LA JUNGLA
Modern Tropical Prints
Bonjour December! New month and more exciting reveals at C'est ici HQ. Have you been wondering about this reveal? Well, here we are, ready to reveal our Meadows Gems project, a five bedroom villa with so much to tell. As you have seen in our social media, we have given a few peeks here and there of the making of this casita, but there is nothing better than to tell the full story behind the scenes and reveal the end result.
We have around five more posts about this casita and today we reveal LA JUNGLA, aka the dining room.
Our lovely clients from Guatemala and Armenia/Lebanon contacted C'est ici to essentially give an overall makeup revamp to this five bedroom villa. We had to work with most of the existing furniture and our job was to turn around the look and feel of the villa. Our client's main concern was the lack light in the spaces and the fact that the beautiful furniture that was in place was not taking the dominant effect that they were looking. Today, we’re rolling out the reveal of the Dining Room, a space looking for some drama and action.
La Jungla Revamp
It was the darkest of all the rooms, with a beautiful oak wood dining table and a set of contemporary brownish dining chairs. Our goal was to make it feel as light and bright and happy as possible without making it too busy or dark. It still needed to have the same style as the rest of the house, which was a modern eclectic mix with hints of traditional decor. While we had pretty much the basic features of the dining, our aim was to transform this space into something a little bit different, warm and inviting. Tati and I had pretty clear vision of the design since day one and we were pretty much on the same page with the client. Our designs were approved pretty fast and we were ready to go!
A makeover will not make sense without the BEFORE pictures. Have a peek at our starting point.
How to revamp your DINING ROOM in five easy steps?
We’re walking you through the FIVE features that we ran during the makeover of this space. Hopefully, these key elements will guide you in your own space to create a bold yet elegant, traditional meets modern type of dining area. Let's make a start...
1. WALL PAPER & WALLS
Go bold or go home kind of space. A dejavu kind of situation in most of the rental villas in Dubai... the magnolia wall color... our first makeover was the removal of this dull color and the introduction of a softer and whiter look. This time we choose 'Skylight' from Jotun.
Once we had a clear mind and wall definition, we head straight to D.tales, one of our favorite retailers when it comes to wall paper. We had pretty clear that we wanted to incorporate a jungle effect, so we had a few samples in mind. The trick for us was to make the jungle effect look sophisticated. This beautiful print from Engblad & Co had some of our answers.
In our view, modern tropical prints need to be more trendy less Tarzan. As enduring as fond memories of days spent lounging on a lilo in the Caribbean, the tropical look is one of those trends that never quite fades, when applied right it can look pretty chic.
2. THE XL EFFECT
Let's go square. Our mirror from Marina Home was a must in the sourcing process. Mirrors reflect light instead of absorbing it, so they trick the eye into thinking the room is brighter and larger, depending on where they are placed. Large mirrors are typically the best way to reflect the most light into a space, particularly if you want to make it look bigger as well as brighter.
One of our tips, is to consider the rest of the room’s design elements before choosing a mirror to ensure you maintain a cohesive style. For example, an antique mirror with an ornate frame would suit a traditional theme better than it would a modern or contemporary space. Sleek, frameless mirrors, or those framed with a metallic material such as chrome are much more suited to a modern space than they would be to a country or traditional decor.
Whether your rooms are big or small, light plays an important role in design. Making the most of the light within your interior spaces reduces the need for more fixtures, which reduces energy bills. Light also enhances the color and beauty of the elements within the room.
As you may have seen in our latest projects, we absolutely love collaborating with our girls from the Line Concept. This side board was the end result of our trip in Milan aka Milan Design Week Heaven. We were very much inspired by the implementation of solid oak wood slats finishes and the blending of Carrara marble and brass. Once we proposed our inspiration concept to the Line Concept, the piece was recreated to a STATEMENT PIECE, where little details such as the brass trim and exquisite finishes were the dominant features and turn this piece of furniture to WOW.
Just like that! This beautiful slat piece, became one of the main features of the room, the eye catching piece, so important that very little styling and extra pieces were needed.
4. LIGHTING
Add drama in the lighting! We had good height and space for going XL with the lighting and this was our chance. We definitively wanted to incorporate a gold and brass finish. This beautiful contemporary piece is from our friends from West Elm. Once seen, we had a pretty good visualization of it's effect on the room.
Thoughtfully chosen modern lighting fixtures—whether pendant light, modern chandelier, table and desk lamps—are an essential element in creating inspiring, beautifully illuminated rooms.
5. C'EST ICI TOUCHES
Last but not least, we rounded up this beautiful dining room, by implementing minimal accessories from The Bowery Company and focusing on the chosen features. Our last touch was the picking and choosing the art pieces and implementing these in the right place. Tati aka expert in curating art, had spotted a beautiful piece in one of the rooms and rapidly requested urgent attention to the reallocation of this master piece. Once the installation day came, it was a DONE situation and we were able to place a few of the oldies but goodies around.
The end result of this beautiful space was the combination of these five features. When written it sounds easier than the process - but there it is - LA JUNGLA reveal.
We hope you liked this reveal!
Styling Decor & Design by C'est ici
Photograph by Natelee Cocks
Written by Monica Durou