When people walk into my home I want it to feel cosy and welcoming,” says Dana Najia as we chat over cappuccinos in the living room of her Arabian Ranches villa. In a refreshing departure from the understated, modern decorating style that dominates many Dubai interiors, the Najia home is brimming with a collection of family heirlooms, mementos from holidays spent in the South of France and Greece, interesting artwork, and plenty of furniture and accessories that have been customised by Dana.
“We’re quite sentimental,” she says of her family, which includes her husband, Omar, their daughters, Carina (12), Tatiana (10) and their son, Fawaz (five). “We have a lot of pieces here that have been left to us by relatives, paintings by my sister and my mum, and knick-knacks that remind me of a certain time in my life. These are all things we have collected over the years.”
Although the Najias’ home is an eclectic assortment of prized possessions, everything has been carefully selected and fits Dana’s shabby-chic style. “The house is a work in progress,” she laughs. “It’s really a history of us, of our family. Every year we tackle another project.” The Najias’ first task was to swap the dark cherry finish on the skirting boards and door frames for a more elegant white.
Hardwood flooring by Nordic Homeworx helped to customise the decor still further, while last year a new Häcker kitchen was installed. Next on the list is to landscape the back garden and update the children’s rooms.
With an education in architecture and as a former jewellery designer, Dana has a creative flair and a passion for DIY projects, so she takes pride in doing her own decorating. “I never buy something and leave it the way it is,” she explains, pointing to a collection of picture frames she’s painted for a photo collage project she is working on.
Even the furniture is fair game, and for that she enlists her carpenter and upholstery expert Rampal from Muntaja Furniture in Sharjah. “I decided to customise the sofas in the living room by changing the cushions, so we cut them apart to alter the shape, sewed some pom-poms on them and added some lace trimmings. Now I think they’re perfect!”
The dining chairs, sourced at THE One, have been modified from their original leather to a tactile linen fabric that complements the rustic dining table from Marina. The lampshades have been adorned with lace and pretty floral embellishments that Dana picked up during summers spent wandering around Nice with her family. “I just see something I love and I have to get it. The women there know me now!” Dana says as she shows us a basket of rolled lace and frills, pieces of fabric and other pretty items that inspire her projects.
The main floor has a cosy, informal living room with elegant but well-loved sofas from Ikea that have been reupholstered and restuffed many times. “We’ve had them for 10 years now, but I just can’t get rid of them,” explains Dana. “I want our house to look nice, of course, but we live here and it needs to be comfortable, too. It’s not just for show.”
At the top of the stairs is the first-floor living room. “I didn’t know what to do with this space for ages,” says Dana. “It’s a very small room and at first I couldn’t find the right furniture.” Eventually she took two chaises longues to Rampal and asked him to create one extra-long sofa that could sit along one wall, while a library-style bookcase and TV console from Flamant was selected for the opposite side. A small nook turned out to be the perfect place for a neat bureau that has become the domain of Tatiana.
Off the upstairs living room are the children’s bedrooms, a guest room and the master suite. True to form, in the latter, Dana has modified the cabinets, adding curtains in all the glass doors. “I think in my past life I was a grandma who hand-stitched all the curtains for her glass doors,” Dana jokes. “I just love that detail – it makes everything look so much more cosy and pretty.
With all the lace and feminine touches, my husband and I have made a deal,” Dana says, laughing. “He takes care of all the electronics – he can choose and change whatever he likes, and I can do the decorating.”
Dana says her environment and all the finishing touches make a big difference to her, while her husband isn’t quite as worried. “Of course, we discuss things but it’s not so much about the details for Omar,” she says. “It’s more about how the home makes him feel – and that applies to all of us. We’re all so at home here, so it works and we’re happy.”
