The DSO Headquarters (aka The Pineapple Building )

Why is it a pineapple? This is the million dollar question people around here always ask. Why would the headquarters of the technology city, Dubai Silicon Oasis, look like a pineapple?

Dubai is known around the world for its unique architecture and the DSO-HQ building doesn't fall short of being unique. It was one of the first buildings to catch my eye when moving out here and from day one everyone called it the "Pineapple Building".

The DSO headquarters during the day. 

Photo source "DSO pineapple building" google search.

The hubster and I were talking about it one day and while we knew it wasn't intentionally supposed to replicate a pineapple, we couldn't figure out what the architect was truly trying to replicate. It wasn't until he looked at it one night that he immediately realized what it was. 

View at night.

Fiber optic cables! It was a fiber optic cable building! Of course, being the engineer that he is, it made total sense. What looks like the pineapple leaves during the day, are actually cables lit up in blue with red tips at night. It made total sense.

Fiber optic cables

Another view of DSO headquarters at night. 

I, like most people around here, would have never made the connection, not even in a million years. Luckily, the hubsters engineering intuition kicked in and he made the connection. Very clever on the part of the architect who designed this building. To bad most people don't get it and can only equate it to a pineapple. 

So, there you have it folks, the mystery has been solved and we can now all call it what it really is, the fiber optic cable building. ;-) Tung-twister much?

If you found this post interesting and useful, please leave a comment below. Thanks for stopping by!

-Debora

Reupholstering My Blended Leather Couch (Part 2)

Alright Debdoozlers! I finally gathered up some pics of that horrid blended leather couch AFTER reupholstery and I am excited to finally share them with you all.

I mentioned before that I was debating real leather or a more durable washable fabric and I decided to go with fabric. Because the couch had deteriorated so fast and I hadn't planed on such a large reupholstery project, I just didn't have the money at the time to invest in real leather. Although it was amazing and beautiful!!!

In the end I was very happy with this fabric. After about a year of having this couch I washed all the cushion covers once and with a little pre-stain treatment I was able to get the stains out.  It's also survived the boys well. No wholes, or permanent stains. So far, success.

Pillows from Pier One (ages ago) and Walmart ( I know, shameful lol)  

Throw from Ikea UAE.

Morrocan table and Mother or Pearl box both from Egypt. Diy Flower pens.

Amazing transformation if I do say so myself. What would you have done? Take out a loan and go for real leather or made do and stuck with fabric? Don't forget to comment below and thanks for stopping by! 

-Debora

Why You Should Never Buy Blended Leather Furniture (Part 1)

Hello, hello! How are you all? Goodness, it's been ages since I last posted. Oh how I miss blogging.  Let's talk about some of the drama that has occurred in my life while I've been silent over here on the blog.

For example, the drama of blended leather, the "cost efficient" substitute for real leather. You should stay far, far, far away. As far away as possible from it. It's the worst investment, or lack thereof, you could make for your home. A lot of people see it as a great replacement for the much more expensive leather, but after I share my experience, you'll understand why leather is much better.

 Better yet, how about I let my pictures talk instead...

We bought this couch when we bought our home in California. It held up for a good two years. Since it was in good shape, we decided to bring it with us on our move to Dubai. Another year went by and it immediately started to crackle. As soon as the pleather (blended leather) started to crackle, the disintegration process happened so fast. The seat cushions disintegrated so fast I had to flip them upside down to prevent debris from falling all over the floor. I think what also didn't help the situation was that when we traveled in the summer months back to the USA, the heat was so hot in our house that the couch became brittle faster.

So for a few months our couch looked like this...

I debated dumping it, reupholstering it, using real leather vs. fabric, dark colors vs. light colors etc, etc. I  looked around Dubai and found that a similar couch to this ran around AED 4000 (almost $1090.00) We bought our couch for $700. Reupholstering it would cost me AED 1,500 including fabric. A couch half this size from Ikea was still AED 2,500+. 

If you're lost I'll simplify it for you. The cheapest route was to reupholster it. That way we could still have a large brand new couch without having to pay three times the price we originally paid for this one. Then it was a matter of using real leather or fabric. I checked out a lot of beautiful real leather around the Bur Dubai areas and Nayef Souq, but the reality is leather is expensive and we just couldn't afford it at that time. Had I known this would happen to my couch I would have saved up to pay for the leather. 

You either save up money for it and buy the real thing or you buy a couch with washable, resilient, removable covers. I decided to reupholster it in a resilient washable fabric. 

While blended leather is affordable and nice looking at first, it is a nightmare once it starts falling apart and you have to pay more to either reupholster it or replace the entire couch. My in-laws have real leather couches that have lasted more than 11 years and still look great! My couch lasted 4 years before I had to reupholster it. 

So, my advice to you all is go leather or go home. Don't waste your money on the fake stuff unless you have little kids who puke, pee, and poo all over it all the time and wiping it up happens more than 20 times a day in which case you would have to replace what every you owned anyway, unless it was real leather :-) 

I'll have the after post up soon so hang in there. Thanks for stopping by! 

-Debora

Medusa Inspired Tea Kettle From Afghanistan

Hey Debdoozlers! Hope you are all in the best of health and happiness. This weekend I stopped by Afghanistan. What I really mean is the Afghan booth at the Global Village. My goodness, I think I've been to 15 countries this year thanks to that fair. I stopped by Afghanistan mainly to check out their beautiful rugs. Sorry I didn't take any pics, but just imagine unique, beautiful and quality and that pretty much sums up a rug from Afghanistan. Oh, don't forget pricey which would explain why I didn't bring one home. :-( One day, God willing ONE DAY!

Any way, on my way out I was stopped in my tracks when I came across these tea kettles that I like to call Medusa tea kettles. They were soooo cool. I wanted to snag one, but I'm really trying to get a grip on spending on household items. When budget's and desire's collide photos kick in and immortalize the coveted object. Here are a few shots I thought I'd share with you all.

So unique. Have you seen anything like them? Do you think I should have grabbed a set? Hmmmm…..

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Debora