Morocco: Beauty Around Every Corner
This maximalist palace suited me to the max!
On The Road Again
For our first international trip since 2019, Ernie and I wanted to shake the dust off of our passports by visiting somewhere we have both had on our bucket lists: Morocco!
Morocco has always held a specific charm for me. Hollywood is partially to blame for it; as a young girl, I remember watching reruns of Casablanca on T.V., and being completely captivated by the exotic Moroccan culture which was worlds away from my home in Virginia (I would have been crushed to learn that the film was made on a Los Angeles sound stage!)
Of course, Ernie and I weren’t motivated to purchase plane tickets because of nostalgia for a film, but I think my childhood sense of wonder isn’t too different from my adult sense of wanderlust. It’s the same excited and curious drive to learn about and experience places and cultures different from my own. After a few years of being Stateside, I was itching to explore a country that I imagined would be so different than mine. In my mind’s eye, Morocco and its world-famous crafts would be a visual feast, in line with my own aesthetic preference of “more is more”.
Just as my clients turn to me to get the most out of their design journey, Ernie and I turned to professionals to get the most from our travel journey. Abercrombie and Kent (A&K) have been our preferred small tour group when traveling to exotic places and their itineraries have always given us a great overall feel of the people and the core culture of a new (to us) country. Morocco was no exception with a wonderful tour by bus (and camel!).
Riding a camel felt a lot like riding Western on horseback!
Our itinerary for the Splendors of Morocco tour!
Erfoud was our launching point for an excursion into the Sahara desert, where we stayed in tents and enjoyed an intense sunset tinging the sand dunes red.
Old Meets New
One of my big takeaways of the trip was the juxtaposition of old and new. Traveling the country, we saw farmers using horse and donkeys to plough their fields and the same farmers using solar panels to power wells for water.
There are modern and ancient modes of transportation vying through the streets in every city in Morocco: donkeys and burros, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, all merging to create a rich tapestry of movement!
So many motorcycles!
Checking-in to the timeless, trendy Morocco
The meeting of old and new wasn’t limited to just transportation. It also included our hotels, starting with our first night at the Four Seasons Hotel Casablanca. The hotel looks like a large stone and timber box from the outside: ultra-modern and straightforward. Meanwhile, the interior plays with those same modern sensibilities while also pulling in beautiful examples from Morocco’s vibrant craft culture, with eye-catching examples of mosaics, carved plaster, and pierced brass lighting.
The Four Seasons in Casablanca overlooks the Atlantic.
I loved the mosaic border and the ceramic lanterns lighting the garden walkways.
The pierced metal chandeliers felt like they should be lighting the banquet hall of a Moroccan tent!
Carved plaster work is a hallmark of Moroccan craftsmanship. The intricacy of the design is a visual joy, and offers a welcome distraction from the cool modernity of the hotel’s appointments. I loved the play of styles and textures!
Craft at the Crossroads of Cultures
The aesthetic beauty and range of the craft culture of Morocco are world-famous, but what I think adds an extra layer of beauty is how thoughtfully and masterfully these crafts are created! The techniques used are ancient and reflect the history and culture of Morocco itself.
Morocco sits at a crossroads. Geographically, it’s literally at a trade crossroads, situated at the mouth of the Mediterranean, and it continues to serve as a crossroads for travelers between Africa and Europe today. It’s also at a crossroads culturally, with its long history of trading and conquest. Sometimes, Morocco was being conquered, and other times they were doing the conquering. From ancient times when Morocco’s predecessor, Mauritania, was a satellite state of Rome; to the Middle Ages with the Berber kingdom conquering the Iberian Peninsula; to modern history and the colonization of Morocco by both France and Spain. Moroccan culture has had many influences, and there is quite a bit of cross-pollination in crafts and art.
You can see the French and Spanish influences in Moroccan pastries and fine leather goods.
The French influence is on display in the bakery cabinets, where you can drool over the exquisite patisseries.
. . . and the Spanish influence in the tanneries, where the fine leather goods are on par with their cousins across the Strait of Gibraltar.
Dye and “iferd” vats. If you look closely you can see men scrambling on top of the vats-yikes!
Skins drying after being in vats of “iferd” —- pigeon poo and tannery waste - no, I am not making this up! Read more about the tanning process here.
