An understated living room will promote a sense of balance and order. Courtesy Haus Medy
An understated living room will promote a sense of balance and order. Courtesy Haus Medy
An understated living room will promote a sense of balance and order. Courtesy Haus Medy
An understated living room will promote a sense of balance and order. Courtesy Haus Medy

Design dilemma: Understatement versus a sense of overstatement in the home


Selina Denman
  • English
  • Arabic

We all dream of having the perfect home, which represents our individual style, responds to our daily needs and is made to measure. Our home is a mirror of ourselves as individuals, so the big question we need to ask ourselves is: what statement do we want to make with our interior design, for both ourselves and others? A simple way of breaking it down is: brave versus shy, bold versus timeless, or simple versus extravagant.

A few years ago, we were working with an affluent gentleman who sat on the board of directors of a very famous and successful organisation. We designed a beautiful town house for him, but when it came to designing the interior and furnishings, he always tended towards understatement in the public areas of his house. Understandably, in his position, overly bold statements might have been misinterpreted. So we created an impeccable timeless design that had staying power. If you want a design that is as fresh and relevant today as it was yesterday, and will continue to be so tomorrow, you need to use styles, colour and materials that have been designed to last.

Our decor resisted trends; it was simple and sophisticated, highly functional, but not bland or boring. For example, we incorporated classic herringbone teak flooring in off-white, surrounded by a grey marble border, set against a crisp white wall with French wall mouldings in white. On the wall, we hung a contemporary artwork in shades of eggshell and champagne. The furniture included a selection of grey silk casual chairs and a champagne-coloured velvet sofa. We brought together what belonged together. It was about creating a sense of balance and order.

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However, in the private area of his home (the master suite), the client found personal expression in overstatement. That is, bold design dominated by key features and statements. With overstatement, it is all about you – if you love it, then use it; that's all that matters. It is about daring to experiment with form, colour and materials, and at the same time, strategically placing them to create contrast, drama and illusion. In this case, we followed the same wooden flooring, but now placed a poison-green lounge chair against a wall painted in matte carbon black, with an oversize floor lamp placed on a mustard coloured round rug. The rest of the furniture was in matte black velvet.

The last step was to accessorise the room with elements of surprise – 21 poison-green glass apples attached to the wall – to achieve that “wow” effect when entering the room. As you can imagine, both styles created a dialogue between the interior and the user, making sure the message was clear whichever language was being spoken.   

The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

THE SPECS

Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre

Transmission: Seven-speed auto

Power: 165hp

Torque: 241Nm

Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000

On sale: now

Key developments

All times UTC 4

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Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE