Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2016 | Page 40

What is your home’s design
style? Do you have a
favourite room?
My home is my haven. It is
very West Indian. It’s a simple,
single-story beach house that
looks out onto the piercing blue
ocean and to a small offshore
island called Prickly Pear island
in the di stance. The colours that
surround us are sensational and
change dramatically throughout
the course of the day, and
according to the weather – from
deep greens of the foliage, to
vibrant blues of the sea and sky
to touches of white from the
surf and occasional cloud. We’ve
allowed nature to speak for itself
in our home – to maximize
the beauty of the landscape by
keeping things clean and simple
and in tandem with the tropical
landscape. There’s no fuss and
frills. It’s all clean lines and
understated elegance: found
objects from the beach, shells,
driftwood, petrified wood and
art. Lots of art.
Caribbean life is all about
outside living and we’ve

recreated this spirit in our home.
We have several different outside
‘rooms’: a couple of secluded
areas for quiet contemplation;
another that is hidden away
and embraced by tropical
greenery; and then a couple
of larger spaces for lounging,
dining, entertaining, chilling
and listening to music. The
outside is an extension of the
inside, which in turn is framed
by the jaw dropping seascape.
Everything in my home holds
a special meaning for me and
my husband and represents
something important, whether
a memory, an experience, an
achievement, or a specific
person, place or situation.
I remember where we’ve
purchased each piece as well
as the emotion associated with
that experience – the thrill and
happiness.
When I think of a home in
the Caribbean, two words
come to mind – colourful
and relaxed. What tips can
you give to our readers
who may want to create

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that atmosphere in their
non-Caribbean homes?
Wall colours are really vibrant.
You’ll also find a two-toneness
in the wall colour, so it’s not
perfect. You can have a chair
rail with two tones of colour on
a wall. A really vibrant, ocean
blue on the bottom, and then on
top you have a light turquoise or
white. You find that kind of look
in the Caribbean quite a bit.
Also, use sheers and whites for
curtains. Make sure the window
treatment fabric is airy and
breathable. We love pottery
and woven baskets. So pottery
in different places and just get
really ethnic with it. So if you
have something that you’re
really drawn to from a certain
island, display it. And, add bold
island artwork. Make sure that
the woods feel quite warm, or
distressed - not sleek. You want
to make sure there are some
knots and some wormholes in
the woods that you choose or
that they are painted to look as
though they are worn, old and
distressed.