Mad About Marsala

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2015 Colour of the Year, Accent walls, accessories, Ayesha Shaikh, buckled belts, Burberry, cabinets, clutches, cosmetics, dining areas, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana, eye palettes, Fashion, fashion runways, furniture, hats, interiors, lip glosses, lounges, Marsala, Marsala-shaded scarves, Maybelline, nail colours, nooks, Nude makeup, Pantone, red carpets, Revlon, Sephora, spaghetti Bolognese, stone studded bracelets, strappy heels, striped ties, terracotta, white-trimmed woodwork, Zac Posen

Think Marsala, and you may also think spaghetti Bolognese. However, with Pantone naming it their 2015 Colour of the Year, Marsala – a red-kissed terracotta shade – is set to colour our lives in 2015.

Here is how you can spice things up with Marsala this year:

Fashion. Well-known fashion brands, including Burberry, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana and Zac Posen, are using shades of Marsala in their 2015 collections, leaving you spoilt for choice. If, like most Pakistanis, you have a deep bronze complexion, your best bet is to wear it in a single-shade ensemble.

Accessories. People with lighter skin tones can use the colour to accessorise their outfits; Marsala-shaded scarves, hats, stone studded bracelets, buckled belts, striped ties, strappy heels and colourful clutches contrast well with neutrals such as teal or grey and are a sure way to catch a few admiring eyeballs every time you step out.

Pakistani Chic

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accent pieces, adbuzzzz, Andrew Martin, ART & AUCTIONS, attiya noon, blue pottery Southern Punjab, cane stool, carpet weavers, carpets, colour palette, craft, creative, doors, ethnic chic, F&S Furniture, floors, furniture store, hand knotted rugs, haveli architecture, heritage, home furnishings, House Beautiful, interior, interior designer, interiors, kilims (rugs) furniture Pakistanis, Lahore, lamps, London, Moorha, motifs, Oka, Pakistan, Pakistan Day March 23, Persian, screens, Sindh, South Asian, stool, tables and cupboards, tabletops, tiles, trendy, Turkish, urns flowerpots, vegetable dyes, vintage, walls, woodwork

I came across a moorha (traditional cane stool), adorning the window of Oka, a trendy furniture store in London recently. The stool, which is now difficult to find in Pakistan, had caught the attention of a bold interior designer, along with many other South Asian interior pieces. Similarly, Andrew Martin, who is well-known for his outstanding home furnishings, has pasted kilims (rugs) from our part of the world on his furniture.

Considered passé for the longest time by Pakistanis, traditional furniture items are making a comeback into Pakistani homes. This is partly due to the influence of international trends and partly because there has been a revival of interest in vintage pieces.

More and more Pakistanis realise that the blue pottery produced in southern Punjab and Sindh is an art form. Part of our heritage and coveted the world over, they make stunning accent pieces. Use the large urns as they are, as flowerpots, or transform them into lamps. Tiles can serve as accents for floors, walls and even tabletops.

Pakistani hand knotted rugs and carpets are also right up there with their Persian and Turkish counterparts internationally. Carpet weavers have remained true to their craft; they use traditional motifs and the vintage colour palette of vegetable dyes. They add a feeling of timeless luxury and grandeur wherever they are placed.

Regal and intricately carved and painted woodwork has also found its way into people’s homes in the form of doors, screens, tables and cupboards, thanks to a rekindling of admiration for haveli architecture and interiors.

So given that Pakistan Day is around the corner (March 23), be creative with our heritage, and add some ethnic chic to your home.

– Attiya Noon
The writer runs F&S Furniture, Lahore.

First published in the Adbuzzzz Section of the DAWN National Weekend Advertiser on March 18, 2012.