With its richly layered (and sometimes intentionally mismatched) green interior, this joyful home in Baku signals a welcome return to maximalism where our homes are once again expressive reflections of all that we love.
Arzu Gasimova enjoys her evenings at home – specifically in her dressing room, with its flower-lined jade-green jacuzzi, its three-metre palm-shaped lamps, and a fantastical mural of herons adorning the walls. It is here that one begins to truly understand the Azerbaijani designer’s fascination with magic. “I usually play jazz or Italian classical music in the background,” she muses. In the dressing room, the air smells of scented candles and rose oil and the wardrobes are covered in Gucci’s Herbarium wallpaper, so that it always feels like a secret garden. “After a day full of obligations and social roles, home becomes the sacred place where we return to ourselves,” Gasimova adds.
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Located in the Baku White City neighbourhood, Gasimova's apartment is part of a revitalised development that was once the heart of the city’s industrial zone, and the centre of its oil boom. Overlooking the Caspian Sea, it is now home to tree-lined streets with ample residences and commercial buildings in diverse architectural styles. Gasimova and her family moved into a blank canvas, which is exactly what she wanted. “For me, this was a gift,” she says. “It meant I could create a world from the ground up, exactly as I wanted it to be.”
The designer conjured up a home from her innermost dreams: a world full of enchanting charm, layers of whimsy and fairytale delight. A synthesis of styles have made themselves at home here: a poetic blend of Chinoiserie elegance, old English charm and the joyful brightness of Palm Beach. “I love when spaces feel like stories,” Gasimova says. “This home was my chance to translate my dream worlds into physical forms, a place where different cultures, colours and eras could live together, like a symphony.”
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Before finding her calling as a creator of wondrous interior landscapes, Gasimova worked as an event designer. “When we bought this home, I started searching for someone who could bring my vision to life. But in Baku, no one worked in the Chinoiserie style I had always adored,” she confides. “So I decided to become that designer myself. Interior design, I realised, was not that different from event design, except that now, I was building something eternal, a world that I could live in, instead of only visiting.”
Gasimova's approach was bold and full of character. The verdant green interior scheme is complemented with dusty pinks, Tiffany blues, brushed gold and butter yellows. The elegant hallway is inspired by the splendour of the sea, its soft blue walls echoing the water, while vintage fish prints enrich the marine theme of the space, complete with gilded detailing and marble floors. “Colour speaks to me emotionally. I don’t choose it with logic, but with instinct. It’s like a meditative act. Each room in my home has its own palette, but they sit together in harmony,” Gasimova explains. The same sentiment is apparent in her choice of materials, which she describes as more sensations than surfaces. “I wanted the house to be felt, not just seen. I used taffeta, marble, onyx, carved wood, antique mirrors... My goal was to make every material contribute to a sensory experience.”
Coupled with the confident colour and material palette are the whimsical notes that ground the space – they aren’t an afterthought, but the soul of the home. The kitchen, for example, is a fantasy world in its own right: the sky-blue cabinetry is trimmed in a playful golden tone, and lined with floral wallpaper and a collection of vintage ceramics from around the globe. Hidden inside is a secret stove (“people always smile when they discover it,” the designer says). At its heart is a bottle-green marble island. “The fairytale feeling of the house comes from that part of me that still believes in magic,” Gasimova says. “I was inspired by Chinese gardens, old poetry books and the ephemeral beauty of Chanel’s shows at the Grand Palais. I wanted the house to feel like a worldwithin a world: soft, surreal and a little enchanted.” @arzu__777
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