middle east – Jen Maan in Amman

We bought our first piece of Syrian furniture (a chest and mirror) while we were in Amman before we even had a house in sight. Luckily, the chest and mirror fit beautifully in our new home. Here’s the chest while it sat forlornly in Amman:

And here it sits proudly in Alexandria:

Just before Raj left Amman, he was able to pick up a few more pieces, with the house in mind (but without my opinion). I have to say he did an excellent job and surprised me with these pieces for Christmas. He’s been waiting for the homage to Raj since then, so here goes. How lucky am I to have such a generous, sweet, and tasteful husband?

Floor pillows for extra seating–these were a surprise–I never thought Raj would go for these. I’m indebted to Jenna at the Embassy for helping Raj choose these two coordinating ones.

An inlaid chest that fits perfectly into the niche

I’ve been here for almost two weeks and I’m just about finished getting organized (or at least as organized as one can get without having a car and access to supplies at a store). Our home is essentially a blank canvas to decorate, but I’m finding that decorating the place is rife with challenges. For example, I wanted to hang up a bulletin board in my “office.” I’m well versed in hanging up pictures and can even handily use a drill, but the walls here are cement, so my attempts at hanging anything myself are futile and damaging to the wall.

Yesterday some maintenance people came over to remove a door to the kitchen and to hang my pan rack. When I explained to them that I wanted the door removed from the kitchen, you would have thought that I had asked to be set on fire. Imagine a kitchen exposed to guests? Anyway, I wanted the door removed because there isn’t any space for my butcher block that I’ve alway placed below my pan rack. They removed the door , installed the pan rack in the ceiling, and promised to come back sometime next week to build shelves in a very strange and atrocious open cabinet. I plan on covering the TWO open cabinets with fabric that I’ve ordered.

Let me preface these photos by saying that these are very preliminary. I promise it will look much better in a few weeks time. I’m open for suggestions and anyone who comes up with something fabulous for the entrance room gets a PRIZE.

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