DELUSIONHOUSE of DECO

www.delusionmag.com

Armani Hotel DubaiRooms designed by Giorgio Armani

Bonsai In Interior SettingsVia Poetic Home

Industrial Bedroomwith Divine Detail

NOVEMBER 2012,ISSUE 11 RM12.90

DECORATIONSTerrific Terrariums & Tiny CactiCool Wall DecalsBonsai In Interior Settings

CONCEPTTop To Toe Ceramic TilesUnusual Wall Art Ideas

INTERIORBeautiful Home Interior

BATHROOMSUnique Bathroom Design

ROOMSVilla Moda Atlantis

Living ModernIndustrial Bedroom

KITCHENSHakkasan

Nobu-DubaiMirdif City Center

HOTELSArmani Hotel Dubai

Grace Santorini HotelAmankora Resort & Spa

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INTERIOR DESIGNFAVOURITE

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DELUSIONINTERIOR DESIGN

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THE INSPIRATIONBack in October 2012, author and interior designer, Syahmi Bostaman, founded Delusion House Of Deco with his friend Nabil Daniel & Hazwan to help people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy. As one of the most popular and influential design blogs in the country, Delusion House Of Deco speaks to a wide, enthusiastic audience because of its inherent belief that “simplicity and luxury are not mutually exclusive.” Come here to find interior design inspiration from real homes in major metropolitan cities and everywhere in between. At Delusion House Of Deco, we are in the privileged position of seeing, experiencing and writ-ingabout some of the most inspired interiors in the Middle East. From fancy hotel lobbies and atmospheric restaurants to Living rooms and Creative ideas from designer, we see, on a daily basis, how spaces can impact experience and existences. It is a remarkable ex-perience, watching your projects unfold, seeing how an under-nourished brief be-comes an inspired sketch before evolving into a rendering and then magically morph-ing into a fully-fledged interior. It is a complex, painstaking, often frustrating process that is catalysed by your creative passion and stubborn determination. The Delusion House Of Deco is a tribute to that passion, and a celebration of your achievements. We’ve tried to include projects from around the region to ensure that this is a true showcase of Middle Eastern de-sign. It’s also important to note that the projects are presented in no particular order. Projects have been selected for a multitude of reasons. In many cases we were struck by the originali-ty of the design scheme, in others we were impressed by the designer’s efforts to address sus-tainability, in some instances we were awed by the designer’s ability to overcome significant challenges.We hope you enjoy the selection, nonetheless.

Nabil Danial Syahmi Bostaman Hazwan SahibDesigner Managing Direc- Editor

Receive Delusion House Of Deco every month.

01.Armani Hotel Dubai

Rooms designed by Giorgio Armani

Inside Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, lives a luxuriously new and often dark

world called the Armani Hotel Dubai. Elegant and understated only begin to describe this moody 11 story hotel where the exclusive Club members share access to the Ar-mani restaurants, Spa, lounges and a Nightclub. Luckily, everyone has equal rights to the hotel’s own Georgio Armani re-tail store – they wouldn’t want to deprive you from that! The residences were designed by Armani

himself and the hotel ar-chitecture was designed by Wilson Associates. A clever job was done of reflecting the Tower’s spiraling form, which ex-plains the soft cut corners and oddly cool spaces in some parts. Armani Hotel Dubai welcomes you to a place where every element embodies the Armani lifestyle and design phi-losophies and promises to take care of the guests’ every need and desire.

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02.Grace Santorini Hotel

Designed by Divercity and mplusm Architects

Grace Santorini is open seasonally, April through Octo-

ber, and does not allow chil-dren under the age of 14. A three night minimum is also required. When it comes to archi-tecture and interior design, there was only ever a hair’s breadth between the Cy-cladic tradition and the modern minimalist boutique hotel. Both revel in absence of ornament, in geometric lines and vast expanses of white. And in Grace Santorini the two idioms are brought seamlessly together. It’s near colorless, crisp-edged, clean-lined and packed

with modernist furniture, and yet still it looks perfectly at home. And like any good San-torini hotel, Grace knows when to get out of the way and let you enjoy the view.Most every hotel on the island is high up a cliffside, but Grace is high; the hotel cascades down a steep terraced hillside, and don’t tell the beach hotels, but the sea looks better from up here anyway. The view is, of course, the main attraction, and the infinity pool is nothing short of sublime.The hotel is happy to arrange seafaring or tours of island.

