The Arabic House

This client contacted me three years prior to building the house. We met at regular intervals during the build process to discuss the direction of the painted decoration.

When the framing and drywall were finished, it was easier to visualize the concepts, design, pattern, and color.

The concept is Arabic Decor. The vocabulary of the design is inspired by Islamic design found in India and adjusted for the scale and space of the house. The design is modular be it border, the stenciled interior panels, or a focal point. The patterns have a decided Arabic flavor and color. A limited palette of blues refrains from creating a great range of contrast. Blue is the color of heaven, spirituality and immortality. Blue stimulates the individual mentally.

The two golds - Iridescent and Interference Gold - bring the quality of preciousness and have a valuable reflective quality to move light and expand the feeling of the space.

The most important and largest extent of the painting is in the Foyer. We wanted to maximize the impact. The walls are stenciled in a tan over a reflective iridescent pearl background. It has a mysterious color shifting and reflective light quality. It is bordered by gold edging with an energetic light blue/dark blue pattern. This border defines panels, some of which have a very subtle interference gold background. On the front wall, some beautiful iridescent blue panels contain a stenciled pattern.

In the tray ceiling is a gold pattern containing a modified quatrefoil. The background is a very dark blue with a subtle interference blue stenciled pattern. Between two spotlights is the location for the future chandelier.

The finishing touch in the Foyer is the inclusion of Arabic script. It is clearly read over the front door. It is painted on four walls of the tray ceiling. The flair of the sinuous line of the script adds focal points throughout the Foyer.

The text was provided by the client and I copied it exactly as stencils to apply it in one pass and because I don’t speak or read Arabic.

The basement stairway is painted in the reverse of the Foyer. It is the same pattern but painted in blue. The lower level room it services is painted with the same stencil but is tan on gold.

A coffered ceiling is pained as a companion piece using the same palette of light blue, tan and interference gold.

The bathroom ceilings are painted with a tan stencil over a gold base color.

The scaffolding photo shows the scale of the Foyer. The project took six months to complete.