the second batch: - 2 fionka foot stools for the living room And yesterday (or the day before? I lost track) I received a 3 seater sofa for the living room, 2 curtains in taupe, and adooorable fionka bed covers for the twin bed room. It was a relief. I am now eligible to write a book titled "How to Decorate a Mansion in 48 Hours" and if anyone argues with that, I'll punish them by introducing them to Mr. Ditching Contractor.    The moovers came by for packing yesterday, and with everything box the sealed I felt a slight comforting breeze of relief. Bit by bit, my place started going back to its original condition: neat. They then headed out for the storage I have in Al-Wathba for the bulk of the stuff, ..they're still packing. It's amazing how us girls in our culture almost never go through experiences like these, ..we grow up sheltered, our life planned for us in ways precisely fitting the mold of the norm. The first time my mom heard me say that I intend to decorate my place on my own, with the help of my loyal crew comprised of a slightly overweight lady (Naima), a maid that doesn't know when to stop laughing at herself (Serena), a driver who uses classical arabic as his main form of communication (Rasheed) and a bunch of spoiled -but nonetheless courageous- tiny dogs, she went insane. She still doesn't think it's a good idea. To tell you the truth, neither do I. But what I know is that a bad idea is not bad until you've tried it and experienced it for yourself. As far as I'm concerned, everything is possible - we just often don't believe it is, or are too afraid to have a go at it. I don't know where I'm going with it, and with my increasing responsibilities at work, I know I won't have the luxury of time to spend reasonable amounts of time there. But I have plenty of ideas for the place, ..and who said you have to see the whole staircase before you take the first step? I'll opt to take the first step in faith, and wait for the next one to unfold - one at a time, one pleasant event at a time. This post may have been longer than what your appetite calls for, but it's only a portion of what I have to share. Had it been not for my soar and tender muscles, and the smell of my warm bath luring me to it, I would have spent the night writings.. I miss you x Labels: Deco, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita $7 in my moola box | link | email this post How I Found my Louis XVI Chairs & The Inspiration for my Bedroom Decor If you know me personally, then I've probably have driven you deaf with my broken record of "I want Louis XVI chairs for my place in France" -- but I've been looking, quite extensively, and our market here either don't have them, or has poor garish replicas stained with striking gold leafing -not my liking. There's also the other issue of size. What I've seen around here are what I like to call 'plus-size' chairs - they carry the Louis XV designs, but are substantially larger, where as chairs from that era were known to be much smaller and some refer to them as 'Doll Chairs'  I arrived to Paris on a weekend, and there's no better place to be on a weekend than Marché aux Puces, I bundled myself up in countless layers of cashmere until I've resembled an avalanche-after-effect of a snow ball rolling down a mountain, and stepped out for an exciting day of antique-ing It must have been my lucky day, because I found the trés French bed-frame I've been looking for (for soooo ages) almost instantly upon my arrival -- that unique design of a slightly curved foot-board on the sides, & in my favorite size for a bed: queen size, 160x200cm (Did I mention before that I sleep better in queen size beds? I must have, ..somewhere on Twitter) Immediately, I knew that bed would be mind. I didn't think of the inconvenience of transportation, nor the fact that I had no means nor plan of getting it to my château, I just believed that some things are meant to be, and that bed? It was meant to be mine. Negotiating the price was pretty easy and straight forward (one more sign that it was meant to be mine) -- once that part was over, I broke the news that I'd like it to be transported to a location 40 minutes outside of Paris, with the biggest puppy-eyes smile ever. The look of shock on the expressive French face is priceless, it's always followed by Oh zuuuuut!, or in less polite settings, ..Ah merrrrrrd!  Dominique & Ali, my antique market 'heros' After much discussion, anticipation, and puppy-eyeing, Ali & Dominique came to the rescue, and in the back of my head I could see the sky opens its door.. singing Hallelujaaaah. They sourced someone to deliver my bed, and all was well. . . . . One Week Later I went back to the same market in search for new decadent treasures, it took longer to find my treasure this time, but I spotted 4 Louix XVI chairs with one of the dealers, and despite the slight wear-&-tear effect of their red-velvet fabric, they were in great condition, the seats were upholstered with horse hair stuffing (the original & ancient method of upholstery) and the gold paint on the carvings dimmed by age, which was exactly to my liking =)    Without hesitation, I approached the dealer for their price -a nice gentleman who made my negotiations a whole lot easier by speaking in English- & we agreed the sale price, ..but then there was the delivery part. I could not possibly take the 4 chairs with me back to Abu Dhabi, and in the twinkling of an eye I saw Dominique from across the walkway (truly my antique hero) & called him for a rescue, again. Dominique was reluctant this time, as his truck had no space to take the 4 chairs without damage. But