With bright white walls, high airy ceilings and a colourful art collection on display, visitors to this Beirut villa designed by Diana Ghandour will be transported to a homey gallery experience. Blending statement design pieces in dialogue with expressive artwork, the two-floor villa is a creative haven that brings the look of white cube galleries into a home setting.
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When designing interiors, Ghandour always considers a building’s exterior and looks for ways to bring the outside in for a seamless transition. Here, the villa’s fresh white façade is reflected in the white walls and furniture, disrupted with pops of colour from the art collection and decorative objects on show.
“I carefully chose the art pieces from the owner’s collection and where they were placed, to give the space a happy feel with well-being in mind,” Ghandour tells AD. “A lot of the art has colours with yellow, burgundy and green – very cheerful, uplifting colours – which all contrast beautifully with all the white walls, furniture and accessories.
“When choosing the furniture, it was very hard because when you use different brands, you have to have the same white,” she adds. “I collected about 15 or 16 designer pieces of furniture in white, trying to coordinate them to get the same tone, or ones that worked together.”
With lofty 5-meter-high ceilings and spacious rooms, Ghandour had to find ways to retain a sense of intimacy and scale in the Beirut villa. To find balance, she intentionally chose large statement pieces of furniture, combined with massive rugs, to add warmth and character to the rooms.
Rounded rugs by the likes of Atelier Fevrier, The Rug Company and CC-Tapis were used to draw the eye inwards and create circular seating arrangements, subconsciously inviting guests to gather. The rugs also add some subtle colour and pattern to an otherwise quite clean, minimalist look, drawing attention away from the high ceilings.
“The large furniture was very important, and there are some great statement pieces. For example, on the ground floor, I used a great marble table that we selected carefully by Francesco Balzano, paired with a very nice art piece by Annalù,” Ghandour says. “On the second floor, there’s a great round coffee table by Simon Emmanuelle, with a couch by Paolo Castelli, which is also very organic and rounded.
“I used a lot of rounded and soft shapes, because it creates great flow through the space; you naturally converge around areas,” she adds. “One of the dining areas has a beautiful custom blue table by Straw Design, which complements the swirling blue artwork on the wall.”
Some of Ghandour’s own designs are also featured in the villa, such as a pair of matching Shell coffee tables in one of the salons, crafted from black-speckled white Patagonia marble.
True to Ghandour’s design ethos, every corner was curated to inspire joy, with an ambiance that radiates vibrancy, sophistication, and a genuine sense of belonging. This villa is not only a statement of architectural elegance but also a celebration of life, art and connection.
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