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03.Amankora Resorts & Spa

270 Asia Pacific’s Best Hotels 2010

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sympathetically bal-anced to their envi-ronment, in order to discover and compre-hend the extraordinary wonders above and beneath this treasured land. The lodges are created to provide a circular pilgrimage in Bhutan’s breathtaking-ly spectacular central and western valleys.Most journeys start at Amankora Paro or Amankora Thimphu. The lodge in Paro is

nestled among glis-tening conifers in a 24-suite pine forest retreat. Amankora Thimphu, raised up in a blue-pine forest of the Motithang area, sits close to the capital’s intriguing sights and traditional shops. Amankora Punak-ha is set in sparkling verdancy east of the Dochu La Pass and just north of the resplen-dent Punakha Dzong. offers magical views across the bird-strewn

The richness of life is found in the still simplicity

surrounding the re-markably unscathed geophysical and biological existence in Bhutan today. Due to a sincere Buddhist belief, adhered to since the 7th century, the co-existence of na-ture and nurture has resulted in a unique eco-system and a thriving mosaic of different peoples all linked by a common belief system that regards all life forms

as sacred. This pre-vailing ethos washes the staggeringly beautiful undulat-ing valleys, plains, deep gorges, and mountainous land-scape with a force of supreme great-ness; that of genuine harmony and envi-ronmental compat-ibility. To this astonish-ing effect, Aman-kora has created a series of lodges, all creatively unique and

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04.Hakkasan

Designed by Christian Liagre

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It’s dark, it’s noisy & it’s ex-pensive’, but this overtly sexy, A-list haunt continues to lure

fashion seekers, high rollers & the occasional oligarch. The attraction is a throbbing sub-terranean space divided by ornate fretwork, with moody illumination & spotlights over each table. Cantonese cook-ing with a luxurious, Michelin-starred edge is the kitchen’s

remit, & Hakkasan scores heavily with its top-end dim sum – although that’s just the start. Order from the carte & you can expect a procession of ‘phenomenal’ dishes run-ning from a ‘glorious’ crispy lamb salad interleaved with slivers of melon to delicately steamed king-crab legs with spicy yellow bean sauce or

braised pork belly in plum sauce infused with kumquats (‘a triumph’). The Singapore noodles are ‘utterly fabulous’, & there are always plenty of takers for glamorous cocktails in the slinky bar. The bill might ‘make you screech’ & the two-hour limit on tables is rigorously ob-served, but Hakkasan remains an enduringly hot ticket.

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05.Nobu-Dubai

Concepts by Rockwell Group

Nobu Dubai was an evolution of many of the concepts Rockwell

Group developed for the flagship Nobu Fifty Seven in New York, such as the emphasis on craftsman-ship, natural materials and storytelling. The textures and materials in this particular location were chosen to reflect the finely crafted cui-sine and Nobu’s roots in the Japanese countryside, while also celebrating the Dubai beachfront context. David Rockwell, Founder and CEO of Rockwell Group, explained: “The context, landscape and history of

this new restaurant brought about all sorts of new and exciting challenges. We had to think about its location not only in the Middle East, but also in Dubai as the epi-center of an ever-growing and flourishing environment for building, not to mention being more specifically in the larger-than-life Atlantis resort on Palm Jumeirah.” To anchor the restau-rant in its location, Rockwell Group surrounded the res-taurant walls and ceilings with large hand-woven curvilinearabaca panels.

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05. 06.Mirdif City Center

City of Gold

Strategically located between the Dubai In-ternational Airport and

the Mirdif residential district, Mirdif City Centre is a re-flection of Dubai’s position as an international retail destination and commit-ment to sustainability. The 230,000 sq m centre’s de-sign is driven by its surround-ing environmental factors including infrastructure and transportation systems, and water and energy sources. Mirdif’s interior ‘Desert Villa’ concept is designed as a collection of enclosed and semi-enclosed spaces connected by a series of

streets and passages. The centre combines traditional retail, dining, cinema and other leisure components within a two-level retail space that accommodates 430 retail outlets, including eight anchor stores, and a three-level car park with capacity for 7,000 cars. Mirdif opened with an occupancy rate of 85% and a 95% lease rate on its first day. The centre at-tracted more than 76,000 visitors on the first day and reached one million cus-tomers within three weeks of opening.