being the helpful person he is, ..he offered to reach out to one of the dealers, spoke to him, and the gentleman accepted to hold-on to those chairs until it was time for delivery. DRAMA, I know. But, whoever said that the French are rude and are not helpful? $2 in my moola box | link | email this post Re-charming the Vintage  This vintage lace table cover will soon become my château's kitchen window curtain -- I can't quite make up my mind whether to have it in two pieces or just one, or whether I should have the top border in dusty rose or beige (for the rail hoops), I have to make that decision before 8 pm tonight, if you have suggestions; fire away =D Labels: Deco, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita $4 in my moola box | link | email this post Le Bonheur & DIY Magic: Turn the Ugly Black Duck into a Gazelle N'ayez pas peur du bonheur I've been away for too long, living up the days and events that have just passed, so let me first catch up all I've been up to, the nows, & the things to come. How pleasant is it to write a blog post while having a scrumptious breakfast outside of your room's window? The few drops of rain on my macbook don't bother me, nor does the dust under my bare feet; soon it will be completely wet, & the smell of trees and sand will rise in the air -- Oh how I love that smell ♥ Happy belated Eid, Happy National Day, Happy Holidays, - Yes, that's how long I've been gone. At work, to say that it has been hectic would be an understatement - so much to deliver before end of the year, it's that busy book-closing time of the year. On the personal spectrum it has also been busy, a series of explorations and discoveries - pleasant ones for the most part. I've also been quite busy with with latest horse acquisition: Robinhood. A very pleasant boy who doesn't seem to mind jumping obstacles up to 145cm so far. My living room at home still looks like the after-effect of an atomic bomb, catalogs are still lying everywhere, I'm still decorating my château one room at a time; so far, there's the blue room, the dusty rose, the taupe, and the living room of course which -the more I look at, the more hesitation I feel towards execution of current palette- Yesterday my first order was taken, I decided I would execute plans for 1 room, observe the quality of stitching and upholstery before I give a green light for the other 2 rooms, it would be a lot easier to fix one thing that goes wrong than 10. In the meantime, I'm still contemplating the colors, fabrics, & textures at home. Mom brought over a huge piece of voile that will come in handy for the bathroom vertical windows and the servants' quarter outside, perhaps even for the extra exterior building which I intend to convert into a Gîte I've also been enjoying getting creative with things that have a chance for beauty. Let's face it, we're not surrounded by beauty all the time, in fact, not even most of the time, but nearly almost everything around us has a shot for beauty, the potential to be enhanced an look better. Those were exactly my thoughts when I eyed the black photo frame at IKEA with a giant yellow price tag AED.120 -- It looked like it would make a nice bathroom mirror, after a substantial amount of work, of course. Without hesitation, I bagged it into my trolley and headed away to the cashier. My next stop would be ACE Hardware.. I picked up the one and only plastic-specific paint can they had, the only one that seemed to work anyway, and the color was a light shade of pistache. Next, I've underlined the frame with newspaper to save my tile floor, & painted gradually, one layer at a time, occasionally pulling the paint can farther to capitalize on the original dark color of the frame and create an 'antique' effect by spraying a lighter color on top in an uneven way..      I then had Rasheed stop by a mirror-cutting shop to make a piece perfectly suited to fit the picture frame, et voilaaaa! I now have a gorgeous mirror that will hang in the washroom on the ground floor of my château in France ♥♥♥ I have to say that the final product was sooo much more than I had anticipated lol, I was so happy with the result that I went and bought another piece, recreated the same thing -though not identical- but would be happy to hang it in the gîte nonetheless The former experience encouraged me to explore, and while I was walking through HomeCenter, I couldn't help but notice a very very ugly 1-bulp sorry-excuse-for-a-chandelier which you'll see below:  Lightening struck, and in my head I could allllllmost see it perfectly beautified ♥ When I asked Serena to buy it, she gave me a hesitant second look as though she couldn't believe I had just asked her to take home something so ugly, but she did anyway. Now, think ACE hardware again -- this time, metal-specific paint, color of choice? Khaki.   