Morocco Meets Restoration

I had a meeting at my home with my new client Laura who lives in my community. While we were discussing her needs, she fell in love with my dining room except she wanted less shabby chic and more Morocco. During the meeting she also informed me that she does not like bling of any kind so that made finding a chandelier for that space very challenging. I wanted the lighting to be a “wow” factor but also elegant at the same time. The Moroccan culture doesn’t usually hang large chandeliers but rather smaller pendants and I HATE when a bar is used and pendants hang from them; just cheap looking. Then it hit me…I would have individual pendants in different shapes and sizes hung in such a way that they would all be seen from any angle of the room. They would all need their own electric box but that was the only way to do it so the clean and expensive look would be achieved. It was the riskiest design idea to date because when you make holes in a ceiling that tends to not be so easy to patch up if mistakes are made! I needed to quadruple check all measurements, from the pendants to the dining room space and make sure the pendents were measured over the table not the entire room! I had to measure and do all design from the floor which made it even scarier not to be able to even touch the space the pendents would be hung from. Thank goodness I had amazing handymen who understood my vision and helped make it work!

I also couldn’t order a Restoration Hardware table because Laura needed specific measurements that they couldn’t accommodate. I also wanted to give her a bakers racks that Shabby Chic sells but again, not in her dimensions. So we had the table custom made in 100 year old reclaimed wood and the bakers rack was “new” wood but stained to look old and aged. They are both so simple in design but don’t look heavy and weighed down; the way many large pieces of furniture can often look. White bistro chairs from an online vendor help to complete the look and break up all of the wood and add a lightness and brightness to the room. The antique mirror still needs to be hung and two captain antique chairs will be added in time but the look is almost complete! Laura is thrilled as am I!! The risky design idea worked!! woohoo!!