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07.Villa Moda Atlantis

Design by Marcel Wanders

Villa Moda is a multibrand luxury fashion

store founded by Sheikh Majed, one of the driving forces behind fashion in the Middle East. For the interior design of Villa Moda, Marcel Wan-ders found inspiration in the traditional souk, creating a melting pot of cultures full of surprising details: “The souk is the ultimate marketplace, a concentration of innovation and tra-dition, diversity and intimacy. Lose yourself in labyrinth passages and find yourself anew. We designed Villa Moda Bahrain as an international Babel of fashion, in order to share instead of di-vide. Meet the people of the own streets; shake hands and learn each other’s

language.”The prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Inno-vation and Design Awards 2009 short listed Marcel Wanders for the interior design of the Villa Moda store in Bahrain in the Retail category. Situated in a prime central loca-tion with views over the sea, the store sits alongside luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Bot-tega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Fendi. Villa Moda Bahrain is a cutting edge mix of innova-tive luxury brands which have little or no representation in the Middle East, such as Anya Hindmarch, Martin Margiela, Ossie Clark, rue du Mail, Nina Ricci, Christo-pher Kane, Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe.

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08.Living Modern

Nature tones & Colour Blast Pull out those paintbrushes and prepare to transform your living space with inspira-tion from this set of cool, modern living rooms

By Franky Winata Contemporary design sheds its edge with this curvaceous furniture set, the stone colored organic forms sit right at home in front of the wild garden beyond.

By Rusu Ruslan The nature colors in this living room scheme continue into the adjoining kitchen space, which take the natural scheme one step further with the addition of a printed backsplash depicting a serene pebble snapshot.

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09.Industrial Bedroom

with Divine Detail

Delve into the detail of these two rather

unique bedroom designs, the first by Blalank Studio and the second from 3D artist Ramon Zanca-naro, each decorat-ed in industrial style chic. Look closely to find an array of ideas to add char-acter and whimsy to a blank canvas of space. The first com-bats the coldness of gray concrete walls

by incorporating the organic shapes and tones of driftwood into the scheme. The ragged edged wooden pieces are fashioned into a desk with an overhead shelf, which compliment the rustic wooden headboard, heavy door and two-toned storage unit. The charcoal gray walls are lifted by the presence of a bright white ceiling, and a large cream area

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rug sprawling from be-neath the end of the bed, and the vintage style chest at it’s foot. The next space is packed with collections and unusual finds, from studio style lighting rigs to a menagerie of emp-ty and distressed picture frames, stacked curi-ously over multiple sur-faces. A mustard-toned soft leather bed takes

center stage, picked out by a circular Persian rug, A vintage suitcase forms an extension of a bedside table on which to seat a small library of bedtime reading books. A metal coat rack ties in with the industrial look, but brings with it a cur-vaceous silhouette.

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10.Unique Bathroom Design

by Daymon Studio and Semsa Bilge

Looking to add moderni-ty, a touch of color and quirkiness to your bath-

room? Perhaps you should take some cues from Polish designers Daymon Studio and Turkish designer, Semsa Bilge. Semsa Bilge’s bathroom designs incorporate vibrant color and graphic prints that seem to jump off the walls. The color combina-tions in this bathroom are striking, particularly the graphic prints that line the walls and the wonderful purple sink. Perhaps my favorite out of the whole bunch, Bilge incorporates Japanese Edo artist Hokusai’s famous woodblock print of “The Great Wave off Kanaga-wa” on the wall of this edgy bathroom. She maintains the same woodblock print look by using tiny, square tiles and keeps the rest of the bathroom in the same theme by lining all of the walls with the same tiles in

blue and black and en-graving waves along the edge of the tub. Daymon created this 3D-design as a concept for a smaller bathroom. Lovely large, beige tiles line the walls and smaller, square brown ones encase the rectangular tub. A simple mirror hangs on the wall and a wood sink offers a natural touch. Pops of color in the towel, vase, and floor mat add a cheer-ful vibe to the small space. Here they create a bath-room in which one wall and the floor are covered in brown tiles, while the other wall and ceiling are simply cream-colored. Daymon Studio likes to create colorful, clean de-signs. This choice makes the room exciting by break-ing traditional design rules, while also compromising two different tastes, which as a result, makes the space equally luxurious and comfortable.

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11.Beautiful Home Interior

rendered by Dmitry Kobtsev

Designer Dmitry Kobt-sev seems to have a penchant for blending

elegant modernity with retro glamor. In his renderings of the fol-lowing living space, Kobtsev creates a retro-futuristic feel that brings back recollections of The Jetsons pad with light hardwood floors, brown and beige furniture, and a touch of modernity with a silver en-tertainment stand and silver star-burst chandelier. The curvy legs of the swivel chairs at the brown bar of the open kitchen add quirkiness as the recess lighting adds a hint of luxury.

The same example is illus-trated in other renderings, such as this one of a luxurious house, with white marble floors, dark brown wood paneling on the walls and ceilings, floor-to-ceil-ing windows, and retro-futuristic brown and white furniture. Per-haps another recurring theme with Kobtsev’s designs are his striking use of two or three contrasting hues. Here, Kobtsev renders a both modern and classically designed hall that exudes comfort and luxury with sleek black and silver furnish-ings, shiny white tiled floors, and spurts of purple here and there.

