Blue, a colour of dualities; representing the sky and the sea, both sorrow and tranquillity and also the past year; full of exceptional change, 2020 kept us together and pulled us apart all at the same time. But when Pantone settled on the ‘Colour of the Year’, they found hope and stability in the cool tone of a new dawn with ‘Classic  Blue’. As we settle to celebrate the festive season to see out the year, we look to a brighter 2021 on our horizon. So whilst, like many, we chose to stay in Dubai this Christmas, we’ve whipped-up some Yule-tide joy of Dubai proportions with a very festive home-styled shoot in collaboration with My Lovely Wedding, ACE Al Futtaim and photographer Kathleen Hoare, to inspire some magic in your homes this Christmas or the next.

Homeclub’s Christmas Challenge

ACE Al Futtaim set Homeclub’s Founder, Rio and the wedding stylist Joelle of My Lovely Wedding, the challenge of using their festive decorations including one of their gorgeous real Christmas trees to transform Rio’s living and outdoor area with all the cosy, Christmasy vibes they could muster. Upping the ante, we decided on Pantone’s colour of 2020, classic blue, as the main theme – not typically associated with Christmas, but we seriously dig it, Enjoy!

The Buffet Table

The Entrance and Tree

The Front Garden

A Note from Rhiannon

I had so much fun working with Joelle on this shoot, she is honestly like a Christmas fairy godmother. I have known her for years and had the privilege of attending one of her legendary Christmas parties, where her flair for events, dinner styling and making anything look fabulously cosy and warm leaves me in awe. So whilst I got to have fun styling areas of the living and dining room myself, Joelle added that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ and sprinkle of magic!

Some of my favourite elements included her clever idea of suspending the colourful pom-pom garlands from the AC unit to create a fun and festive buffet table nook and I adore her trademark table centrepieces, carefully handcrafted by Joelle herself. By using what we had from ACE, along with some of my own purchases, she created such a lovely, warm feeling of Christmas in my home. But the star of the show is, as it should be, the tree. For the first time in my life since being a little girl, I got to have a real Christmas tree! Ace offers a free of charge disposal service to recycle the tree, leaving you with a big bag of compost to repurpose at your disposal.

I am really proud of myself for my Christmas tree styling, gifts and all and stumbled across a great brand called Mr Bluefish, who sell sustainable solutions for gift wrapping as a great alternative to wasteful wrapping paper. With the items we had on offer from ACE, along with some blue baubles that had been gifted by Seasons by Design along with some of my own London/England themed decorations collected over the years. Joelle and I instinctively went for a bit of a British theme and while a little dubious at first, we ended up loving the finished look and we hope you have too.

A Note From Joelle

As many of my close friends will happily tell you, I am Christmas crazy! Whereas my usual go-to style-aesthetic might be described as understated, there is no amount of fairy lights or spray-on-snow in the world that would be too much for me during this festive period. So when Rio invited me to work my magic into this Homeclub & Ace Christmas collaboration, I felt as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve!

I have to admit, as someone who is such a festive enthusiast,  I was a tad nervous being handed decorations that hadn’t been of my choosing and to top it off, I’m not really a blue-kind-of-girl, but I was up for the challenge and over time, I grew to love the blue!

Although Ace had a decent collection of Christmas decorations in Dubai, it felt somewhat light compared to last year’s offerings, so I felt a tad limited with what we had to work with. Yet despite that, I’m happy to say that I love Rio’s festive home full of folly.

Vendor Credits

Photography – Kathleen Hoare Photography / Decorating and Styling – Joelle Clute, My Lovely Wedding & Rhiannon Downie-Hurst, Home Club ME / Real Christmas Tree, mini gold tree, blue bows on tablescape, lights, garland under mirror, Santa in slay, standing Santa, mini pom pom strings, multi-coloured baubles, red glitter stars, gold acorn baubles, stop here santa sign, hanging rustic stars, garlands, wreaths, elf legs – ACE Al Futtaim / Tablescape centre piece – My Lovely Wedding, featuring copper candles from ACE AL Futtaim / Festive Cushions by Christmas Tree – DODO Cushions / Cat material wrap under tree – Mr Bluefish / Blue baubles featured everywhere – kindly gifted by Seasons by Design /Gold Moon and Stars wind chime – H&M Home / Green stars, napkins and mini lights – IKEA. Gold placematts – Maison Du Monde / Stockings – Home Centre / Tags on stockings – The Party / Other random décor and baubles owned by Rhiannon.

Special thanks to @Vianne_mua for Rhiannons makeup.

‘That’s a wrap!’ We hope you enjoyed our little bit of festive cheer and have managed to carve out your own bit of sparkle for this year despite its difficulties. We’d love to see your festive efforts and finds, so make sure to tag us on your IG with that eye-candy (cane). Here’s wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, no matter where you are, who you are with or how you are celebrating.

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