House in Morocco

My brother recently came back from two weeks in Morocco and I was really looking forward to seeing his photos but.....well they were all the same....sandy, earthy landscapes, lots of rocks, photos of building in orange and sand hues.....I was a bit puzzled and disappointed :-)
To be fair to him, he had a very basic digital camera and also when we both look at all the photos to search for colours, we actually found some gorgeous blue boats or old road signs and children playing in the street...and all would have make beautiful shots as close-ups so there is colours in Morocco, one just need to know how to photography it.
This is the house of interior stylist Francoise Smilenko, who worked for years with Didier Gomez and now works with the Sonia Rykiel team for Rykiel's home range. She arrived in Essaouira on a Monday and on Wednesday she had bought this lovely ryad from XIX century in Essaouira. With a small budget, Francoise managed to renovate and keep the charm of this ryad mixing colours and objets from the 50s to escape the traditional .

I love the view on the patio... Francoise covered the concrete floor with vintage rugs she found at the Essaouira's flea market and added 5 chairs she brought back from Paris and a Bertoia chair she found on the street.
Below is my favourite photo of the house and the one that tells me 'hello! I'm on holidays'. I bet it must be boiling hot there but I love the softness of the whites and blues

On the ground floor, next to the patio, Francois painted the walls in a mint colour. She covered the sofa with a hard-wearing black piece of fabric and the cushions just have pillow cases on and she added a few 50s accessories like the floor lamp on the right.

The walls of the main bedroom have been painted in blue up to 3/4 of the high to keep the room bright and airy and emphasizes the features of the room like the wooden beams and shutters. I'm loving the floor lamp here (Ikea has a similar pendant light so may be worth looking at converting it into a floor lamp).

Photos: Marie-Claire Maison