As we enter the third year of the pandemic, the home continues to work hard to fulfil its roles of sanctuary and workspace. Doing it up based on both your tastes and your needs is imperative. Here are some on-trend ways to create a seamless and stylish living experience.
Glass half full
How the spaces we occupy look and feel can have a massive impact on our moods; that’s our superpower as designers! The pandemic has amplified this tenfold, which is why optimism is my top trend of 2022.
Start with colour. Colour psychology tells us that yellow is the most optimistic hue, with orange and violet close behind. Red and black are generally a no-no for residential interiors, but green and blue can work if you want a more serene, thoughtful mood. For neutral spaces such as floors, walls and ceilings, be wary of brilliant white, which can be sterile; instead favour off-white, ivory or dove grey.
The other quick win is lighting. Maximise natural light by removing anything that blocks it: curtains or a cupboard are easy, but you might want to dig deeper. Replace a wooden front door with a glass door; replace bulky windows frames with something sleeker. And of course, you can always “fake it” – floor-to-ceiling mirrors and glossy wall paint bounce natural light around the room, while soft white LED bulbs mimic the midday sun.
Finally, add optimistic flourishes with upbeat art, bold photography, statues, books or even inspirational quotes in 3D or 2D text by your favourite author, leader or singer.
Earthy, unfinished materials
Given the amount of time we’ve been spending indoors, the rustic imperfection of nature has become ever more desirable. Textures are your friend here, with unvarnished wood furniture and accessories the obvious quick win.
Rugs and throws are another off-the-shelf fix, while curtains are a more permanent (albeit more expensive) solution. For maximum impact, hit the walls. Textured paint and wallpaper are fairly straightforward, but you could go all-in with a feature wall clad in a natural material such as wood, slate, leather or rough-cut marble.
Then there’s biophilia – the philosophy of bringing the outside indoors. For plants, go for something like a yucca that has a trunk.
Don’t stay away from artificial plants, either; the effect on your mood is much the same, but with less hassle.
If you’ve got an outdoor area such as a balcony or garden, bridge the gap between it and your interior. This is easier said than done, as most homes have fixed barriers between these spaces. Steal the tricks employed by restaurant designers, who resolve this dilemma with sliding or folding doors, canopy shades, fans and heaters, to extend the indoor-outdoor season.
A final word on multisensory design. With interiors, we think visually first and foremost, but don’t neglect the other senses. For smell, reach for scented candles or oils. Tactility is also super-important (particularly when we’re cooped up within), and these earthy, unfinished materials are gorgeous to touch. They also help with acoustics by dampening echo.
Goodbye open-plan, hello ‘Zoom room’
Open-plan homes look gorgeous in magazine photoshoots, but they’re wholly unsuitable for those who work from home, especially if you have a family. Imagine the cacophony: mum and dad on work calls, while the children join a school debate. Throw in grandparents shouting grocery orders down the phone and you’ve got a perfect storm.
Enter the “Zoom room”. There are three essential features you must get right: a good background, strong lighting and acoustic privacy. Before we break these down, remember it’s not about having a spare room. I’ve been on calls with senior executives in huge villas who fail epically, and others who live in small apartments who nail it.
First, the look. The background doesn’t have to be amazing (bookshelves are a safe bet), but camera angle and lighting do. Put your laptop on a stack of books and buy a $30 ring light from Amazon, job done. Natural light is great, but I’ve been caught out by long meetings that started late in the afternoon with gorgeous illumination from a window, and ended with me in almost complete darkness.
Then there’s acoustics. If you’re tight on space, you can buy or build padded space dividers quite cheaply. Or just manoeuvre free-standing bookshelves into position. Even if you have the luxury of a dedicated room, dampen the sound. Rugs, wallpaper, plants, books all absorb echo well. There’s really no excuse: until recently, acoustic panelling was an expensive specialist product for corporate offices; now, Ikea sells one.
Multifunctional spaces
We all need our homes to do a lot more heavy lifting these days. In addition to their traditional roles of eating, sleeping and relaxing, during the pandemic, they had to take on the roles of gym, office, coffee shop, movie theatre, school, spa, playroom ... I could go on.
The challenge for residential designers is to squeeze all of these new experiences into the same space. There is only one solution: multifunction. This applies to both versatile furniture and creative design.
One example: create a hybrid yoga studio and movie theatre. These may seem unlikely bedfellows – the peaceful serenity of sun salutations versus eating popcorn while watching No Way Home. But think about it: the screen and speakers for your ashtanga tutorials are no different to the home video surround sound system your children love for TV. Chuck a few beanbags around the sides of the room and you’re good to go.
Cocoon sanctuaries
Amid all the chaos and madness of Covid living, many of us crave a small place we can call our own. As always, this is easier if you have space to play with, but it’s not all about square footage. Here are three tips for creating a sanctuary.
First, lighting. Find a room or part of a room where you can install dimmer lighting. It could be your bedroom, the bathroom or a corner of the living room.
Second, install comfort-seating that is – and this is crucial – different to your regular task or dining chairs. Think a beanbag, a chaise longue or an armchair you can sink into. The point is it must be lean-back (rather than the lean-forward) seating we use during the normal day.
Finally, think about smell, sound and touch. Get yourself scented sticks, a speaker to play relaxing music and a faux fur rug to snuggle up with.
Vintage vibes
There’s a certain comfort in reconnecting with our childhood, hence the residential retro revival. We’re not suggesting you go all-out 1970s with tie-dyed wallpaper, but subtle vintage accents can add real character. Consider a vinyl record player, a Pac-Man arcade machine or some retro geometry in art.
A close cousin is using the theory of Vuja de – seeing the familiar with a fresh view.
Patterns
Colour-blocking and monochrome palettes will step aside to make way for patterns this year. When looking for trends, take your cues from various spring 2022 fashion runway collections: graphic lines, illustrated prints, optical geometrics and deconstructed patterns are all going to find their way into upholstery and floor coverings.
Contrasting patterns is also going to be a huge trend this year.
From combining checks with vintage florals, stripes with hand sketches and complicated tile effects with bands of colour, the possibilities are endless.
Hack your space
One final transformative trend to keep in mind for 2022 is hacking – that is, quick changes you can do during a weekend, rather than a full refit.
Wherever we live in the world, we all hope the current reality of on-off lockdowns and homeschooling is a temporary rather than permanent phase. A short-term problem requires short-term solutions, hence the focus on quick-and-easy hacks.
Many of them are mentioned above. To recap, our favourite five residential hacks are walls (textured paint or wallpaper); lighting (mirrors and soft white LEDs); sanctuary spaces (candles, music and a lean-back seat); optimism (an inspirational painting, book or quote) and multifunctional spaces.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Syria squad
Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Alma, Mahmoud Al Youssef, Ahmad Madania.
Defenders: Ahmad Al Salih, Moayad Ajan, Jehad Al Baour, Omar Midani, Amro Jenyat, Hussein Jwayed, Nadim Sabagh, Abdul Malek Anezan.
Midfielders: Mahmoud Al Mawas, Mohammed Osman, Osama Omari, Tamer Haj Mohamad, Ahmad Ashkar, Youssef Kalfa, Zaher Midani, Khaled Al Mobayed, Fahd Youssef.
Forwards: Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah, Mardik Mardikian.
Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
Overview
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMay%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHusam%20Aboul%20Hosn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDIFC%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%E2%80%94%20Innovation%20Hub%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEmployees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-seed%20funding%20raised%20from%20family%20and%20friends%20earlier%20this%20year%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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The%20Emperor%20and%20the%20Elephant
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UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
