SOPHIE MIR

Managing Director - Sophie M Home Interiors LLC

PR FEATURES Middle East

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Indigo Living takes on the challenge of furnishing a penthouse in just a week.WRITTEN BY SHALAKA PARADKAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAHUL GAJJAR

KEEPING IT CALM

t takes a special kind of talented team to design and furnish a show apartment that is to go on sale. Not only should the apartment have the wow factor in spades, but potential buyers should not feel so over-

whelmed by the hip design that they cannot visualise stay-ing in the space.

This was the challenge faced by Sophie Mir and her tal-ented team of interior designers at Indigo Living when they were commissioned to decorate a penthouse owned by the Select Group in one of Dubai Marina’s tallest towers. “The Select Group handed us the keys to the apartment, told us the budget and that it had to be ready within a week for viewings,” informs Sophie Mir, Director, Middle East, In-digo Living, who helmed the project.

The two-level penthouse has an expansive lounge, din-ing room and kitchen on the lower level. The Indigo Living team broke up the scale of the space, by creating several points of interest within the large hall, to make it seem co-sier and warmer.

As Sophie explains, the decor had to walk the tightrope between complimenting the penthouse and helping poten-tial buyers visualise themselves staying in the space and stamping it with their own individuality.

“We have a huge corporate sales team at Indigo Living, with a number of talented interior designers on staff. They are used to working under tight deadlines for high-profile clients,” says Sophie.

“As we don’t know the identity of the residents, we had to stretch the concept to appeal to a multicultural audience. We tried to keep it calm, so even if people don’t love it, they will definitely like it.”

Colours were kept tightly controlled, to a neutral pal-ette in taupe, cream and chocolate brown. Against the re-strained canvas of the decor, there is a lot of play of textures:

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The Select Group

handed us the keys to the apartment, told us the budget and that it had to be ready within a week for viewings.”

“We tried to keep it calm, so even if people don’t love it, they will definitely like it,” says Sophie Mir of Indigo Living.

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scale, as everything had to be readied in a week. If some-body wants to update their home in less than a week, I would strongly urge them to consult a professional interior design firm.”

Accessories around the living room include wooden Chinese urns, in an unusual charcoal grey, and jade green ceramic seats. The floral centrepiece on the table is a bunch of magnolias from Indigo Living, which don’t need any maintenance. Eye-catching pieces such as oversized ceramic urns and seats are contrasted alongside delicate, handmade, hand printed, hand beaded and hand embroi-dered cushion covers in precious fabrics.

Sophie’s favourite place in the penthouse, is the bright and airy kitchen, with spectacular views of the turquoise blue Gulf. “As a designer, I would say the scheme is success-ful because our clients were overjoyed with the end result. And personally, nothing would make me happier than step-ping in here tomorrow with a suitcase and calling it home.”

Her favourite advice to people whose homes she de-signs? “When you walk into your home, you should feel calm and relaxed. You and your family should enjoy spend-ing time in it. Above all, only buy pieces that really speak to you, so it doesn’t become a space without emotions.”

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As the design team did not know who the eventual owners would be, the scheme was accessorised with key pieces from Indigo Living’s Classic collection, to appeal to as broad an audience as possible.

While the colour palette was tightly controlled, the designers added interest by way of various textures and patterns.

The master bedroom suite, with its spectacular views over Dubai Marina.

The main protagonists of the decor scheme are really the accessories, a

department in which Indigo Living excels. “

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embroidery, nubby throws, hand-finished natural woods and ceramics. Wall colours range from a luscious chocolate to a creamy caramel. An interesting design intervention by the team was to create niches with faux walls around the media unit, and contrasting it with light coloured trim as a decorative detail.

The main protagonists of the decor scheme are really the accessories, a department in which Indigo Living excels.

“Since we were not acquainted with the personalities of the future residents, several of the key pieces came from Indigo Living’s Classic Collection,” Sophie informs. There are also Asian accents aplenty, from Indigo Living’s Chi-noiserie collection released this spring, designed for lovers of whimsical, fun interior pieces with a little joie de vivre. As Sophie informs, Chinoiserie is an artistic style used since the seventeenth century to reflect Chinese artistic influences and characterised by the use of fanciful China-inspired imagery. An eyecatching piece is a ceramic stool in a high-gloss crackled finish. Modern graphic twists and hand-carved detail have been added alongside vibrant colours, to turn traditional Eastern styles into a collection of items that will suit even today’s freshest interiors.

“The biggest challenge on this project was the time

The large expanse of the living room was broken up into several zones. Pictured above, a console table with a mirror adds a stylish note to a long hallway.

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