Happy Ramadan

To all our friends and readers Happy Ramadan, we hope it is a beautiful month for all of you.

This is our first Ramadan in our new location and we are really excited to be here. We will be open from 10 am to 4 pm, hope to see you there.

This is the link to the map for our new location

Qerat New Location

This is our new address, Business Avenue Building, 3rd circle, Jabal Amman. Today is our first day in our new home, and we are loving it already.

Our design offices are open to receive all our clients as usual. Details of showroom opening will follow soon.

Our telephone numbers are:

Cell: 079 6466694     Office: 06 4634624

A New Chapter

We are all so excited at Qerat.

We are beginning a new chapter. After 16 years in Sweifyeh we are moving to a beautiful new location. Details to come soon.

Long Time No Blog

A big fan of Qerat complained over the past few days about the lack of posts on our blog, and this is to tell her that it is all for a good reason. We are so excited about so many things happening soon that are keeping us busy and that is the reason for the lack of posts.

Layers Console from The Mondrian Collection in Walnut

We will be announcing our news soon so stay tuned

Sqrd

Sqrd side table from The Mondrian Collection

The idea for this table was born in the factory one day when stacks of wood were sitting waiting for their turn to be cut. I saw a table of equal squares stacked on top of each other randomly. This one was made in ebonized Oak, but I also see it in many different combinations of different woods too.

Have A Drink With Garbo

 

Garbo, our bar stool from The Marlene Collection, in dark stained solid Oak. The curves on the back and the seat make it very comfortable, unusual for most bar stools.

Remember Arthur ? Maybe we should put him and Garbo together in the same room.

U

Letters and beautiful calligraphy are always an inspiration, I always see shapes and designs in them and they even inspire new shapes depending on how I see them and in what context. This is our “U” bench from Japasia Collection in dark stained walnut upholstered in a dark beige damask fabric.

Happy Valentine

Cushion from Qerat soft furnishings collection

Happy Valentine to all our friends and readers.

Definition Of A Great Room

 

In a recent Architectural Digest interview with the “American Dean of Decoration”  Albert Hadley, he was asked for his definition of a great room. I think the answer of the venerable designer sums it up quite nicely.

“The best rooms have history and meaning: photographs that remind you of someone, furniture that has a story. Whatever you put in your house should be interesting. I may not like it, but that doesn’t make any difference. And decorating is not about dollars and cents; it’s an emotional thing, it’s passion. Buying a painting or a piece of furniture just because a famous name made it isn’t passion.”  

Indeed, it is all about passion.

 

Hadley’s living room

You can read the full interview (here), it is a must

N

This console is very special to me, for personal reasons. It was initially designed as a tribute and a thank you to someone very special. The second piece we made was acquired by a wonderful friend whose name also starts with an “N”, she loved the shape without realizing it was hers and her husband’s initials. Now I think she likes it even more.

“N” console from Tareq Collection in Cherry wood

Elimination Of The Unnecessary

“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary” Picasso

The Ikko console from The Japasia Collection, in oak and inlaid in ebony. The top curves in plan and in elevation giving this very simple piece lots of movement. It is wall hung and supported by one tapered leg adding to the feeling that it is a floating organic piece.

Happy New Year

“O! How I dreamt of things impossible” William Blake

Friends, we wish you all a very Happy New Year full of beauty, love and dreams coming true no matter how impossible they might seem.

A little forest where I go to dream sometimes

Merry Christmas

Roman column from Jerash, Jordan

To all our readers and friends, we wish you a beautiful day filled with happiness.

Merry Christmas

Creation Of Beauty

“ Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cushion Collection By Qerat

Loved & Found – Colin Schleeh

I was recently introduced to the work of a wonderful Canadian artist, Colin Schleeh, during a visit to a client’s home. Our client had recently acquired her piece during a trip to Canada.

Schleeh is an artist whose work has all the elements that would make me love his pieces, beautiful art, great technique and the material he uses is mostly wood, my favourite medium.

 

Above is the piece at our client’s home, we are thinking of different ways of how to best display it in the main reception area that we are designing.

