The mood of this family home in Emirates Hills is influenced as much by a palette of deliberately soothing colours as by the particular attention paid to the selection of its furniture and accessories. Lily and orchid whites meet splashes of amethyst, clusters of muted silver and a sprinkling of deep crimson on luxury pieces sourced from all over the world. This delicate balance of colour and design is fitting considering that the owner, Shahida Siddique, is CEO of Spadunya Colour Experience, a spa in JBR that offers face and body treatments based on light, sound and colour, and Spadunya SARL, that manufactures the organic colour therapy spa range, Altearah Bio.
“My work in holistic colour therapy seeps into every aspect of my home and I have used a variety of hues for different purposes here,” Shahida says. “My husband Waqar and I thought it was important to use tonal combinations that keep us feeling calm and refreshed.” With this in mind, the home’s most prominent colour, found on walls, floors and even the pool’s tiles, is white. “It’s clean, pure and restorative,” Shahida explains. “I’ve used white as the backdrop palette, pepping it up with a range of mood-balancing shades.”
In the ample sitting room at the entrance to the house, matte silver is the feature hue, and can be found on perfectly placed bespoke furniture, sumptuous rugs and a Brand Van Egmond chandelier sourced from Caspaiou. Vibrant contemporary artwork by Dutch artist Suus Kooijman complements the ‘repairing’ shade. In two identical powder rooms, also at the entrance to the home, brushed gold or ‘the colour of confidence’, as Shahida calls it, is the prominent shade.
“Every room has a different personality and I’ve matched colours accordingly,” Shahida says. “Purple, for example, is the colour of balance, which is the main theme of the cigar room where Waqar spends time with clients and colleagues. I based this room’s palette on two plum-coloured Balthus chairs that I found at Caspaiou and then worked the rest of the interior around them. The artwork is by a French-Canadian artist, Marie Josée Primeau, who actually came here and painted the piece inside the room to fully absorb and interpret its theme.”
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Considering the importance that the Siddique family place on colour, it’s apt that they owe this particular property purchase to the presence of another hue; green. Built alongside the Montgomerie Dubai golf course, the three-level house’s stunning 360-degree views of both the golf course and Dubai’s skyline sealed the deal. Shahida is quick to add that while the location was always “the Dubai dream”, the house itself wasn’t. “We had our work cut out for us when it came to the renovations,” she says. “We gutted the bathrooms and the kitchens and opened up the windows and doors in order to create a dialogue between the indoors and outdoors. We wanted to create a logical flow through the home and into the garden, maintaining the majesty of the space, but ensuring it still felt homely and tranquil.”
Today, the garden is accessible from almost every room, and where it is not, it’s clearly visible. Shadowy silhouettes of leaves and flowers meet bursts of green through glass windows and doors, creating “framed, natural artworks” in every room. Shahida says that incorporating nature into the home’s design served an aesthetic function as well as a subconscious psychological one. “People’s eyes are naturally drawn to green,” she explains. “We entertain on the terrace, and opening the dining and kitchen areas on to the garden encourages guests to interact with the outdoor space.” While the home is large, Shahida has created a cosy atmosphere using the natural flow between the rooms. “When we moved in, we opened the house up so that one area leads to another in an easy, free-flowing manner.” One of the ways Shahida accomplished this was by using colour and furniture to draw the eye from room to room and distinguish each one’s individual function. “Balancing the interiors and architecture was difficult,” she admits. “The designer who collaborated with me on this house, Sachan Shah from Joysleep International Design, wanted to create a contemporary minimalist feel. I went out and sourced furniture that I thought would suit the shape of the rooms and the colour schemes that I had planned for each. We then designed around the feeling we wanted each area to exude, as well as the characteristics of the rooms’ individual colours. The genius storage solutions and joinery work by Design Diva helped to keep the rooms clutter-free, which added to the minimalist feel.”
Shahida says that artwork plays a vital role in the home’s design. “Waqar and I have been collecting art for years, and we have pieces by Arab, European and Pakistani artists. Art brings personality into a space and adds to the vibrancy or neutrality of a particular room.”
Shahida says her favourite aspect of the house is how all of its individual elements work so well together. “From the way the wind carries the smell of frangipani flowers through the house when the doors are open, to the rooms’ individual colour palettes drawing the eye in, this house really encompasses what I always wanted my home to be - a peaceful space that replenishes mind and body.”