I had also sent Serena & Co. to brush through the lighting shops of Abu Dhabi in search for chandelier beads and crystals, luckily, she found a couple of shops that were willing to sell. I bought 500 pieces of the small beads, and several larger pieces (the larger pieces from Dubai) -- I made strands of beads to beautify the basic bland and boring metal frame, & added the final pieces -- the outcome? Spectacularly pleasant experience, and prettyyyyyyful mini-chandelier that will go into the small laundry area of the château by the kitchen. I ♥ it! Have a prettyful rest of the day x Labels: Deco, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita, Music, Pony Tales, Videos $11 in my moola box | link | email this post Meet The Palette   Ladies and gents, je me presente my THE palette! After many days of scrambling through stacks and stacks of catalogs (182 catalogs, to be exact), laying them out on the floor, staring at them for days.. under both natural and artificial lighting, I've finally decided on the fabrics of my chateau's living space. Now, all I have to do is find a bunch of Louis XVI medallion arm chairs, some mirror furniture, and a lotttt of patience. Having said that, I still have no clue what's going on the walls of the stairs after I strip off the red wallpaper (seriously, red) but until I make up my mind, I'm reading about the different techniques of removing wallpaper here A bientot <3 Labels: Deco, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita $6 in my moola box | link | email this post The Fireplace Heroine  I love the color palette, & whilst my walls are not white (yet) this makes me consider going for all-white on both walls and ceiling as opposed to a pale shade of taupe with pinks, which is what I've had in mind for a while..  Okay, this photo makes me want to go back to my initial plan of taupe on the wall, ..or grey. From this photo I got my inspiration for the middle room    Mirrored furniture pieces are lovely. Those cubes are perfect for this room as a giant coffee table.. Photos via Aljyoon Finally got my copy of Cheminées Magazine, merci beacoup to Gwen who also coupled it with a few more publications to help. Did I mention how much I love the supplemental magazines of Le Figaro? I love it! I love it! I love it! There were also some other articles that I found extremely helpful on ELLE Décor: + Fireplace Excavation I love the Internet =D I also love The French Collection of fireplaces at Chesney's (via Aljyoon) Somehow, they're pretty much what I was looking for; unlike the existing 2 in brown/maroon marble, these are carved on pale marble and are easier to adapt to any déco palette of choice. My favorites are: + The Versailles Louis XVI don't want to rush just yet in my purchases before I know what will become of my existing ones, and whether or not Monsieur Deboi will be able to source the same designs closer to me in France as opposed to having them shipped from the UK; after all, they're all French fireplaces, non?         My main focus now is to get the palette right. Still loving the one below, and much to my convenience, the parquetry of the living rooms are already the herringbone pattern, in oak. The wood itself needs refurbishing, & I intend to do that with a muslin cloth, a bucket of boiling water, a cloth drenched in tea, turpentine and lineseed oil (thanks for Jane Webster author of The French Table for the former tip, and Jeanne for the latter) I found a couple of sofas -much to my liking- yesterday on one of my shopping endeavors, & as I type this, I'm waiting for a few more fabric catalogs to be delivered, just to find that perfect piece and pattern for the foot stool of the middle room, and the separator-sofa of the hallway. Mirror furniture! I need Mirror furniture - bedside tables et al, any clue? I have this sense of relief that finally, ..fiiiiiiinally I'm starting to visualize the château's living space -vaguely. The fabric catalog delivery is here, a tout aller Labels: Deco, Domestic Goddess, La Dolce Vita $3 in my moola box | link | email this post Challenge of the Cheminée   I have never lit a fire in a fireplace. En fait, I don't know how to; but I know I'd want to come back one day after a long and exhasting riding session, walk into my warm living room, take off my boots by the fire and just lay down there watching the flames. The good news is: I have three fireplaces in my living/dining rooms The bad news is: only 1 of them works, and it's the one in the (currently) dining area.  Ideally, I'd like the fireplace to be in the sitting area as opposed to dining - it's nice to have a fireplace in the salle à manger and the kitchen, but in the living area it's an absolute must. The first fireplace (first on the left) which is located closer to the entrance of the place has a fuel something inside of it (no clue what exactly) but I've been told it will be -very- hard to revert it back into a fully functioning fireplace.  Unfortunately, the one in the middle room is not working either, and has no hopes of renovation as the previous tenants closed the ventilation leading to the roof (whyyy?) -- my best bet for this one is to use it as a nice storage area, I love the idea of storing wood or books in there..   My challenge is convert the dining into a sitting area (very easy) but that would mean that dining would have to go elsewhere (first room on the left?) but my sentiment towards having a dining table far from the kitchen is not very pleasant. Some of you may be asking why not have the dining somewhere in the middle room? Well, mainly because that arching window you see there has a beautiful view of Wisterias hanging all over -- There, I'd like to have a small writing desk, a laptop, & a small vase to hold freshly picked flowers to scent my mind for writing. So no, a dining table cannot go near a writing desk. I have asked a friend of mine to pick up a copy of Les Cheminées on her way back from France, a magazine that specializes in everything to do with fireplaces, I'm hoping I'd find an answer to my questions and a solution to my dilemma; but in the meantime, if you think of something and would like to share, send me your comments, pictures, ideas, and everything you find inspirational on the subject to my email: my nickname at gmail Lots of love, and have a fabuleux day! Labels: Deco $3 in my moola box | link | email this post |
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