My amazing flat in... DOHA

Our little family will soon be moving to Doha (Qatar)... and so is MyAmazingFlat, with a new challenge.

We made the decision a couple of weeks ago and we have been so busy planning the move that I haven't had time to update the blog. Of course, this is wonderful news for us but I am a little sad to postpone the renovation of our London flat to next year, and maybe even to 2013. I was really getting into planning it and also writing this blog. On the plus side, we will be less pressured by time. This also means being more creative will be possible.



Qatar has got quite an interesting location in the world. Living in the Middle East will bring me much closer to India and South East Asia, Central Europe and East Africa, and I will still be 6 hours away from western Europe. I'm already thinking about all the new materials, furniture and savoir-faire I will soon discover...

The blog is also moving to Doha with a set of new objectives in the wild world of interior design (forget about building renovation as we will be moving in a brand new place that won't need any renovation being done to it).

Decorating a flat in Qatar. Trust me, this won't be a piece of cake. Qatar is meant to be one of the richest countries in the world and it has drawn a lot of interest since it's been selected to host the 2022 football world cup but it is fairly new. Many people say it has developed a lot in the last ten years but before the first sky-scrapers started popping out from the ground, there wasn't anything apart from a pyramid-shaped hotel in the middle of the desert. I have already lived in Doha and found it very challenging to make myself feel at home. The expat community usually lives in villas in compounds or rent a flat in one of the towers. Flats or houses, they are all alike - very modern, air-conditioned, soul-less homes. In terms of deco-shopping, I might be wrong but I doubt we will be able to find original furniture, paintings, cutlery etc.

Qatar is a new country and even Doha's souq isn't that inspiring so I am already planning to bring a lot of our belongings from France and England. I have also made it my personal goal to work with local craftsmen and bring some memories back from our stay in the Middle East.

I will probably still be blogging on our London flat, but in a different manner as it will be rented out. So, will you follow me to Qatar?

My (future) amazing kitchen.

We love cooking at home but our kitchen is, with the loft, the room that will require most work in the flat. The appliance are old and the design very boring. We need to turn this kitchen for students (that we are not) into something practical, stylish and with lots of storage space.

Ladies and gentlemen, our kitchen.

Our 3 challenges to build our amazing kitchen
1) It is a narrow rectangle-shaped space that stretches along the living-room. J's plan is to take the wall down and create a kitchen bar. I am not a hundred percent sold on this idea as I like to cook in a "real" kitchen. For me, each room should have its own atmosphere, noises and smells. But J seems to be so keen to do it that I have started thinking about a nice way to make this happen. Something important to take into consideration - our kitchen floor is about 6 inches lower than the living-rooms'.
2) We need to properly design everything inside the kitchen itself from the cupboards, to the appliance and wall colors.
3) Leave room for recycling.
And secret challenge 4) Tell J to buy one knife, not five, and get rid of most the stuff he has been keeping in his kitchen since his student years.

As always I am looking for a creative way to sort out all my problems. I don't want to buy an already-designed kitchen and make it fit in this narrow space. We must really think ahead and, again, think bespoke.

Here are some kitchen bar ideas I found on this great American website, Pure Kitchen.

Ideas to keep in mind:
- wooden panel in the first picture.
- bookcase in the second picture

Talking about an eco-friendly home...

These projects are inspiring- one day maybe. I guess I can still go shopping in one of these eco-friendly shops to feel better. I will keep updating the list, so do come back.





Online shopping is convenient, but buying from your local craftsmen is even more sustainable. Think about it.

NB: Just to clarify - I have only just started renovating my flat and most brands I am mentioning here are mostly those I would like to try and products I have done a bit of research on. I haven't tried them yet and will be adding extra bits of information in the original posts when I do. I am NOT advertising anything and no one has ever contacted me to publicise their brand or services. You are very welcome to post additional information on anything I say in the comment section under each article. Thanks.

Eco-friendly baby room

Our daughter will be 5-month old when we move in our flat and I want to make her room as sustainable as we can afford.

This is the list of items I need to get hold of asap:

- Cot - ideally one of these convertible ones that can last a few years
- A good mattress that my daughter could use for another 2-3 years at least.
- Changing Table
- Baby closet

The bed, and especially its mattress, is the one thing I really want to get right. After all, our babies sleep 15 to 20 hours a day - well, other babies do I guess. I read on a French childcare website that organic mattresses were becoming more and more in vogue for babies. This is great news but where can I find them in England?

I just discovered The Little Green Sheep which seems to have some affordable products for the everyday life. Their beds however are overpriced for my £250 budget. It's okay as I am confident I can find the sort of baby bed I'm after for that price in a big shop like Mother Care.

What really caught my eye on their website is the mattresses section.

Each cot and cot bed custom mattress contains four main materials; coconut fibre bound with natural latex, organic Welsh wool and organic cotton. Each material combines to provide your baby with a firm, supportive mattress. The coconut fibre ensures that the cot mattress retains its long-lasting support and firmness for up to 5 years.

All mattresses are hand-made. Just send in your measurements and this Worcester-based company can deliver to your door within 10 working days. They even sell an organic travel cot mattress...

If you are looking for more organic products for the everyday life, have a look at the Becothing website. They started as a company with their now famous becohangers - which I would happily use in my baby closet if I hadn't already started polluting it with the ugly plastic hangers I got in France. For toddlers, they now sell eco-friendly potties and suggests that you recycle them as flower pots in your garden once your child is done with them. Clever ey?

