Abuzz with colour and texture Inside a cool Moroccan barn conversion - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Interiors Abuzz with colour and texture Inside a cool Moroccan barn conversion By You Magazine - July 10, 2017 By Nicole Gray Vivid pops of colour and texture play against a calm backdrop to make this luxury barn conversion an oasis of cool on Morocco’s picturesque Atlantic coast. After running a successful floristry business in Knightsbridge and having redesigned several London houses, Emma decided it was time for a creative change. Little did she know that a new challenge would present itself during a short break to Morocco. ‘I went there for three days and ended up buying a house,’ she laughs. ‘I went at a time when Morocco was a fairly undiscovered dot on the map and fell in love with the beautiful architecture and vivid colours. Within a few months I had the keys to our house and a new life. It wasn’t on my agenda at all.’ Emma Wilson, founder of boutique villas company Castles in the Sand and co-founder of Beldi Rugs, lives in this converted two-bedroom barn in Essaouira, a port city on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, with her son Kai, seven, and dogs Chica, Pluto and Boris A poured concrete floor gives continuity to the kitchen and sitting area, which was originally two rooms. The brick walls are finished with tadelakt, a traditional Moroccan waterproof lime plaster. The Crush sign is a Marrakech flea-market find. The Kartell stools (kartell.com) were shipped over from London Emma’s dog Chica likes to lie in the sun on the ground-floor terrace: ‘We always find her snoozing on the rugs,’ says Emma. They are a combination of her personal collection and designs available from Beldi Rugs Berber rugs dry in the sun on the patio balcony where there are views over the beach and countryside ‘This wall started off as a few pictures of Kai as a baby and just grew,’ says Emma. The Jeff Koons poster is from an exhibition in London. The chest is a Moroccan find ‘I like to have fun with design – a circular cutout shape in the thick stone wall is more interesting than a window.’ The rocker is an original Eames design (conranshop.co.uk) and Emma found the floor lamp at a Marrakech market ‘The living room is our haven; I wanted everything to be tonal and relaxing.’ The leather sofa is an original 1960s De Sede that Emma found in London’s Brick Lane (desede.ch). The fireplace creates a hub and heats the whole space. ‘Installing it was a mammoth task but well worth it’ Emma displays her beach finds throughout the house. ‘I love unusual shapes and textures. We found a seahorse and sand dollar in Costa Rica and I had them set in resin.’ The wooden shark was made by a local artist Emma’s house is not your stereotypical Moroccan abode. ‘All my friends expected me to do the whole Arabian Nights thing with lanterns and colourful silks, but I wanted something unique,’ she says, ‘and to bring a hippie, London aesthetic to the coastal town of Essaouira.’ The building is more than 200 years old: ‘It was like buying a piece of history,’ says Emma. She remembers finding an ancient spell written on a crumpled piece of paper in one of the walls during the renovation. ‘It was a hex that a wife was trying to put on a new, more favoured spouse – it just goes to show you never know what is hidden in your walls.’ The house took nine months to renovate. ‘When we first moved in everything was crumbling – our feet would step straight through the floor.’ Emma stayed true to the original stonework and plaster where she could, painting and sanding the archways. ‘But most things had to change, from knocking through walls to taking up the flooring. It was a mammoth job.’ Emma’s eye for design is evident throughout the house; natural materials combine with chunky handmade textures that soften the concrete floors and bring a stylish yet relaxed atmosphere to the space. Everything relates to the landscape. Emma’s bed sits on a concrete dais. The wall art is by street artist Dan Baldwin (danbaldwinart.com). The decorative horse head (just seen) was found in an Essaouiran flea market Emma had the bath shipped over from the UK. ‘The curves suited the architecture of the house.’ For a similar ceramic bath, try Victorian Plumbing (victorianplumbing. co.uk). The art is from Marrakech The bear, a gift for Kai, is by a Japanese artist. The beads are from a local market Emma and her builders designed the shelves to display Kai’s toys, spanning aeroplanes to red London buses. ‘It is nice for Kai to have a part of London with him when he is here’ Kai used to carry a cuddly toy lobster around with him as a toddler. ‘Our beach trips would end with us rescuing lobsters from the fate of cooking pots.’ In Kai’s bedroom, a colourful whale painted for him by his father has pride of place above the bed. For a similar artwork, try Cult Furniture (cultfurniture.com). The bed is from Habitat (habitat.co.uk) It was this passion and enthusiasm for the rich history of Morocco that inspired Emma to learn more about vintage Berber rugs, which are still made in the nearby Atlas Mountains. ‘I had already started up Castles in the Sand and would take clients on day trips into the heart of Marrakech to search for one-off, authentic pieces of Moroccan homeware for them to take home.’ It was through this process that Emma discovered how each rug was woven on family looms, some of them over many years. ‘I found that every rug told a unique story,’ says Emma. ‘My clients were fascinated and would cram as many into their suitcases as they could.’ Emma’s passion led to a business and she started up Beldi Rugs in London with co-founder Tamsin Flowers, a costumier. The two combined creative forces and now their collection stretches back decades: ‘We have vintage designs from the 1940s and 50s, some covered with tight-knit designs that would have taken about 100 years to make,’ says Emma. Every piece is handcrafted and dyed organically, so no two rugs are the same. ‘The art of craftsmanship is dying out in favour of quick-fix, mass-produced pieces, and tales of the artisan are becoming lost along the way. We want to try to change that.’ castlesinthesand.com; beldirugs.com RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Aldi s pumpkin-shaped casserole dish is all we want for Halloween 7 of the best money-saving kitchen gadgets to invest in this winter Aldi has restocked miniature velvet chairs and sofas for your dog DON' T MISS Fiona Bruce Sometimes I struggle not to cry November 14, 2021 17 beautiful 2021 diaries to help you to look forward to December 4, 2020 Why women leave men for women What’ s fuelling the rise of April 28, 2019 Hollywood veteran Laura Linney on plastic surgery friendship and her stellar July 3, 2017 You can shop the khaki jumpsuit from Holly Willoughby’ s new M& S July 17, 2019 The secrets and lies behind this happy family photo April 11, 2021 It’ s cocktail hour Olly Smith’ s cocktail recipes and Eleanor Maidment s canapé November 14, 2021 BBC One has revealed its Christmas TV schedule and there’ s lots December 2, 2020 YOU Beauty Box August Reviews August 1, 2017 Rome has been named the cheapest major city to visit in August 7, 2019 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. 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