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What style of interior is not at all shy about flaunting luxury, but on the contrary, trying to emphasize the wealth of the owners, create an atmosphere of idle pastime, bliss and relaxation from everyone and everything? Of course, the Arabic style, deliberately lush, bright, unrestrainedly luxurious. In this respect, no other design direction can compare with the oriental interior..
Let’s make a reservation right away that by the oriental interior we mean exactly the Arabian style. Often, the term “East” refers to all the countries of Asia and the Pacific region, which, in fact, are located to the east of the center of our country..
But the Japanese interior and the Chinese style of interior decoration are noticeable, but what is there – they are radically different from the idea of beauty adopted in Arab, Muslim countries located on the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
You cannot compare minimalism, so beloved by Japanese designers, and the emphasized brightness of the rooms in the Arabian style. That is why our site will focus on the features and characteristics of interior design in the style of the Middle East – states with Muslim traditions and their own special color, recognizable at first sight..
How to create an oriental fairy tale in your apartment? What characteristics distinguish the eastern interior from its western “brothers”?
Have you read “Tales of a Thousand and One Nights”? Then you can easily imagine a typical Arab interior, with a huge number of pillows, an abundance of fabrics, gold lamps and an indispensable hookah in the center, on a low square or rectangular table.
Colour
The East has its own established traditions that dictate the basic color scheme of the interior. The main shades of the Arabic style are:
- Yellow. It often becomes the basis for interior decoration. Solar walls and ceiling can set the tone for all other design elements. In the East, it is believed that yellow is the color of solar energy, which stimulates creativity and allows you to experience bliss from the very process of contemplating such beauty.
- Turquoise (blue-green shade of aqua). Another favorite color of the oriental interior, which, by the way, goes well with yellow. Without the addition of turquoise, the yellow room looks too defiant, it will be annoying with its brightness.
- Red. Red is usually not used as the main color of the walls, but it is difficult to imagine the Arabic style without scarlet pillows, bedspreads and curtains. Scarlet sheets will allow you to turn the bedroom into a room specially created for harem pleasures, and red pillows will accentuate the oriental style of the sofa and armchairs..
- Orange. Another bright, sunny shade that emphasizes the brightness of the interior and goes well with yellow and red.
- Gold. Deliberately luxurious, proud of its wealth, the Arabian interior adores bright gold details, for example, lush mirror frames, gold tassels on curtains, bright pillow tassels and a golden pattern on a dark bedspread.
- Beige. A warm, but unobtrusive shade that will soften the variegation and brightness of other colors.
Cold shades in the Arabian interior are used very carefully, in limited quantities, most often they are represented by blue and blue. And yet – plain walls in this style are not so common. Usually they are decorated with ornaments, traditional patterns, draped with curtains.
A striking example of traditional Arabic ornament on the walls. Yes, colorful, but how original!
Finishing
Mosaic panels, ceramic tiles, decorative plaster are widely used in the Arabian interior. But wallpapers in this design direction simply have to be bright, with traditional ornaments and oriental patterns – only in this form they have the right to exist.
Stucco molding is widely used, which necessarily adorns the ceiling and cornices, the walls can be decorated with carved wooden panels, behind which it is advisable to hide heating radiators and pipes, wires and so on, which are inappropriate in the chambers of the real sultan..
The floor covering can be, in principle, anything – from ordinary boards and ceramic tiles to banal laminate or even linoleum. All the same, the floor will be completely hidden by variegated Persian carpets, which can only be replaced by a carpet with a high pile and all the same traditional pattern..
When decorating the ceiling in the bedroom, do not forget to highlight the area above the bed – with the help of a multi-level ceiling, built-in lighting and a cornice, on which curtains will take their place, turning the sleeping place into a cozy and detached alcove.
It is advisable to make windows and doorways arched, and the shape of the arch should be special – namely, the eastern one, slightly wider and shallower than usual. In the form of arches, you can also make niche shelves from drywall..
At first glance, it is a very modern and very comfortable room. However, niche arches above the TV, tiles with a pattern on the floor, a wide arch by the window and a combination of turquoise, yellow and orange colors give it that very oriental flavor.
Furniture
Furniture in an oriental interior is usually wooden, carved, slightly lower than usual, but does not fall to floor level, as in the Japanese style. The upholstery is always bright, most often colorful, with patterns and ornaments; the back of the sofa can be replaced by cushions. By the way, a sofa corner in an oriental interior will be very appropriate.
In general, there cannot be many pillows in the Arabian style – they are located on armchairs, and on sofas, and on chairs. If you want to create a traditional Arab seating area, then you can replace all the furniture with a podium, cover it with a lush carpet with a long pile and throw pillows of various shapes, sizes and colors over it..
An important piece of furniture is a low table on which a hookah or a wicker fruit bowl can take its place.
