Previously dark, with lots of wooden features, black-painted doors and heavy curtains that blocked out a lot of the light, Ellen Søhoel and the team at interior design and architecture consultants XBD Collective were tasked with transforming this 1,208 sq. m. Emirates Hills villa into a light, open and luxuriously glamorous space. With painstaking attention to detail, Ellen and the team ensured the entrance flowed into the connecting living space, with a design that included demolishing the original ceiling, replacing the bulky doors with pocket doors, relocating the A/C grill, and putting a lighting plan in place that incorporated a stunning crystal glass chandelier, and highlighted the room’s beautiful features.
The dark wood wall panelling on the main living space wall was replaced with tactile leather cladding, plus metal dividing lines to create a softer effect and enhance the luxuriousness of the overall design in the room. Similarly, the pocket doors were covered in mirrors and backlit to elevate the overall effect. The Fendi piano, which also serves as a champagne bar, is a statement piece, with its glossy ivory lacquered wood interspersed with crocodile leather. The wall surrounding it, with its backlit angled dark grey mirror, clear glass mirror, satin mirror and backlit crushed glass creates a magical illusion. What’s more, the linear elements of all the walls align the space with perfect symmetry, framing the soft furnishings and accessories in the space. The existing elegant furniture was swapped around and added to, ensuring it didn’t block the view of the swimming pool outside and to create a sense of symmetry and balance.
