A Moroccan touch in a small flat
Twelve changes, from an afternoon to a weekend, most of them for less than the price of a restaurant meal, and what to do room by room.
You do not need a riad. A Moroccan feeling comes from a few things done well: low seating, warm light, one pattern, something made by hand, and the smell of mint or orange blossom when the door opens.
In short
- Choose one strong element for each room: a rug, a tiled wall, a lantern or a bench. Not all four.
- Handmade and imperfect next to plain and modern looks better than a room full of ornaments.
- Low and warm: lower the light, lower the seating, warm the colours.
Twelve touches
Room by room
- Hall
- A mirror, a lantern, a small bench or a pouf for putting on shoes, a row of hooks, a runner on the floor.
- Living room
- One bench or a low sofa with firm cushions, a low table, a rug that reaches the seats, two or three low lights. Keep the television on a plain wall.
- Kitchen
- A tiled splashback or good tile stickers, a shelf with the tagine, the teapots and the spice jars in view, a kilim runner.
- Bedroom
- Calm colours, a wool blanket or a blanket with pompoms folded at the foot of the bed, a pair of wall lanterns, a rug on each side.
- Bathroom
- Striped foutas, a brass tray, refilled jars, one wall in colour.
- Children's room
- A pouf, a small rug they can play on, a low shelf with books about Morocco, a map with the family's town marked.
- Balcony
- Mint, a lantern, a low seat.
If you rent
- Nothing here needs drilling into tiles or painting if the lease forbids it: rugs, textiles, lamps on existing points, furniture and plants.
- Removable tile stickers, and paint that you cover again when you leave, are usually accepted: ask first.
- Use the existing ceiling point for a lantern and keep the old fitting to put back.
- Benches and shelves that stand free move with you.
Spending little
- Buy textiles and small pieces on a trip to Morocco, and large furniture where you live.
- Second-hand sites in Europe and Canada are full of Moroccan lamps, tables and rugs bought on holiday and never used.
- One good rug is worth more than ten small objects.
- Sew cushion covers from one or two metres of fabric bought in a medina.
- Ask the family before buying: there is often a tray, a teapot or a blanket waiting in a cupboard in Morocco.
Mistakes to avoid
- The souvenir shop look: many small objects on every surface.
- Patterns everywhere: rug, cushions, tiles and wallpaper all competing.
- Dark colours on every wall of a small room.
- Furniture too large and too high for the room.