The force behind Razzmatazz is a woman, Nadia Sabry. The name she chose for her gallery of home furnishings reveals her passion for distinctive furniture and accessories: “Razzmatazz sounds so different from other names, it stands for something special and glamorous at the same time” she says.
Although the shop opened nine years ago, Nadia explains that she began making her first pieces of furniture in Saudi Arabia where she lived for six years in Jeddah. She began designing and supervising the making of unique coffee tables and chairs for her friends and herself. Following her husband, a medical doctor, to Switzerland and Saudi Arabia, she soon discovered, while furnishing her house, that she did not particularly like the furnishings available. “We moved often, and I found myself preferring to design my own furniture and having it made” she explains.
When she returned to Egypt nine years ago, she continued designing furniture — first displaying her pieces in a friend’s shop and shortly after, starting her own business which has become a success story. Nadia began with one employee and she now has her own factory where she is surrounded by a team of dynamic and creative professionals.
Razzmatazz, an elegant jumble of furniture and home accessories, reflects the owner’s taste. She feels that people are increasingly looking for genuine pieces and not the global brands which are sold the world over. She is also quick to notice that Arabs are also losing their so-called ‘khawaja complex’ — the feeling that anything foreign is better. In the Middle East and the Gulf, an increasing number of people are rediscovering the beauty of their cultural heritage. After the craze for Mexican and Far Eastern styles, especially Thai, Arabs are now longing for traditional Arabic architectural and decorative elements in their homes.
With an eye for beauty and practicality, Nadia creates unique pieces made exclusively from natural materials, mainly wood and stone. “The satisfaction I get from conceiving the idea for a piece of furniture and then seeing the finished product cannot be compared with selling a product I had no hand in creating. I also like to think I am contributing to my country’s economy by using local labor and materials,” she says.
One of her first pieces was a wooden cupboard decorated with attractive woodcarvings. Her current interest is to reinvent the mashrabiya and the art of inlay. The term mashrabiya refers either to an architectural element, a bay window, or to the turned-wood screens, rather than the technique by which they are produced. It can truly be said that the art of producing panels of turned wood is still thriving in Cairo and the turners easily rank as the most skilled craftsmen in the capital. The most beautiful pieces are made of turned wood elements only a few millimeters square though that corresponds to an outstanding 12,500 pieces per square meter. Although such panels are no longer produced, screens with 4000 pieces per square meter are still made. It is interesting to know that the names (each piece of a mashrabiya has a name), shapes, sizes and techniques have remained unchanged since Ottoman times.
Nadia Sabry feels that the overall effect of the mashrabiya is too heavy and she is creating a lighter, more contemporary look for this ancient craft.
In addition to her line of furniture, Nadia also offers an array of home accessories such as lamps, floor lights, wall lights and chandeliers. She stresses the importance of indirect lighting in a room. Lighting gives things their existence, she explains and how something is lit enhances its beauty. She works closely with the artist, Maha El-Gharbawy, who specializes in hand-crafted copper lamps and chandeliers with red, blue and green colored blown glass. Each piece is unique and displays a superb craftsmanship; when it is lit up, it creates a soothing atmosphere.
Nadia admits that setting up her business was not difficult: “I think one of the main reasons I succeeded in my business is because I sincerely care more about customer satisfaction than about making money. We have a base of loyal customers who keep coming back because they know we will always strive to satisfy them. I also have a very loyal and motivated team and we share a great team spirit. Each worker has a share of the profits and everyone is encouraged to contribute to any decision making.”
For more information on Razzmatazz visit:
www.razzmatazzinteriors.com