For more eco-friendly baby products in the UK check out babipur for their beautiful wooden toys (free delivery in the UK throughout July), The Organic Baby Compagny, Green Baby where I found some organic sleeping bags for babies on sale (much cheaper than anywhere else), Spirit of Nature.

It is definitely worth looking for the organic alternative to pretty much anything we need these days. Prices for eco-friendly furniture are higher than what we can find in less sustainable shops. But smaller things are definitely getting more and more affordable.

Remember to always investigate the origin of the things you buy. It's not because it's organic that it's sustainable.

Wood or White?

In one of my previous posts I was praising the use of light-colored wood in lofts, especially in those that can't let a lot of natural light in, which really is most lofts.

I suppose we may as well go all in and pick white as the dominant color. Here are some examples:

(Source: Purekitchen via Materialicious )

I particularly like the simplicity and the use of material in the latter. Other people may argue that you get bored of white, not of wood. Also, this is what I would call a radical choice that (too) strongly reflects someone's personality. I'm not sure it would suit someone like me who lived in Africa and South America and is more used to the warmth of brighter colors.

For now, I think I am more inclined to mix both and, maybe, instead of using light wood, to keep the darkness of our beams and create a contrast with white walls.

And let's not forget the brick wall that I am still planning to restore.

Windows on the world

There is no window at all in our loft and soon we will need to pick some. The question is - roof windows or dormers? Unless we can compromise... apparently yes we can!

Why not choose over-sized windows like here:

I have never seen this before but what a nice way to a) let light in and b) create more space in the room. Not sure Harringay council would let us do that where we are, but why not give it a go?

Tip*1: If you decide to go with roof windows, try to pick the biggest ones you can and remember not to put them too high so the light does fill as much space as possible.

Tip*2: Amongst other roof products - like roof ladders, solar panels, roofing membranes etc. - Fakro offers a wide range of windows from basic roof windows to more eccentric products like balcony windows. If you have used any of their products, please make yourself known.


27/07/2011 Update
My absolute favorite so far, seen on Pure Kitchen:

Fitted furniture for our loft

I recommend this very interactive article on loft conversions on Lovehome.co.uk.

Their slideshow seems to confirm what I've had in mind for a while - we need to think "fitted furniture" and not "fitting furniture" in our loft as long as we can afford it.

I'm totally going for Neville Johnson's Perfect Study Bedroom:

(source: "Your Perfect Study Bedroom", Neville Johnson)

The bookshelf here follows the shape of the roof, something I've always wanted to replicate. We would do something a bit different at home as we have a nice brick wall at one end of the loft that it would be silly to cover with a piece of furniture. I'd like to keep it in sight and find a way to build shelves in. I have no idea how easy this is going to be.

I love the wood here - and this is reminding me that I have to write a post about how calming wood can be. The beams are quite light-colored, ours are a bit darker but I'm even thinking about painting them.

Lighting is a great way to embellish the wood. Looking at these pictures, I'm trying to figure out what kind of lights have been put and where. It would be wonderful if you couldn't actually see them in real life either.

The more I am getting into renovation work and ideas, the more I am thinking that everything is possible, let's be creative and only then see how much it costs.

How much for our flat?

With the very unsettled lifestyle we have, Michael and I are planning to move abroad eventually. We have contacted a couple of agencies to get a proper evaluation if we decide to rent it out.
We got in touch with Foxtons, Martyn Gerrard and Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. I have never had to deal with any of them but they seem to be quite active locally.


We are meeting them in ten days. Any tips on how to pick the right letting agent for us?

Loft Conversion - weighing up our options

Our flat is located on the second floor of a three-storey building in a conservation area. On the second floor are three bedrooms, a small living-room, a kitchen, a bathroom and two large cupboards in the corridor. We have a loft on the third floor which we are looking to renovate. At the moment, we can only access it with a ladder and have only used it as storage space. It is an old and dusty room with no windows.

We are still discussing what we'll do. We have narrowed it down to three main options.

Option 1: Master bedroom + small bathroom
Option 2: Large office + home cinema area
Option 3: Open-plan kitchen + living-room

With Option 1, we will have to comply with fire regulations. Option 2 is probably the easiest one and is ideal for people like us who work from home and can have their own space during the day. Option 3 is the most ambitious but would allow us to turn the living room and kitchen downstairs into an ensuite bedroom.

Success Story #1: Turning a Chapel into a family home

After spending 5 years in a rented flat where they didn't feel at home, my sister Claire and her husband were looking to buy. They acquired a chapel and its presbytery on the outskirts of Paris. They turned the set into their new family home.

At first, half of their friends admired their vision and tenacity; the other mocked the quirkiness of the project. For sure, hardly anyone really believe they would achieve anything.

One year later, the chapel has become a large living room with very high ceilings. They created an extra level for the master bedroom that joins with the presbytery. It includes three bedrooms for the children on the same level, and a big kitchen on the ground floor.

To go up and down, they customised an industrial set of stairs that are usually used in factories.

I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Lesson 1: Don't be afraid of your ideas
Lesson 2: Being a bit eccentric isn't always expensive
Lesson 3: Think "custom-built" (windows, bookcases, doors)
Lesson 4: Ikea for basics
Lesson 5: Don't be afraid of colors (light purple walls in the living-room, red in the master bedroom)
Lesson 6: How about glass windows indoors?