Cabinets can be replaced with chests, where a lot of things can fit, and instead of the usual wall in the living room, create niches in the form of arches, where dishes will take their place.
By the way, if, having decided to create a room in an oriental style, you do not plan to change the furniture, you can easily turn an ordinary sofa into an oriental one by simply sewing a cover made of brocade, satin or silk and adding bright pillows. And if you have a traditional table, covering it with a floor-length ornamented tablecloth, you will turn it into a harmonious part of the Arab interior.
Massive wicker furniture with rich dark red brocade cushions looks very exotic
Sand-colored decorative plaster, arched openings, a metal lamp, a table under a snow-white tablecloth and unusual chairs with soft pillows – a vivid example of a dining room or part of a living room in the Arabian style
Forged furniture also has a right to exist in an oriental interior, the main thing is to provide comfort with the help of soft seats, bolsters and pillows. And the table in the form of a tray on a metal stand looks very “oriental”
Textiles and other decorative elements
As it has already become clear, without an abundance of fabrics, the Arab interior would not have become such a noticeable phenomenon and could not have stunned Europeans with its luxury, who first saw the palaces of the eastern rulers.
Fabrics are literally everywhere here – on the walls, frame the windows (and usually in two layers – light transparent curtains and thick curtains with brushes that do not let in sunlight), with their help the head of the bed is drawn, they dominate furniture in the form of covers, tablecloths and pillows …
Carpets are also the most important part of the oriental interior, do you remember how recently our grandmothers and mothers were proud of a carpet with a plant pattern taking the central place on the wall? This is a real Arab tradition – to hang carpets on the walls, cover the entire floor with them, cover a sofa or podium with a colorful fabric..
Dishes in the Arabian interior also occupies an important place, only you should prefer forged jugs, wicker vases, original painted ceramic plates and bowls – no crystal or modern thin glasses on a black stem.
Decorating windows with curtains in two layers is a prerequisite for creating an authentic Arabic interior.
Hookah bar. An Arabic-style smoking room, of course, cannot appear in a typical city apartment. If you have enough space to equip such a recreation area in the style of an “oriental tale” – you can only envy
A Persian carpet with a colorful pattern is soft, beautiful, it is so pleasant to walk on it barefoot. However, in the oriental interior, it takes its place not only on the floor, but also on the walls and even on sofas.
One cannot fail to note an important feature of the Arabian interior – it seems very easy to decorate one of the rooms of the house in this style. More fabric, pillows, a low table with a hookah – you’re done! However, in such an interior, small details are extremely important: one single high-tech chrome and glass lamp or an ironing board left in a conspicuous place can spoil the charm of the East at once and turn a room into a room cluttered with pillows, a rough parody of an odalisque boudoir or a padishah’s chambers.
And yet – the Koran strictly forbids portraying people, so all photographs of family members or portraits must be removed from the eastern room. They can be replaced by patterns and ornaments, special wall panels, mosaics and, in extreme cases, calm landscapes. Arabesques are widely used – this is how the Europeans called the complex oriental ornament, invented back in the Middle Ages. It consists mainly of plant, geometric and calligraphic elements and is created on the basis of precise mathematical calculations, with strict preservation of proportions..
Such a complex ornament – an arabesque – can be created from anything, anywhere. On a kitchen backsplash made of ceramic tiles, on the floor, decorate with a Persian rug, blossom on a bedspread or pillow, just being painted on the wall above the head of the bed, appearing around a central chandelier is a central element of the decor of any oriental room. And the variety of patterns and details allows you never to repeat yourself, decorating the room
Additional touches of the Arabian interior can be an aromatic lamp, embossing, a high-necked vase, a carved casket or chest, graceful painted plates for sweets (without which it is difficult to imagine a real oriental meal) and clay dishes.
Any room in the house can be decorated in the Arabian style. In the bathroom, a bright mosaic panel will help to achieve the effect of an “oriental fairy tale”, in the living room – a sofa corner with a mass of pillows, in the kitchen – arabesques on the facades of the cabinets. And in this adorable nursery, all the details are aimed precisely at emphasizing the authenticity of the Arabian style – from the niche arches framed with a pattern to the bright toy chest lurking in the corner.
If you look closely at the details of the Arab interior, it turns out that it is not at all alien to our country – just a couple of decades ago, carpets on the floor and walls always took their place in our apartments, and it was impossible to imagine a sofa without a pillow that beckons to lie down. Do you remember the thin wallpaper ribbons with a golden floral pattern that were sure to go along the border of the walls and ceiling? What is not a detail of the oriental interior?
In general, the Arabic style is designed to emphasize the wealth of the owners and help to relax in the cozy atmosphere of their home. In such an interior, everything is created for the convenience of the owners – low sofas, fluffy carpets, enveloping fabrics. In the eastern room you can rest your body and soul.
How can one effectively incorporate and create an oriental-inspired interior design?