I recently travelled to Montreal to visits my favourite Guinean and the coolest chic around, my good friend Nene. Upon my arrival to her apartment, I instantly fell in love with it! The first thing the drew my attention was her beautiful orange accent wall...of course! The next thing that caught my eye and has become my favourite piece in her place is her white fan-back wicker chair, which she also painted herself. I wanted to take it LOL, I need one in my life! Overall, I admired how nicely she had decorated and also her use of colourful and Afrocentric pieces.
Seeing how creatively she designed her space, I thought it would be great to share her fabulous interior design esthetic with you all....
In her own words, enter the design world of Miss Nene:
"Your environment has a huge influence on your state of mind so I made sure there was a lot of natural light and minimal cluster. Hence, I would say my style is minimalist & colourful. I have been lucky enough to have travelled around a lot with my family, therefore, I made sure to have decorative pieces from those places in my home. Throughout my place, you'll see pieces or images from Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Peru, Switzerland and Cuba".
"It usually takes me about a year to fully decorate a place. I also tend to change things around regularly. When designing my apartment, I started with the orange wall. I really wanted an orange wall. Then I chose the big pieces such as the couch, the dining table, the dresser in my bedroom, and the wicker chair. They are all sober colours (black, white or grey). It took me a little bit of time to find the perfect coffee table, as I love original tables. The coffee table I got is glossy black with asymmetrical drawers".
"After getting all my big pieces, the wall decorations and accent pieces came after. I'm a little bit of a hoarder so I had a lot of little things and pieces that I had bought just because I liked them, but not knowing what to do with them".
"I tried a few things, but ultimately it's about how I feel in the environment. I can have a beautiful piece I absolutely love, however it may feel chaotic to me with the rest of the room, therefore I`d save the piece for another configuration that would feel right. Currently, I choose a few, very unique, sober, clean, statement pieces".
"The last item I put up was the painting done by my very good friend Rachel, founder of N3R Design. We made sure to incorporate colours that would compliment the rest of the room. Thank you again Rachel for this amazing piece of art".
"Furthermore, my environment will tell you a lot about my journey and who I am as a person. For example, the chess board as is my favourite game; my dad introduced me to it and it became our thing. Also, the Egyptian reference in my painting reflects that I am also very passionate about Egyptian mythology".
"Ultimately, my place has a discreet underlying theme: Women. Hence, the bustier of a Gabonese woman, the African lady holding her child, and the beautiful custom made painting by my friend Rachel. It is a reflection of feminine power, freedom, mysticism, connection to nature and dignity. When you visit my place, it is more than coming to my home. You are essentially entering an intimate space and getting a glimpse of my journey, as most pieces have a history and are very dear to me".
~Nene H. Diallo
Thank you Nene for sharing your space and design story :)
La fin!
~G~
