Marrakech, Morocco

Earlier in 2008, my family and I went to Marrakech in Morocco for my husband's birthday and I thought I'd share the architecture and interiors with you.

Here are some snaps of the local architecture as we travelled around:

The mosque in particular was stunning and bellowed the daily chant, through loundspeakers, twice a day.

As we travelled about, I found it interesting to see so much of the local red brick around as I'd previously expected houses and buildings to be painted on the outside, like this window that we saw at the Yves Saint Laurent garden - a beautiful place if you like Cacti.

Here are some snaps of the local interiors. This was our Riad, Farawakay, that we'd booked for our stay and it was a fantastic spot in the heart of Marrakech with a cook, guide and manager on hand to cater for our every need:

On the roof terrace, the owners had created a tent that was fantastic for keeping the sun off the children whilst I lazed about in the afternoon trying to join my freckles together for an 'english tan' !

Finally, I'd like to show you the metalwork and pottery that was locally made in the souks (Moroccan markets) so, if you do take a trip there - great destination for a long weekend - remember to bring an extra large suitcase.

Even now the children talk about nearly being run over by a donkey in the cobbled streets, the wonderfully interesting food, the glorious sunshine in March and our game of tag around the plunge pool to try to keep warm in the icy water.

A truly wonderful experience.

NEWSLETTER 3Q08

THE ISSUE

Christina Georgalla and Gwendoline Alderton, of GA Interiors (http://www.ga-interiors.co.uk/), are two highly motivated professional experts in the property arena today. Their combined strengths, ie: Christina’s show-home flare and Gwendoline’s interior design expertise, make GA Interiors a truly rounded company that’s able to offer its residential and corporate clients total piece of mind and professionalism.

Not only has their work been recognised in national house magazines this year, but also it’s now being aired on national television. You can read more about this below.

You’ll also find below further information on the s and their work but, more importantly, you’ll can pick up gems of information on the current economic climate and interior design trends.

Enjoy,
Gwendoline & Christina

(GA INTERIORS)

CHRISTINA GEORGALLA

Christina Georgalla trained with celebrity House Dr, Ann Maurice and represented the network as a consultant in the South-West. More recently, she has moved to the Hertfordshire area, to be near her family, after great success styling Show-homes in the Bristol area.

She has worked with many household names in the world of development and is already making a mark in and around the London area.

Her commercial experience also includes Laura Ashley, whereby she has styled and designed homes to die for.

Other unique projects have ranged from designing city centre restaurants and bars and, more recently, a boutique hotel in the Hertford area that is a project due to start next year…so watch this space.

Her dedication to the world of interiors has also given rise to specialist seminars, for Bristol City College and Brislington College, to promote the creative industry with aspiring designers in the making. More recently, she will be working with Oaklands College in St. Albans and Borehamwood to create a course suitable for people trying to break into the industry.

GWENDOLINE ALDERTON

Gwendoline Alderton is a professionally qualified Interior Designer as well as being trained by the celebrity TV ‘House Doctor’, Ann Maurice (http://www.housedoctor.co.uk/).

She represents Ann, as a consultant, at ‘House Doctor’ events such as the Ideal Home Show and, more recently, at a credit crunch event for a local estate agent.

Her work is recognised and published in national house magazines Real Homes (Jan08) and House Beautiful (Feb08). A recent makeover of a property for sale was a great success and is due to be aired soon on national television … see below for the exciting details.

Previous commercial experience includes styling for Marks & Spencer where Gwendoline perfected the art of visual merchandising. This is obvious in her work that is always gorgeous and stylish as well as being practical and impactive.



With 16 years project management experience under her belt, Gwendoline is no stranger to completing projects on time and to budget, especially in the current economic climate.

SEE OUR WORK ON TV - NO PLACE LIKE HOME

In October 2008 an estate agent, based in Bishop's Stortford, approached GA Interiors to makeover their client’s 7-bed ‘Old Telephone Exchange’ home for sale.



This was a great success and both the homeowner and estate agent were mightily impressed with the cost effective but stunning changes.



When it went on the market, the property caused a stir with buyers whom showed much interest and have been back for second viewing.



On top of this, the property is scheduled to be aired on ITV1 "No Place Like Home" early 2009.



The TV programme was filming an ex-patriot couple viewing homes within the local area. This property was highly recommended by the estate agent after its successful makeover.



