CAIRO: Designing your home can either be an absolute pleasure or a colossal pain. Scouring shops for different items, searching for addresses and attempting to park in Cairo’s crowded streets can remove all of the joy associated with it, especially since the process can take months.
Bali Belly, or Jawhara Nafa, has decided to make your life a little easier. In one apartment in Garden City, she has put together a collection of stylish furniture, interiors, candles, paintings, bed sheets, curtains and home accessories; all set up in a cozy, relaxed atmosphere.
As you enter you can’t help but notice the strong smell of incense, and when you take your first glance around the shop it is nearly impossible to take in everything at once. Although it is not cluttered, the rooms of the apartment are full of little details that require more in depth investigation.
Nafa, herself a striking woman, walked in a few minutes after I first entered. We sat down and chatted on one of the ethnic daybeds displayed, all the while sipping on Turkish coffee.
Half Australian, half Egyptian Nafa has been in this business since 1999, when she successfully sold far eastern furniture in Egypt. She took a few years off but has again been selling furniture for two years now. She has also been designing entire houses in Italy, Australia and Egypt, and lives between Bali and Cairo.
Most of the rooms are filled with furniture and interiors Nafa chose from Indonesia. Couches, tables, eccentric sinks, mirrors, water features and even flooring for the indoors and outdoors are available; some can also be ordered. Each of the pieces are unique and a piece of art in themselves.
Home accessories, such as place mats, laundry baskets, light fixtures, salad bowls and more are also available.
“I like the idea that you can come and buy everything here. I don’t have one specific style … Protégées deco, primitive modern, Islamic, colonial, modern . very eclectic styles for someone with taste, says Nafa.
To complete the homey look and feel of the exhibit, some others have also contributed. Malika’s Egyptian cotton bed sheets and pajama’s are set up in the bedroom. Curtains, bed covers, cushion covers in ethnic designs are made using saris (traditional Indian garb) by designer Nadine, and are also displayed throughout the house; tasteful candles by Light Me are also on offer.
A particularly nice touch is the beautiful paintings on the walls, including Georges El Bahgoury and Hisham El Zeiny’s pieces that were contributed by gallery owner Karim Francis.
“The idea is to have the art closer to people. This kind of surrounding is more adapted to your home, it gives some warmth, says Francis.
He also explains that these days he has been trying to push the concept that you can mix styles, super modern, with ethnic, with classic … and so on, which is very apparent in this exhibition with both the art work and the furniture.
Bali Belly is located at 1 Nabatat St., 2nd floor, Garden City. Open daily until the 30th of June from 11:00am-3:00pm & 6-10:00pm, except Sunday.
