Young Kuwaiti interior designer Farah Al-Humaidhi is known for her beautiful creations of home accessories that have caught at the heart-strings of many Saudi women.
Her brand name, ‘Pieces by Farah’, is 100 percent Kuwaiti and sold all over the GCC. The designer holds an MBA degree and a BA in interior design from the American University in Sharjah. She now offers different interior design courses in Kuwait and Jeddah.
“I started my career working as an interior designer working in several projects. Gradually, I created my own home accessories line a year ago. Now I am giving courses to people in Kuwait and recently in Jeddah on how to design their homes,” said Al-Humaidhi.
We met with the designer in her last visit to Jeddah and talked with her about her brand, her passion and the interior design market in the GCC countries.
Tell us more about your brand, Pieces by Farah. When did you establish it?
It was always in the back of my mind. Ever since I graduated I wanted to create a home accessories and furniture line which is different. The idea came after I noticed that whenever I design a house, I always look for pieces that I cannot find in the market. I didn’t find anything that suited my idea, so that pushed me to custom make it. Now I have a lot of pieces that are custom made which both I and my clients love. The popularity of my designs triggered me to start my own brand. My furniture designs are absolutely unique and not found in the market.
The initial idea was to design pieces which are multi- functional. I first created the piece then worked on making it look attractive so it complemented the interior of the home instead of being conspicuous. I designed the furniture line in 2012 and gradually added the home accessories to it when I discovered that there was a bigger clientele for it than for the furniture pieces.
My lace home accessories creations are really popular among women. So I decided to try something different and began using fiber and more durable materials to make solid lace products which would appeal to men.
What attracted you to interior design in the first place?
I loved colors. I love to draw and I come from a family who is interested in the same field with different majors. I felt it was the thing to do because I wanted my hobby to be my career and interior design gathers all my passion in one area.
You said your famous line is the lace home accessory. How did you come up with the idea of solid lace products?
It all happened when I was working in a spare room we have in my house where I was testing a lot of materials. The idea did not start out as accessories; it started as a concept furniture: a floating coffee table. A piece of wood would float on top of a beautiful artistic piece of hard lace. I hardened the lace to look like it is carrying the piece of wood even though when you see it you will think it is impossible for a piece of fabric to carry wood.
I experimented with the lace where I embedded metal into the lace and you can never tell because it is made under and between the lines and with that we created something that is absolutely unique.
When I saw the finished product I realized that there were no limits to what I could do with it. I later worked very hard on this material. Keeping in mind that it needs to be washable, durable and comfortable, we added different elements to it and created different shapes.
Where do you produce your pieces?
I used to have a workshop for woodwork when I first started my business. When my brand started to grow, I started hiring people and the demand started to get bigger. That’s when I established a factory. I have my own factory in Kuwait where production takes place.
How did you introduce your products to the market?
At first it was all by word of mouth. I hosted a small launch and invited my friends and family. The sales were phenomenal but I couldn’t tell whether they like my products because they wanted to support my brand or really liked my work. So I decided to participate in a bigger exhibition with other designers and retailers in Kuwait who would judge my work objectively and give me a better idea of the standard of my work.
I was very happy when I discovered that all my pieces were sold out! About 90 percent of the customers were people I had never met before or known personally. This was proof that my work was really worth it.
What is the role of social media in your business?
Social media plays a huge role when it comes to free marketing. Instagram is a blessing for my business because I was able to reach people all over the world and I gained clients all the way in Asia and Europe and of course the GCC.
Do you think the interior design market is a competitive market in the GCC countries?
Yes, now it’s starting to be. I can only speak about Kuwait where there weren’t a lot of Kuwaiti designers and most of the interior designers were from abroad. I don’t think there are a lot of professional home accessories designers but there are some people who work from home. However, they are not in the competition because they don’t do mass production.
What are the challenges and obstacles you faced during the creation of your brand?
Always being up to date and to be able to meet the demand. Clients want everything done one day before the deadline and this business needs time especially when you have high demand for custom-made items. There are also financial obstacles in Kuwait and even in Saudi Arabia, everything is so expensive. So if I wanted to expand my business I would need to pay more rent and hire more people to work and pay their salaries. When you design products professionally and you rent space and pay salaries you will need to make it up from the income of your sales not like the lady who is designing a few pieces from the comfort of her home and selling them for much less.
What brings you to the Kingdom?
I am here to teach a 101 interior design course at Elegant Homes in Rawdah. I have already given it in Kuwait six times now but many Saudis have e-mailed me asking me to come and give it here. The course is about teaching basic interior design and it is tailored for people who have no background in interior design. My course does not aim for the attendees to go into the market because they aren’t ready yet but I aim to give them the tools, skills, the metaphors and terminologies to help them communicate with their interior designer.
What are you working on right now?
In addition to pieces by Farah, I am giving courses and developing more specialized courses. I am working on giving a course on how to design your kitchen and bathroom because most people make an effort to design their bedrooms, living rooms and dining rooms and neglect the bathroom and kitchen even though they are equally important. In designs, I am always working on different projects so I am working on beauty centers, restaurants, offices and of course homes.
Where do you sell Pieces by Farah and where do you want to sell?
Currently we sell in all GCC countries and in Saudi Arabia we have an exclusive distributer at Elegant Homes. Some vases are sold in Abdulaziz Al-Noman flower boutique. I want to expand to Europe, the United States and globally.
Email: [email protected]