The ex-pat couple certainly enjoyed the home as they came back for a second viewing. It will be interesting for us to review their opinions of GA Interiors’ styling as they did ask the homeowner if she had an interior designer!



Though neither Christina nor Gwendoline are on the television themselves, it’s still very exciting to see their work being aired on national television.



For further details on this property for sale, in a beautiful english village, please contact Mullucks Wells at Bishop's Stortford (http://www.mullucks.co.uk/)






AUTUMN TRENDS FOR 2008




Autumn sees the return of femininity in all of its lovely shades and tones, from soft baby doll pink through to berry red and sumptuous deep plumb. It’s time and these very nurturing colours will help us through the current economic downturn.

For one of the bedrooms in the ‘Old Telephone Exchange’, GA Interiors took their inspiration for the guest suite from this season’s colours and selected sugar pink to compliment the already black and white bathroom.

Using an existing black and white picture of Marilyn Monroe, they expanded on the ‘Hollywood ’ style to create a truly gorgeous and sumptuous suite of rooms.

As well as combining this season’s colour with the classic black and white, you could also think about mixing them with grey for a great contemporary look or, chocolate for a more neutral colour scheme.




DEVELOPERS' DILEMA









Here’s an Americanism for you: VIEWHOME.




At the moment many developers are unsure how much or, more precisely, how little to style a property for sale.




For many months, in the current economic downturn, properties have not been selling ‘off plan’ so some form of showhome has been required to create an interest in the buyers.



The new Americanism is, as some of you may expect, where the property is styled somewhere in the middle between bare bones (just carpets and curtains) and full blown show flat (now far too costly and risky an option for many developers).



From an interior design point of view, it’s where we use our expertise and skills to create areas of interest in the property using very few products, eg: maybe a single chair in a room dressed with an open book or cushions on the floor to denote a seating area.



The pockets of interest, or vignettes, give the buyer a very loose indication of colour and perspective. More importantly, they take away the stark element from many unfurnished new properties.



Such minimal styling can trigger a buyer’s interest and desire in a property. If carried our professionally, it can work extremely well and obviously suits a restricted budget.




PREPARE FOR THE NEW YEAR

We trust that we’ve filled you with lots of ideas and inspiration for the next couple of months.



Our aim is to bring you frequent suggestions and hot tips to help your business survive, and hopefully grow, in this current economic climate.


As well as cementing new links with estate agents and developers over the coming months, GA Interiors will also be focusing on expanding into Hotel styling. Our high-end glamorous and sumptuous styling enables us to move easily into this market sector where the emphasis is on luxury and pleasure.

We hope that the Christmas season will bring you both pleasure and prosperity and, as always, we’re keen to forge new relationships and also hear your own personal viewpoint on the economic situation.



Gwendoline & Christina


GA INTERIORS


(DECLUTTERED - DESIGNED - DELIGHTED)

Top Tips To Help Sell Your Property

We were approached by a local estate agent, Abbey Estates, to write an article for their corporate blog.

http://www.abbeyestates.co.uk

The article was entitled "Top Tips To Help Sell Your Property" and focused on pulling together all of our knowledge and research to present our top 5 tips in the current economic climate:

1) Know your buyer - buyers want 'the dream' as well as the house

2) Give each room a clear identity - sort out that junk room

3) Keep it real - style your home to look homely

4) Entice buyers in - make sure any outside space looks great

5) Space sells - clear out what you don't need or don't want

If you'd like to read more about each top tip then just follow this link to Abbey Estates' blog:

http://www.abbeyestates.co.uk

Toastmasters - Men And Their Sheds

My second Toastmasters speech objective was 'Organize your speech'. This related to having a strong beginning, interesting middle and strong ending.





I wanted to choose a topic that was totally wacky and interesting for both the men and the women, of all ages, in the group. My aim was to make people think 'out of the box'.





Here's my speech number 2:





MEN AND THEIR SHEDS


-----------------------------



My husband just despairs with me! Generally, it’s when he’s waiting outside a charity shop as I squirrel away looking for that elusive find, that lost treasure.



And then I find it, something that will change my life. I rush outside to show him, I’m so excited – and his face just drops…… (hold up book)



"Men and Sheds"





Now let me justify myself.



I don’t consider interior design to be restricted to houses – you can have glamorous gazebos, hedonistic halls and super sheds as these men will back me up.



