Living Inside Out. This beautiful Moroccan/Swahili style home is an oasis escape on one of Kenya’s most unspoiled bays. Built out of a sandy pink coral stone, encompassing a spacious inner courtyard and central sparkling pool , this home was designed by Yolanda in collaboration with Anthony Forbes and Marzia Chierecetti. Interiors and landscaping by Yolanda .
Organic and flowing, the house delivers a balance of soft curves and straight lines incorporating a perfect fusion of form and function and living in harmony with nature, light and landscaping to create a myriad of moods .
Wherever she lands, Yolanda seeks out local natural materials and artisans to create textured yet subtle layers of uncluttered design to compliment her calm, chic interiors - bringing the outside in to harmonious and balanced spaces . The overall effects presented are of a freshness, light and peace.
Albeit in her ‘Less is More‘ style, there is not one corner or area untouched by Yolanda’s eye for proportion, detail and creativity.
In bringing spaces to life, and an easy relaxed movement to each, there is a timeless feeling throughout. The flexibility of ideas merge seamlessly into the whole with each subtle fusion of detail.
With her background growing up in Africa, combined with her extensive travels around South America, North Africa and Arabian countries - the safari, the exotic, the flamboyant and the mystic shape the outcomes of this mix of styles.
Over the years Yolanda has worked with many traditional craftsmen and artisans, adding her own special touches to each piece designed and produced. This includes painted distress work, carving, old Swahili reclamation furniture reinvented, Zanzibar string-work, palm woven cladding, and beaten aluminum combined with wood. She has merged these one-of-a-kind pieces with modern finishes and backdrops to create an overall unique result.
In all of Yolanda’s interiors projects she designs and uses decor made from handcrafted materials. From doum palm floor mats to hand-blocked cotton rugs and hand carved wooden furniture every space is finished off with a natural flare.
Nature’s designs and colours provide not only for beauty in the outdoors but everything inspirational for indoors. Capturing these magnificent hues in different parts of the world through the camera lens, transformed by the ever changing light of the day from dawn to dusk, provide this palette to work with. The infinite variety of patterns and colours presented to us by planet earth, the images of which we are able to transform onto textiles, paints, and man made finishes, form the basis from which we have the choice to create artistic impressions through design. Travel and photography have greatly contributed and influenced Yolanda’s overall style of interior and exterior ambience.
Yolanda worked with local craftsmen to re-imagine and revitalize the interiors and exteriors of one of the oldest and most popular hotels on Watamu beach, Kenya. The spaces were opened up and lightened up. Colour was infused with the blue of the sea and plants, and interior details were added with mirror recesses and traditional cement carving work. This was complimented with woven straw cladding, beaten aluminum and a touch of Morocco, resulting in a stunning lift of cool freshness and light.
The redesign of this chic apartment in Malindi was inspired by the rustic and natural Swahili style of the Kenya coast. Yolanda used local fabrics, white bases, palms and blues to bring the space alive.
Yolanda collaborated with work partner Barry Koenecke on this private home design and build project, maximizing the wow factor of the incredible views presented to them by this cliff top house. The clients wanted the feel of an inner courtyard home, so an inner/outer courtyard utilized both spaces. This open plan house was designed on different levels to achieve 360 degree stunning views. Comfort was attained throughout by taking advantage of breezes in the hot months while providing some shelter from the sometimes fierce south easterly winds.
This cozy cottage was refurbished in keeping with Yolanda’s passion for blending natural materials with color and light to revitalize and open up inside and outside living spaces.
This bungalow in Langata transformed previously unused spaces into a seamless combination of outdoor and indoor living. Furniture was hand crafted by Yolanda and local artisans on the Kenya coast, and up-cycled from natural and man-made materials, combined with beautiful Kilim Rugs, hand embroidered Indian Fabrics, exotic lanterns and safari style furniture for a design with a difference.
Yolanda was involved in the finishes and furniture design for this cliff edge, Bali style Cabana for which local traditional Zanzibar style furniture and doors were made. Natural coral block tiles stretch from the verandah to the pool and are surrounded with polished concrete ivory floors inside the house. The result is a super chic smooth blend of old and new, which retains some of the beautiful local traditional artisanal crafts of carved doors, a model Dhow and Stringwork/wood chaise longs and sofas.
