Tranquility With a Twist: Dana Naim On How Local Artisans Inspired Her To Reimagine Her Home

The interior designer collaborates with local artisans to realise soulful environments charged with elements from far-flung places and moments in time

Now based in Tripoli, interior designer, Dana Naim, spent childhood summers gazing up towards bright skies punctuated by the symphony of design and architectural influences that characterise the Lebanese visual landscape. The traces of the social, political and religious shifts in her community have historically been chronicled through the built environment – the Romans, Phoenicians, Ottomans and French and more recent contributions by Oscar Niemeyer and Herzog and de Meuron have fuelled her lifelong fascination with architectural design.

“Traditional Lebanese homes with their high arches, unexpected pattern combinations, historic materials and large, stained-glass windows have undoubtedly contributed to my more-is-more ethos,” she says.

At just 27 years old, Dana has established herself as a rising figure in the regional design scene. Her eponymous practice caters to Lebanon and Saudi Arabia with a genre-bending approach that lies at the axis between the classical and the contemporary.

While studying for her masters at Elisava School of Design in Barcelona, Dana immersed herself in European visual culture. French design traditions – Louis XVI, Rococo, and contemporary – that echoed the eclectic fusions she had encountered in Lebanon, captured her imagination. “Europe’s ornamental ceilings keep me gazing upwards,” she expresses. “The layering of different legacies from the Roman to the Islamic in Andalusia, Spain have also impacted my practice and readiness to unite different approaches.”

It’s not surprising that Dana’s design process is one of bricolage. She boldly combines highly saturated colours, textures, and the spirit of multiple eras to establish something unexpected; at once appreciating and breaking away from tradition. She’s been working as an interior designer since the age of 21, first transforming apartments, villas and chalets in her native Lebanon before working on more ambitious projects from hospitals to boutique hotels. The sumptuous aesthetic of American designer Kelly Wearstler has also been an inspiration. “My favourite project of hers is her own 1920s Beverly Hills residence – her marriage of Hollywood Regency and eye-popping furniture is inspired.”

Dana insists that one of the greatest limitations that her clients face in realising their design ambitions is fear of colour. As such, colour psychology has become a guiding influence in her consultations. “The right combinations in the right proportions can improve emotional wellbeing,” she explains. “My projects always begin with a daring palette and material board. In my own home, I’ve activated the space with an intense combination of burnt orange, blues in various shades, mustard and burnt red.” Customisation is also central to her practice. From woodwork to steelwork and upholstery, she works with local artisans, manufacturers and materials, where possible, to craft one-of-a-kind pieces unique to the individual.

The pandemic did for Dana what it has done for many creatives – provided an opportunity to reflect upon and reimagine her environment. In 2020 she cast her design eye towards her own abode and entirely renovated the ‘perfect couple’s apartment’, that she purchased with her husband in Tripoli several years before.

She began by completely breaking down existing interior structures to open up the space and create a fusion of living, dining and entertaining. Now, all that remains of the old address is its view. The entrance opens up into impressive neoclassical-style flooring, black and white checkered floor tiles in Mugla white and Nero Marquina marble embedded into a larger white-veined Mulga marble setting.

The combination of black and white against a powerful hue has become a signature of Dana’s. A print of The Large Tree from Upright Italian Landscapes by Dutch artist Jan Both inside a thick bronze vintage frame is free-standing on a minimalist arched console in mustard yellow. The weight of these rich materials has been uplifted by Dana’s contemporary customisations. “Each piece is bespoke,” she says. “There was extensive material testing. I drew out every single item on CAD, and played with combinations of silk, velvet, steel, jacquard, brass and different kinds of marble.”

The first thing you notice when you step into the hallway is Dana’s brushed-gold room dividers, free-standing and curved into Art Deco forms, elegantly partitioning off the space. Brushed-brass lighting that recalls the aesthetic of Alexander Calder was designed in collaboration with Lebanese designer, Samer Ladki.

Throughout the home, high ceilings are adorned with a scaled-back take on the intricate moulds and plasterwork that Dana adored in France. Seemingly opposing styles in geometry – the rigid and the organic – find harmony together in fabrics and finishings. Circular mirrors in the bedroom are, for example, mounted upon textured beige herringbone wallpaper. Marble – panda, Mugla, Nero Marquina – travertine and metal run throughout the home yet Dana has a knack for re-envisioning these grand materials in a way that feels natural and light.

“The dining room table where we host and unite is a favourite creation of mine,” says Dana. “An exquisite black- veined slice of panda marble is supported by antique bronze- finished wood cylinders. I blackened the glass of the dining wall mirrors and had them cut into irregular forms to reflect the black of the checkered Nero Marquina tiles. The coffee table has a base made from black-based onyx travertine and brass chandeliers are crowned with highly detailed ceiling medallions and paired with wall-mounted, customised light fixtures in the shape of golden leaves.”

While white walls are a blank canvas throughout most of the address, in the main living space the centre wall has been transformed with wallpaper depicting a monochrome panorama of an Italian landscape. Persian rugs soften the marble. There’s no sets nor matching furnishings, instead, it’s about mixing and placing objects from unexpected moments in time in dialogue with one another – mid-century curved armchairs and the vintage brass candlestick holders tracked down at the local antique store. “In a single space I cultivate different areas, adding glass and other materials to create distinct moods,” says Dana. The formality of the main salon gives way to the serenity of the main living space where sheer voile curtains beautifully filter through natural light.

“It’s where I recharge. I start my days phone-free with a coffee and light background music in the comfort of my curved sofa. I love to sit there and draw, a passion since my childhood. It’s a process that trains creativity and lets emotions out. It’s also a great tool when starting a new project, helping me to streamline my ideas. The moment I stepped into this house, there was a connection. The challenge and thrill of working on something old to create something new and the surprise of transformation, even when planned, is powerful. From demolition to completion I’ve been able to relish the opportunity to design without limits. My work is an evolution, and as such I will continue to refine and define my signature style so that people will look at the spaces I create and instantly know my aesthetic.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: Wael Khoury

From Harper’s Bazaar Saudi’s Autumn 2021 issue.