Firstly there are the social butterflies that love having their mates over. I’m sure you can hazard a guess as to how their shed is decorated. Yes, with a bar and full working optics. They also have a sofa to lounge on, or a reclining chair, and some even have a cinema screen and invite the old ladies of the village over for a film show! Very stylish!!



Then there are those that cover their walls with fur and animal prints – and I’m not talking the dead kind. There’s a chap who’s shed is stuffed with live animals such as a tarantula, Burmese python and venomous cobras. I must say, not my kind of interior design!



Finally, there are those that just potter and tinker – they love to make things. Maybe they’d present you with a bench carved out of a single tree trunk, or show you their train track that runs around the shed – fantastic - imagine that in a children’s playroom.





But then there’s Brian.



He was a bricklayer who had a terrible accident with an angle grinder and his right hand. He then got ‘Viking disease’ in his left hand that clawed up.



The hospital gave him devices to straighten out his hand but they were pretty useless. So he spent many an hour in his shed and finally constructed a device that is now internationally recognised in the medical profession. That's not regionally or nationally ...but internationally recognised. Absolutely amazing.



So, next time you go past a shed and hear an almighty clatter just think:



…it could be someone who’s just fallen off his chair drunk as a skunk,



….or maybe it’s someone being strangled by a boa constrictor



…..but then again, he could just be pottering and tinkering to create the next medical marvel.





Once again this speech was well received, as you can see from the comments following, but the only thing I would change is the bit about Brian because I think he needed his own separate speech.





"Great choice of topic - very much relevant to your audience."





"What great word pictures and imagery. Loved the wrap up."





"You can see the creative side of you coming out."





"You have so much enthusiasm for everything you approach."





"A great unique speech topic - loved it. Great structure and confident delivery. Kept me hooked all the way."





"Entertaining from start to finish. Innovation in garden sheds!! You managed to convey a whole world of interiors."





"Super - you were absolutely compelling."





http://www.toastmasters.org/

Toastmasters - Me, Myself & I

As a member of Toastmasters, the international public speaking group, I had to compose my first speech as an icebreaker so I thought I'd share it here with you today:

ME, MYSELF & I

-------------------

"Do you remember a time before the quilt when we used sheets & blankets? Crisp, cotton sheets – snowy white & dreamy – with that crunch because they’re so luxurious.

My mother would be upstairs making the beds, smoothing down the glossy white snow. Then you’d hear it – the scream! What could be wrong? Why was she screaming for me – as if I didn’t know!

She’d found it, a hole, admittedly a dirty great big hole, in the bottom of the sheet. How could I resist such pure cotton when my Barbie needed a wedding dress?

From a very early age, I’ve been seduced by material and that's because of the two greatest influences in my life.

The first is my grandmother who also loved material and we used to forage the markets for that special piece of fabric. We’d excitedly get the bus home then you’d hear the clip of the scissors and the buzz of the machine.

I’d have a beautiful new dress. Fabulous.

My earliest recollection, however, is visiting my own father at work in one of the last surviving weaving mills in Lancashire. It’s still there today and I don’t expect many of you have ever visited a working mill.

As you enter there’s a huge bundle of fluff with an overpowering but beautiful smell from the raw cotton. Cutting through it is a heavy stench of petrol as it leaks around the factory floor out of the looms. You enter the shed with all the looms stacked up line upon line, and you hear an almighty clackety clack.

You can’t hear a thing - that’s why the Lancashire accent is so broad and rounded: so you could see what people were saying across the factory floor.

Each loom would have these wooden slats going forwards and backwards carrying the threads, then the shuttle would shoot like a rocket through the middle. It’s like a little mouse running up and down through table legs. Fantastic and totally mesmerising.

When my father died of cancer, a week after my son was born, I decided that it was time to move out of my highly paid, professional job as a senior manager in IT to develop myself and build my career as an Interior Designer.

So, I stand before you today as a professional Interior Designer, armed with scissors ready to cut and create to my hearts content."

The speech was well received with some lovely comments:

"What a great 1st speech Gwendoline. You had so much confidence and presence."

"Well done. I felt what you were saying, you are passionate about what you do."

"Wow - superb use of the floor and expressive gestures right from the start. Great tone and variation."

"Awesome icebreaker! What confidence! You created word picture after word picture."

"That was a beautiful and colourful speech."

http://www.toastmasters.org/