Unique-Adorn

Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then be a unicorn.” And if you can’t be a unicorn, ride a unicorn. Especially, a magic rainbow unicorn.

Happy Thanksgiving! Time for the annual traditions of bloated birds and the Times Square procession of blow-up figures. The Maldives fashionistas display as wide a variety of balloon creatures as any Macy’s parade, but second only to the iconic pink flamingo is the ubiquitous Unicorn float. For those in lockdown, offers is own virtual pneumatic cavalcade:

  1. Hana Chick (Czech) – Royal Island [ABOVE]
  2. Camilla Sylvie (Netherlands) – Kihaaa


  3. Oksana Domoratskaya (Singapore) – Kuredhivaru


  4. Sherstyuk (Ukraine) – Vadoo

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    A post shared by @veronikasherstiuk


  5. Michella Choi (United Kingdom) – Amilla Fushi

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    A post shared by Michella Choi (@michellaccc)


  6. Oksana Domoratskaya (Singapore) – One & Only Reethi Rah


  7. Roxanne Tong (Hong Kong) – Millaidhoo


  8. Cindy Jane (Germany) – Olhuveli

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    A post shared by CINDY JANE (@cindyjane)


  9. Natalie Phan (Australia) – Hurawalhi

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    A post shared by Natalie Phan (@fataliefan)


  10. Karis Scarlette (United Kingdom) – ShangriLa Vilingili


  11. Mini Nooaae (Thailand) – Meeru

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    A post shared by mininooaae (@mininooaae)


  12. Miss Huinii (South Korea) – Vommuli


  13. Elizabeth Lim (Russia) – Veligandu


  14. Mila Gricenko (Russia) – NIYAMA


  15. Camilla Vendrame Tognetti (USA) – NIYAMA

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    A post shared by Camilla (@camillavendrame)


  16. Chantal Torres (Mexico) – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru


  17. Lynna Lin (Malaysia) – Angsana Velavaru


  18. Ming Moonoi (Thailand) – W Maldives


  19. Miss Monkey (China) – W Maldives


  20. Zihyu Jhao (Taiwan) – Halaveli


Best of the Maldives: Room Decorating Instagram – Kuramathi

Kuramathi - Waheed Saamid room decorator 2

Kuramathi’s Waheed Saamid pentathlete of a room decorator. He not only pioneered a medium I’ve not seen in my decades of visits, he’s mastered all of its fundamental disciplines:

  1. Petals
  2. Wording (both cut and formed)
  3. Towel sculpture
  4. Bubble Bath
  5. Path/Floor messages (pioneer)

I caught up with him and he shared a bit about his background:

  • “I have started room decorations as I began my career as a villa Attendant. Since then I have learned and improving my skills. I’m a self taught decorative. During this journey of a villa Attendant, I have met many creative colleagues in room decorating. I get ideas from my friends and through the internet. Mostly I love doing different types of leaf decorations. Room decoration is an important element of Housekeeping service, to demonstrate my skills and give our guests a little gesture of that we care them.”

His Instagram feed is the most diverse collection of works and I highly recommend following him for your own daily dose of decorating.

Kuramathi - Waheed Saamid room decorator 1

Kuramathi - Waheed Saamid room decorator 3

Best of the Maldives: Path Greetings – Kuramathi

Kuramathi - path greetings 1

All of the world has its eye on the “path to the White House” this week, but Waheed Saamid, room decorator extraordinaire is focused on the path to your villa. I thought that I had seen all the variations on custom room decorating – towels, flowers, bed, coral pieces, bath. When I came across his Instagram feed, I saw sterling examples of all of those. But I was also struck by his innovating thinking outside the box of the villa itself with his walkway decoration made of artistically sprinkled sand.

Kuramathi - path greetings 3

Kuramathi - path greetings 2

Best of the Maldives: Wood Ends – Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi - wodd ends 2

Soneva Fushi has pioneered the design style of Swiss Family Robinson chic in the Maldives, but perhaps the acme of this arboreal aesthetic is its Villa 37. While the rough trunks are standard elements throughout Soneva, Villa 37 take the timber to a new dimension with a tapestry of cross sections forming the ceiling and various highlights.

Soneva Fushi - wood ends 3

Soneva Fushi - wood ends 1