Nesting season is upon us! There’s no better time to declutter and adorn your home in a fresh way than during the monsoon months. The days are cooler, which means little to no sweating while you get to dusting.
Inspired by beautiful hotels all over the world, we’re discussing everything from understated luxury and bold interiors to vaulted ceilings and mood lighting. Let’s create a beautiful and inviting ambience in your home this cosy season – and we’re talking more than just restocking the Bath & Body Works candles.
1. Amanemu, Japan
Timeless design rests at the heart of this tranquil resort set in the forest hills of Japan. Surrounded by nature, Amanemu is built, mixing contemporary and classical Japanese design to create both an interior and exterior that is serene.
The spa resort exudes relaxation and restoration, and who doesn’t want a little piece of that in their own home? Carving out spa-appropriate vaulted ceilings and landscaping are major endeavours to try and achieve this hotel’s aesthetic at home, but there are simple changes and additions you can make instead.
Make room for furniture made with natural materials like a Bamboo Pendant Lamp and Rattan Room Divider, a cheaper alternative to timber sliding shutters. Invest in pieces like this Zisha Clay Teapot Set by Objects and their Isamu Bowl. Other additions like neutral-tone textiles and bespoke pieces can aid in making your home look and feel more like a luxury spa.
2. Royal Mansour, Marrakesh, Morocco
The Royal Mansour is not just a beautiful and opulent hotel, it is an example of how history, art and culture play a significant role in creating spaces. Moorish architecture, embroidered textiles, geometric prints and tiles are distributed across the many riads in the hotel, creating a unique experience for each guest.
Transmitting the alluring elegance and excellence of a hotel like this into your home takes thought and attention to detail, but fortunately, the hotel offers plenty of ideas to stimulate your interior decorator’s mind.
Upholstered lounge chairs and loveseats are great ways to add a point of interest to your living space. Pieces like these aren’t trending on the market, so you may need to get your old armchairs upholstered using custom fabrics.
Another way to bring some Moroccan-inspired design into your space is by swapping your plain cushion covers for velvet covers or embroidered throw pillows. Use rich colours and patterns. The hotel often gravitates toward deep tones in some rooms and crisp whites for embellished furnishings, as seen in their spas.
Look for pieces like this wooden carved coffee table that add character to your home. Decorative framed mirrors, cut crystal glassware, and curtain tassels can also make your home feel more like the riads of the Royal Mansour.
3. Alpina Gstaad, Switzerland
A hotel in the Alps needs little to impress when the view outside is as spectacular as it is. Most of us aren’t as fortunate to wake up to such surreal sights, but the same principle of simplicity applies when it comes to transforming your home.
The Alpina can be best described as an easy-going luxury. The best home transformations happen when you use what is already available to you and give it a bit of a sprucing-up. Timber chalets and log cabins are comforting, but you can create that same effect with a fresh coat of paint.
Warm up your bedroom with chocolate-hued cabinets, sandy-beige tone walls, or cool greys that emulate the winter fog in the alpine mountains. Lighting can massively change the look of a room too. Get rid of the fluorescent lights in the bedrooms, living rooms, and lounging spaces, and use warm bulbs to create a softer look.
Adding an armchair with a footstool and a comfy throw blanket to a room gives the space visual interest and makes a simple room feel like a million bucks.
4. Tongabezi Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia
Warm and humid climates render interiors differently. While some hotels offer exuberant beauty and luxury, other places present subtle and understated charm. Tongabezi Lodge is an award-winning eco-lodge built on the banks of the Zambezi River.
If Tarzan built Jane a home, we imagine it’d look something like this. Elusive, romantic, and yet not lacking in modern-day luxuries and home comforts. Wooden and rattan sectionals, pendant lights, and outdoor furniture invite a laid-back atmosphere to the space. Couple those with a rustic cabinet or bookshelf and painted wall art from your travels, and you’re set.
5. Hotel Les Duex Gares, Paris
We’ve discussed a few cosy, luxurious, minimal and timeless spaces – now let’s talk colour. To help us visualise what colour can bring to a space, we look to Hotel Les Duex Gares in Paris.
Prints and bold hues collide in this avant-garde hotel that does not shy away from bold and abstract pairings and works brilliantly. Retro light fixtures and Art Deco furniture are thoughtfully curated to make the hotel stylish and fun while maintaining a luxurious appeal.
Maximalism has its place, and you can adopt some of the ideas from this Parisian hotel into your home. There’s a fine line between artistic and tacky, so you’ll have to consider what works for you. That might take some experimenting, but the results will be well worth it.
One way to bring some Art Deco inspiration into your home is by adding wallpaper. Wallpaper has a longer lifespan than paint, but you will want to keep it away from rooms that get wet and humid.
Malaysian brand, Kedai Bikin designs bespoke furniture that is easy to place in almost any Malaysian household regardless of your aesthetic. It is reminiscent of furniture from our childhoods, giving nostalgia a seat in the room. Mad3 Studio creates similar pieces.
Bold interiors allow you to play with art and decor a little more freely than you would in other environments, so feel free to explore the works of young artists who may just have what you’re looking for.
6. Ceylon Tea Trails, Sri Lanka
The bungalows of Ceylon Tea Trails in Sri Lanka blend modern and colonial styles in perfect fashion. Modest exteriors hide old-fashioned and timeless spaces within. Pressed white tablecloths, candle sticks, dark stained wood furniture, and beautiful ceramic and porcelain tea sets aid in bolstering a retreat that feels like a home away from home.
Secondhand and bundle stores are treasure troves for old tea sets, tableware, and antique decor – all that suit this interior style if you want to achieve it in your home. If you’re lucky enough to have grandparents who kept their old homewares from the 80s and 90s, they’d probably appreciate you giving their old treasures a new home.
Look for printed bedding and quilts to throw over your basic white sheets to add warmth to the room. Dark-wash wooden furniture ages beautifully, so consider staining some of your old cabinets with a fresh coat of wood stain or match the stain of your current furniture with your secondhand finds (i.e. coffee table, side stool, vanity, desk, etc.).
The key to creating an interior space like the Ceylon Tea Trails is to build it over time. A one-stop shop at IKEA won’t do it, but gradually adding unique pieces to your home as you find them will reward you in the future.
