Quest Turkey Property and Lifestyle Magazine

Create the secrets and dreamy interiors full of eastern promise in your home to add a little Turkish delight and Eastern promise to your home. Authentic Turkish interiors are both stylish and markedly different from your usual European interior fayre. Often relegated to either one interior or exterior room, the earthy tones and elaborate shapes inspired by Islamic architecture give home owners the opportunity to indulge themselves in their own harem of style. Most people’s starting point for creating their Turkish-inspired decorative scheme will often be a souvenir from a Turkish holiday like a kilim or piece of Islamic pottery.

 

 

A Welcoming Hallway  

Most traditional Turkish houses have large wooden doors and huge entrance halls with wooden bench seating where people can sit and take off their shoes. The benches should be adorned with large colourful bolster cushions and you should have some spare pairs of handcrafted slippers on hand for guests to wear – keep them in a Turkish ottoman, which will also fit nicely into such a huge space. Adorn the walls with colourful kilims and elaborate embroideries on silk stretched over canvas to make a wall hanging. Stand a large nargile waterpipe in a corner as a feature.

Beauty Underfoot

Turkey is a bargain hunter’s delight. Many resorts and towns will have marketplaces or bazaars where Turkish handcrafted wares can be yours for the price of a haggle and giving you a lasting and tasteful memory of your time in Turkey. This interesting piece can also be the basis for your interior design and colour scheme. A hand woven Turkish carpet, kilim or prayer mat will be the most probable purchase, but beware of the following points; these items are made in large quantities to cater for all sections of the tourist market. If you are considering investing in a piece of Turkish woven textiles, bear in mind that you must stay objective during negotiations and avoid paying high prices if you are unsure of age, provenance and authenticity. Remember Turkish rugs are easily transportable and it is likely that a period or specialist rug and textiles dealer may stock similar Turkish items in your own country. In your villa, use rugs to decorate the wooden flooring typical of this decorative style.

Opulent Soft Furnishings

Remember scenes from movies with jolly Turkish sultan’s lounging on masses of soft comfortable cushions? That’s the effect you need to aim for when you turn your attentions to your lounge and bedroom. Both your sofa and your bed should be covered with different coloured cushions in vibrant, contrasting tones. There should be plenty of silk, so treat yourself to some silk sheets as well. You will be able to pick up these items in the bazaars for very little or buy the material and have one of the many skilled Turkish tailors run them up for you. In fact, if you can find a reliable tailor who knows you live here and charges you local prices, they are well worth befriending because they will be able to conjure up all kinds of soft furnishings for you from bits of cloth you spot in the bazaars. Material is very cheap in Turkey and not something aimed at the tourist market. Get a throw and a bedspread in a deep aubergine, royal blue or olive green, avoid bright colours for this piece as they will clash with the cushions and other smaller accents. Use voile in the same colour to dress windows and remember that if you are recreating a truly Turkish interior you will need shutters with latticed grills for privacy instead of curtains.

Turkish Bathtime

Create a 'hamam' feel in your bathroom with a lot of nice smelling oils and handmade lavender soaps. Ideally your bathroom will be tiled floor to ceiling with the rich glazes and motifs of Turkish baths and architecture; however, this could prove costly as this type of tile will be something of a rarity as antique tiles are collected in their own right. The best way to achieve the look without breaking the bank is to visit Turkish baths and draw inspiration from the surroundings e.g. absorb the colour schemes and pay close attention to small details like taps towels and sinks. An Islamic bowl, decorative tile or wall plaque can be incorporated into your room setting and add some authentic flavour. Likewise, a glazed Iznic pottery bowl – another popular Turkish souvenir- can be adapted to form a wash hand basin.  Mix any of these with simple handmade tiles and you look will be near complete.  If wall to wall tilling is beyond your skill and budget, use small clusters of handmade and hand painted tiles, for example: tile around basins, baths and then paint exposed walls with delicate colour washes reminiscent of faded outside walls. Scour antique and salvage yards as well as Turkish markets and even old hardware stores- yes they still exist – for old authentic looking fittings. Whatever your space limitations, this should be a room of pure indulgence.