I need some ideas for sprucing up the look of my powder room. It's a rented house so I'm not looking to invest in a huge redesign.
Apart from our living and dining rooms, guests are most likely to use the powder room.We've all endured the embarrassment of barging into the wrong room while trying to find the bathroom at a friend's house. Spare your guests this fate. The Singways store at Mall of Emirates in Dubai stocks some wonderfully quirky toilet signs that will make a great addition to your toilet doors.
A small space like the powder room is the perfect place to experiment with colour. Have a look at Pantone's 2012 colour of the year: Tangerine Tango (turn to page 4/5 for more on this). The National's trendspotting expert recommends using it to paint a feature wall, and then reintroducing it in accessories. The vibrant orange hue will lift the look of the room. If your walls are tiled, think about painting the ceiling and complementing that with splashes of orange around the room, such as a rug or a bath mat.
Tiled walls tend to give the bathroom an institutional feel, so why not use this surface to advertise your accomplishments? Create a gallery of high school triumphs and holiday pictures on one wall. Or choose some landscape photos from your travels. Think about getting them printed on canvas rather than the usual photo paper and glass frame. Virtually every mall in the UAE has a stall that can do this.
Most residential toilets come with a fluorescent light, and while they're economical, they're not particularly flattering. Replace them with a warm white light source. Sparsam low energy bulbs from Ikea produce a warm tone. For a dramatic statement, suspend a pendant light or small, crystal chandelier from the ceiling.
Cultivate the eclectic look by doing away with the standard square mirror and introducing a classic Venetian mirror above the basin (available at Irony Home, Dubai Mall). This piece will give the room real character and it's easy to transport into a new bathroom when you move.
Finally, think about the experience of using the powder room, not just the look. Use luxury soap dispensers and hand creams. Accessorise your countertop with fresh flowers, candles and perfumed oil diffuser sticks. They look great and keep the space smelling good.
And invest in some plush, matching towels. Trust me, guests will notice.
Pallavi Dean is an award-winning independent design consultant who practises in the UAE. If you have a question for her, email homes@thenational.ae
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
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Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
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Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
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Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Three stars
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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On sale: Now
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
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India cancels school-leaving examinations
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