NAFASI THE BLOG

A few of you have been asking about the "imigongo" style mural behind the bed in The Art House Airbnb space. I thought I'd take this opportunity to go back and show a detailed look at that painting and how I did it! Take a look: I started with my chosen paint colors... Then I nailed canvas into the wall, in case I'd want to keep the "mural" when I was all done! ;) The whole Art House was pretty bare. All I knew is I wanted to make that mural first. The rest would follow! I pressed into the canvas to adhere it to the wall and I was all set to paint! I started off drawing the design on a small piece of paper, and then free-handed it onto the wall, making any additions or edits I wanted as I went. I colored it in, from the top to the bottom, color by color. By the end of the night, I had the color blocking done! There she was, greeting me the next morning!  Then I detailed by adding the black edges, starti...

In the last entry, I searched and found the tiles and cabinetry color that we would be using. Since I now had this information, when I went back home to Rubengera I was able to really put my interior design plan together, so I could make better decisions throughout the rest of the renovation. I knew the ceiling and floors were pretty light, so I had some room to go dark with walls. I also knew that in the Main House I wanted to get a little more sophisticated and neutral (a little more) than our Rubengera home, which was supposed to have a more tropical vacation feel. So I put a board together mostly for the Main House first. Check it out!  The floorplan is very open yet still cozy. And the color palette is more refined. Here is the visualization board for the main room as well. Here you can see in the living room area, I wanted a nice charcoal colored wall anchoring that space, and a very comfortable relaxed feeling sectional. Then in the kitchen using dark cabinetr...

There are a nu mber of staff houses that are huge and lovely and perfect and new. Those are the kind of houses that I was expecting. I now get the impression that seniority matters to get those newer homes though, and since we're the newbies, mine and Patrick's fate led us to our cute little fixer-upper. It's been here longer, it's a little more vintage, going for the tiny-house hip vibe! We were surprised, but working with the infrastructure and design teams on our renovations is what it's all about. Let me walk you through our humble abode! The Living room area which opens to the kitchen.   The kitchen We have a hallway! Where our bedroom and bathroom are off of. The bedroom Our bathroom of relaxing neon ocean blue. Our front porch... That porch is our sanctuary. It's the best area of the house that we don't have to touch. And the view is incredible. Our house has THE best view. While we may not have the ...