Joali’s kids club has the most whimsically decorated beds for little ones as each crib is designed to resemble a hot air balloon. Up, up and away to the land of nod.
Best of the Maldives: Room Decorating Instagram – Kuramathi
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:
- Petals
- Wording (both cut and formed)
- Towel sculpture
- Bubble Bath
- 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.
Best of the Maldives: Path Greetings – Kuramathi
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.
Best of the Maldives: Wood Ends – Soneva Fushi
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.
Best of the Maldives: Origami – LUX North Male Atoll
Resorts have a tradition of bestowing welcome gifts to their arriving guests. While many are branded tat pulled from the hospitality bumph catalogue, some properties have made an effort to present more distinctive mementos. As a fan of the art of palm folding, so I was particularly enchanted by the origami palm fish that LUX North Male Atoll presents to kids on arrival.
Best of the Maldives: Art Map – Joali
For many maps are quite practical items, but I’ve always been captivated by their aesthetics. Capturing a sliver of the world in a useful snapshot from a birds eye view. No surprise that the art immersion resort of Joali even turned their creative eye to a map of their art collection. How apropos that the map of art installations be a work of art itself.
Best of the Maldives: Resort Scarves – Coco Prive
Another resort featuring Oevaali’s work is Coco Prive who have commissioned an exclusive silk-screened scarf for their guests. So exclusive, thst Oevaali won’t release any more than a peek of what the scarf’s artistic design is (see above).
Best of the Maldives: Local Jewellery – Kuredu
If you are looking for a pink accessory for October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month), then one of the most enchanting examples of Maldives themes jewellery I come across is Kuredu’s collection of Oevaali. The manta above swirls as gracefully as its aquatic inspiration. Oevaali are a local Maldivian artist studio who do painting as well (see bottom).
Paradise in Pink
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month with celebrations and initiatives festooned with the signature pink of the cause. Today in particular is “No Bra Day” declared as an occasion to raise awareness. And with the Maldives fashionistas, the brassieres are often replaced with bikini tops throughout the year. Here is a daily dose of pink for the month:
- Milana Koroleva and Koroleva Daria (Russia) – Conrad Rangali [ABOVE]
- Noey Jam Piglet (Thailand) – NIYAMA
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- Sonia Pookie (USA) – Soneva Jani
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- Isabel Brown – LUX South Ari Atoll
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- Julia Chetverikova (Russia) – Coco Palm Bodu Hithi
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- Olga Michelle (Russia) – One & Only Reethi Rah
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- Bebe Elle (United Kingdom) – Furaveri
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- Olga Apanasenko (Russia) – Kandima
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- Rebecca Ferguson (United Kingdom) – Hurawalhi
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- Diana Melison (Russia) – You & Me
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- Florina Toma (Romania) – Raffles Meradhoo
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- Naomi-Jane Adams (United Kingdom) – Conrad Rangali
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- Anyuta Rai (Russia) – LUX South Ari Atoll
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- Ana Jovanovic (Czech) – Sun Island
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- Lola Golik (Israel) – Sun Island
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- Tatiana V. Lyalina (Russia) – Jumeirah Vittaveli
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- Tina Shirokaya (Russia)
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- Nelli Chernova (Russia) – Irufushi
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- Lily (Philippines)
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- Liza Stahova (Russia) – Ayada
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- Olesya Levchik (Ukraine) – The Residence
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- Nur Fazura (Malaysia) – Milaidhoo
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- Debbie Grace (United Kingdom) – W Maldives
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- Juliana Bonde (Brazil) – Kandima
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- Karri Nicholas (Australia) – Club Med Finolhu Villas
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- Nelli Chernova (Russia) – Irufushi
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- Marya Zikeeva (Russia) – Alimatha
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- Tori Son (Russia) – Ranveli
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- Aysel Manafova (Azerbaijani) – One & Only Reethi Rah
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- Arisha Gz (Russia) – Sun Siyam Irufushi
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Best of the Maldives: Groyne Pool – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa
Traditionally, groynes (artificial promontories built to inhibit erosion by disrupting the currents which wash away the island) have been quite crude functional affairs, but in recent years resorts have been turning eye sores to sights for sore eyes with an array of décor and uses. Four Seasons Kuda Huraa’s pool featured in Instagrammer Miss Angie Villa’s post is so similar to one in design, that I think it sets the blueprint for someone converting a proper groyne into this design.