 

Minimalism, A Way Of Thinking

“I think we have to get away from the idea of minimalism as a style and instead understand it as a way of thinking about space – its propositions, surfaces, and the fall of light. The vision of comprehensive and seamless, a quality of space rather than forms, places not things. This is why, in its fullest and most satisfying expression, it is not something which you can readily acquire a piece of.” John Pawson, “Minimalism,” The Guardian April 2004.

From John Pawson’s Portfolio

From the portfolio of Mclean Quinlan - Via Desire To Inspire

  From the portfolio of Joel Sanders – Via Desire To Inspire

The above pictures exemplify this quote, they are perfect example of minimalism that is not cold. They show a beautiful symphony of light, shadows, shapes, colors and materials and most importantly scale and space.

Victor

 

Victor console from The Marlene collection in charcoal stained Cherry base and a dark tone cherry top. It was first conceived to go in an Art Deco inspired entrance against the main wall with a pair of 1930’s glass sconces and an abstract painting on top. I also see it as a divider or against the back of a sofa.

A Big “C”

The “C” coffee table from The Masara Collection in dark walnut

Loving Beirut

I have to admit that I was not a Beirut enthusiast, I have been there many times over the years with my last visit in 2003, and always felt tired and anxious. It was always crowded, very noisy and somehow it felt incomplete. I might have held images from childhood that are no longer there or maybe I kept forgetting that it was a city in progress trying hard to rebuild itself after almost three decades of war. What I saw there this time was an amazing transformation after my seven year absence. I now think that Beirut (especially down town) is among the most beautiful cities.

There are still the areas that carry the scars of war, but they only serve to make the new, or renovated areas look even better. The juxtaposition of the very old and the very new is mesmerizing and very artistic adding a lot of authenticity to a city that could have easily been pulled down after the war and totally rebuilt from scratch. They chose to keep the old, rebuild it and add modern touches to show that this is an ancient city looking forward to the future. There is beauty and inspiration everywhere and the amount of detailing is amazing.

The Solidaire is the old city centre that was rebuilt and is now the heart of the city, with the best shops, restaurants and financial institutions located there. All of the following pictures are from that area.

 

Old buildings renovated to look exactly the way they were when they were built. Buildings in the city centre can be more than a hundred years old.

The beautiful Hermes shop located in an old building left almost as is with a very modern glass structure on top.

 

 

 

  

 Churches and Mosques of Beirut

 

All the buildings in the city centre are incredibly detailed, mostly very French looking but with hints of Islamic architecture such as the pointed Islamic arch and motifs like this one above.

  Some old buildings are waiting to be bought and renovated to their original glamour, like this one which still holds it’s original details.

Yujai

The Yujai Console from The Japasia collection. Pictured here in Wenge, Palisander and black stained Mahogany for the inside of the opening which also has two spot lights that light up through the glass top giving a beautiful light and sexy shadows at night especially in a dark entrance with dim lights.

This piece was placed in the middle of a large room as a divider rather than against the wall. The owners say that they love to use it as a counter for drinks during parties and large gatherings.

Swirling While Dining

After The Swirl coffee table came The Swirl dining table, except this time in Maple and the inlay was black instead of the white.

Design Creates Culture

“Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.”

Robert L. Peters

Happy Eid Al Fitr

Roman columns in Jerash, Jordan

Happy Eid Al Fitr everyone. Hope you have a great vacation.

Great Compositions

Design by Ong & Ong, image via Desire To Inspire

This is perfection

The Beauty Of The Sinai Desert

I just came back from a few days in Sharm El Sheik on the southern tip of the Sinai desert in Egypt. It was just beautiful.  The majestic beauty of the desert mountains along with the most amazing beaches and coral reefs, which The Red Sea is known for, are just what is needed to relax and enjoy beautiful scenery. I always found the desert to be very inspiring especially the way the colors and shades change during the different times of the day. The quality of light in The Sinai is extraordinary, everything seems to sparkle as if your eyes are more focused.

These are a few pictures of the hotel, the desert and of an area called Ras Mohammad were we did snorkeling and diving. I cannot say enough about the color inspiration I had during the dive, the color combinations in the coral reef itself and on some fish is totally crazy and beautiful. I wish I had an underwater camera to take pictures.