Decorating? Make It Moroccan!

Janet Ramin - It may have started with Valentino stealing a kiss in the casbah or Lawrence of Arabia storming across rippling sands astride a camel, but our fascination with desert cultures has had a long history and continues till today. In our latest mood board, let's explore the exotic desert land of Morocco to discover the elements of Moroccan style.

Natives of the desert have lived primarily a nomadic, tribal life and consequently their furnishings had to be portable too. Through their travels, they carried with them

• pillows for their seating
• small tables and folding chairs for dining
• rugs to cover the sand 

Eventually some natives settled into walled cities - the casbah - but their homes still echo their past nomadic lifestyles. 

In our mood board above, we show the traditional pillows and ottomans that would typically grace a Moroccan home. The blue Ikat pillow and the large, fringed ottoman are both from Wunderley. The small portable Zeneb table features Moorish geometric patterns, including the pointed arches as its legs. The Hamsa Eye mirror above is made of camel bone and silverplate.

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Classic Decorating Is All About Tablescapes

(David Hicks tablescape)

David Hicks, British superstar interior designer, coined the phrase “tablescapes” back in the 1960s. Tablescapes are creatively composed accessories set on a table, each piece specially chosen until the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Hicks has long since died, but his design flair and attention to detail still inspires designers of today. The attention to detail led Hicks to compose miniature design scenes on tables so meticulous that his tablescapes became mirrors of his overall design concept. The classic tablescape shown in the photo above alludes to the Greek classical décor behind the table. The simple but elegant ceramics and earthenware – a staple of Greek interiors – is a beautiful way to complement the surrounding room. 

When arranging a tablescape, the guidelines that designers pay attention to are

• the focal point, 
• the various heights, 
• scale, 
• the number of items on the table, 
• how the accessories harmonize with the other items, and 
• the overall color scheme.  

With his classical tablescape, Hicks employs an overall neutral color scheme to complement the classical theme – varying shades of cream and beige and touches of muted sage green and malachite to prevent it from being boring. Hicks also paid attention to the heights of the items, mixing up accessories of low, medium, and tall heights to provide interest on varying eye levels. The scale is limited to small and medium sized items so that they don't overwhelm the background artwork on the walls. Finally, the bouquet of flowers provides the focal point for the whole tablescape as well as softening the hardness of the surrounding vases and bowls.

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