House Renovation Project - Dubai

This is a house renovation we did located at Springs, Dubai back 2012.  
Our client was an Indian Family of four. They are Hindu so they have these Vasthu beliefs that we had to consider when we did the renovation. It is actually their main reason for this change. They have a limited budget since it is not their permanent house, as the lady of the house said, Dubai is not their permanent residence so they do not want to spend much. 

I will show you photos of before and after for this project.  Shall we?

This is the existing view of the Foyer and Living Room..

and I came up with several options for this area.. it was a bit of a discussion with the client because they were a bit confused of what they want.. 

I initially gave them this..

The wall of that library is connected all the way to the dining and the family room.. I wanted to unify the three rooms with a long library. That was my concept. Very modern. A sculpture in a corner and clean colors with accents. 
But then.. it's not what they wanted.. in the end we realized they did not understand what "Modern Architecture" is.. Frankly, what I proposed wasn't even too modern because I gave consideration on their personality after having been to their house and meeting them. That's when you get the sort of feel of how you can please your client. 
We ended up with this as final design.. which they were still not very convinced by the way..

They mislead us with their understanding of "modern" architecture. It was after the first presentation that we had the understanding of what they really wanted. We heard that they did not do this

Here is the view of the dining room which is connected to the living room..

Please take note of that fixed window.. We didnt know why they did that.. could be because of Vasthu.. 
and this is m original proposal..

I used stained glass on that window.. had this element on the left side. A low cabinet going from dining to family room (which is covered that wall which is a part of a fireplace). If you try to see the wall on the right.. that's the long wall library that I proposed to connect the three spaces.. 

But of course they didn't want this and we revised it according to their taste..without changing much of the initial design..

They wanted chandeliers.. so we had similar chandelier design with the living room since both rooms are connected..

Now let's go to the family room. This is actually an added space they did for this renovation. It was usually an outdoor terrace and since you cannot stay outdoors most of the time in this country due to the heat, they decided to close it up. 

The room opens up to their garden.. 
and this is my initial proposal..

again you will see that low cabinet on the left which was connected to the dining area, and that library on the right which was connected to the dining and the living room..
I wanted continuity since it is one big space.. 

I had to revise this one and I tried to keep the elements and change finishes as to how I think they would like..

a touch of wood is what they wanted and those horrible ceiling fans.. I hated those.. but they waned it so.. what to do?
This change wasn't so bad, I actually like this too.. apart from the ceiling fans..

Then we have the kitchen.. what they wanted was to use all IKEA. This is the relocated kitchen space..

I love IKEA. They have cheap stuff that aren't bad. I would spend hours their looking at every corner of the store for something interesting.

I initially gave a fresh and vibrant palette for their kitchen.. and here are the views..

I like this..
Unfortunately they didn't want the colors. They wanted black granite.. so here's the one that got approved..

It's not bad as well.. 

Now let's go to the Master Bedroom.. This was one of the difficult rooms.. There were many restrictions like ceiling heights and also because the client was really more into personalizing it.. This is the original bedroom

Sorry for the shot.. we used an old camera when we took the photos on site.. 
and..
This is my original proposed design..

those things in the back are mirrors which would give the room more depth. Then a nice textured wallpaper on one side as a feature. I proposed these upholstered headboard which goes up to the ceiling. 
They didn't want this so after long discussions and several revisions this is the final design for the Master Bedroom.. of course with the ceiling fan again.. i wish i could remove that!

and this is the Master Bathroom..

I gave the lady of the house her mini Spa. 

That's it. Let me know your thoughts..

CIAO!

-CARMi