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12.Top to Toe Ceramic Tiles

tile designs, from Italy’s FapCeramiche This stylish range of fresh ceramic tile designs, from Italy’s

FapCeramiche, splashes new vigor and joie de vivre in our homes. Ce-ramic tiles aren’t just for the kitchen floor or the bathroom walls, tiles are en vogue throughout living and dining areas, hallways and even bed-rooms. The benefits of cool tiling have long been recognized by those who live in especially warm climates, but have long been seen as a rather cold option for inhabitants of chillier shores, though with the developments made in toasty underfloor-heat-ing options, the hard wearing finish should no longer pose a problem

for cold toes. Beautiful ceramic floors and wall coverings like these work in any kind of space, big or small, and bring huge benefits in hygiene as well as stunning style; the beautiful sheen and lus-ter that makes this décor choice so appealing is also what makes it fully washable. Modern collections like this offer wallpaper-like patterns to create a chic yet cozy at-mosphere when used across a vertical ex-panse, whilst decorative floor tiles can bring all of the interest that a rug brings to a room, whilst allowing the entire floor to be cleaned without the need to move–or trip on–a mat.

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13.Unusual Wall Art Ideas

Via Armen Gevorkya

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Add wow factor to your plain walls with these

set of tips on creat-ing unusual wall art ideas and altogether unconventional ways to fill up your blank spaces. Forget the pat-ent wars with Apple, Samsung’s test lab uses some of these drawings as cool art murals, both interest-ing to look at and fitting with the theme of their surroundings. This pop art wall feature is perfect for comic book fans; why not blow up a favorite super hero or villain scene as a

backdrop to your room? There are companies that will blow up the size of any image to cre-ate a wall covering for you, or if you are arty you could hire a projector to shine your outline onto the wall so that you can draw around it and then simply paint in the gaps. This colorful little gem appears to be made from old paint cans; an excellent way in which to re-cycle whilst forming something fabulous. Make the wall art as a medium to show fellings.

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14.Terrific Terrariums & Tiny Cacti

stroll through the West Elm website

We were just tak-ing a casual stroll through

the West Elm website when we stumbled across these beautiful terrariums that got our green fingers itching like they haven’t itched since we discovered Nature Aquariums and Aquascaping Inspira-tion. These little beauties are perfect for those of us who don’t have the luxury of a large garden to tend to, or for those of us who just love to bring the outdoors in-side. Try combining your mini plant life with your other houseplants for an interesting play on scale. Even the earth itself forms part of the design of a glass terrarium, and a layered look can be created with different colors. Dinky plant arrangements in

shiny glass vessels have a cute sort of magic about them, like part of the earth has been shrunken down espe-cially to fit neatly on your shelf. Terrariums come in all shapes and sizes, and they look great when grouped together in abun-dance. Hanging terrariums are amazing space savers, and we love the way they catch the light too. Try hanging a sequence of differ-ent vessels over a desk or dining table, or in front of a window for an extraordinary focal feature. The simplest ar-rangements can be packed with interest too, like this selection of mini cacti, along with a few succulents thrown in to balance out the prickles. Go green to save our nature.

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15.Cool Wall Decals

from Walltat

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Art is, undoubt-edly the best form of creative

expression! It is a me-dium through which feelings are personal-ized with colors, emo-tions and expressions. It may not be the ideal form of expres-sion for everyone, but with the digital age upon us, horizons can only expand. Walltat is a com-pany that designs awesome wall decals. They have a wide range of art work

on display, some of which are posted here. Customized wall decals for the child’s room, your bedroom, the living room and even the kitchen are available. Straying from the usual, the company indulges in figures and other forms of abstract art. Varied colors and sizes are available, so you can choose the perfect match for your house and wall.

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16.Bonsai In Interior Settings

Via Poetic Home

Adding a plant is a great way to lift a room

scheme, but if you are looking for something just a little bit differ-ent, then why not try a Bonsai tree? Bonsai can bring an air of calm and class to many inte-rior design schemes, and can provide a relaxing hobby too as you carefully trim the miniature branches

to resemble the out-stretched silhouette of its larger cousins. A singular bonsai com-mands attention and looks great in a mini-malist space like this contemporary bath-room. Be sure to keep them out of reach if your have children or pets in the home though, your precious plant will be ruined by hand or toxic.

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Bonsai In Interior SettingsVia Poetic Home

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“Interior design is the ability to transforman ordinary space into a beautiful,well-designed and functional environment”