Of course, it's not just about clothes

There's probably more to moving to Marrakech than selecting one's wardrobe, isn't there? I also get to dream about what our house will look like. This is where imagination must take over for two reasons. Firstly, everybody to whom I have spoken on the matter assures me that our budget is a realistic one for renting a dar or riad in Marrakech, but beyond that...? After all, think of the sort of price range that might be considered reasonable for, say, a two-bedroom apartment in London. How long is a piece of string? Are we going to end up with something as wonderful as the coolly sophisticated Riad Magellan (probably not):


Or the lushly cosy Riad Eden? Again, probably not, although the size of the Riad Eden is more likely.


Finally, I dream of the Riad Louna in Fez:


What I imagine to be likely is that we will find something around the same size as the Riad Eden, without any of the trimmings, although hopefully with some respectable furniture. We will probably need to have the house repainted (for ease, this may be done in pure white, like the Riad Magellan) although the blue featured on the cover of Living in Morocco, and in the pages of Morocco Style makes me go weak at the knees...



Secondly (I nearly forgot), there is the fact that the house may not be in such a state that we *can* reasonably make our mark on it - the hope of finding a relatively blank canvas is just that - a hope.

At any rate, I will be buying silks in chocolate brown, saffron, aubergine and red as well as acres of natural muslin for bed hangings and curtains to bring with me - I will have the pleasurable challenge of decorating a relatively large house for one year of residence on as little money as possible but with as lush and beautiful an effect as I manage. Silk and Moroccan lamps will be the cornerstones of my creativity, but if you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

[Image credits to Riad Magellan, Riad Eden, Riad Louna and Taschen]