Enough of the history lesson! Are you ready to go shopping for Morocco’s fabulous crafts? Then we need to head to the souks!
An entrance to a souk in Marrakech
Shop ‘Til You Drop!
The souks (the Moroccan word for a bazaar or marketplace) were something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I found them not just immersive–but also transportive. The same vendors seem to have been selling from the exact same stalls for hundreds of years, the timelessness of their showmanship supported by smartphones and conversations held in English for the tourists.
Lining the long corridors and alleyways were mountains of spices, stacks of rugs, and craigs of pottery, all as layered and vibrant as the vendors and customers who populate the souks. Add to the visual mix a thousand conversations on top of a dozen modes of transportation gave the markets a lively, energetic vibe. The souks can either be open-air markets or permanent structures, with plaster or straw mat ceilings. No matter the building material, though, they are labyrinthine wonderlands. Wherever you look, there are textures, colors, and shapes that are so intriguing, you don’t realize you’re being lured further and further into the maze. Of course, the vendors arrange their merchandise with a mind for sparking a customer’s interest, but they sparked a designer’s interest, too!
Arrangements of ceramics use bold designs and hypnotizing patterns inviting customers to feel inspired to own some fabulous, handmade Moroccan pottery for their home.
The souks’ friendly disorganization accomplishes what a Maximalist space should: creating joy-filled spaces with a disregard to narrow rules of color usage, volume and scale, and transporting customers into a one-of-a-kind shopping experience! There were so many eye-catching pieces, I began to wonder if I should have brought an extra suitcase!
Cooperatives
Another must-stop shopping experience is the artisanal cooperatives (co-ops), which are always part of an A&K tour. Abercrombie & Kent’s mission statement is
“We help nature to thrive and cultures to flourish by positively impacting lives and livelihoods in the communities where A&K guests travel.”
Co-ops are enterprises that are owned and run by their members and, in Morocco, they are regulated by law. One of the advantages of touring with a reputable group like A&K is that they vet the co-ops to better ensure that the money we spent went to the artisans who created the item versus a middleman.
Supporting local artisans by building co-op shopping excursions into our itinerary created such a personal connection for me. I felt that I learned a lot about what goes into creating a rug, a piece of pottery, or a leather slipper, and at the same time, I was supporting the local community with a possible purchase. Shopping at its best–-everyone wins!
Pottery & Mosaics
You can see the progress from clay to finished pottery on the wall above this potter.
The pottery and mosaic cooperative we visited was amazing – and yes, we bought a beautiful pottery bowl– #shoplocal! What made the visit even more special, though, was the chance to watch these craftspeople work; I was mesmerized watching one artist create a mosaic masterpiece building the pattern from memory. For example, in the picture below, the artist is creating a table, where the tiles are arranged on the bottom upside down so that when the table is flipped right-side up, all the colors are facing up. Since this is a delicate process, and the artist can’t lift the tabletop’s frame to check his work, he has to go from memory!
This site has a more detailed description of how these tables, fountains, and wall decor are made.
This fountain would look amazing in someone’s back garden.
Waiting for the pretty to be added!
I desperately was trying to figure out where I could fit a fountain or a fireplace into my home! They ship it all!
I would never get tired of looking at the details in this table.
It was tough to narrow our choices down at the co-op’s storefront!
Our own bit of Moroccan pottery hangs above our Newf bronze we bought in Santa Fe and our vase, which we bought from The Artshak in Southport, NC. The Art Deco-inspired table is a #HPMKT find from French Heritage.
Magic Carpets for Sale!
Aladdin isn’t the only one with a magic carpet; Morocco is full of rugs with beautiful colors, vibrant designs, and lush textures—all of them so masterfully made, you’d think magic had to be involved! Ernie and I bought our own bit of magic—four (!) rugs!
Thanks to the curated co-ops we visited, I learned a bit about the making of these magical rugs. Specifically, at the Palais Quaraouiyine, we learned about how these rugs are a labor of love. Special care is taken in using only natural dyes and many, many, many hours devoted to the weaving of one rug by hand—it can take up to fifteen months for one loomer to produce one rug! It’s a devotion that’s been handed down from generation to generation of rugmakers. Moroccan rugmakers have been making a name for themselves since the time of the Berber kingdom.
However, the folks at Palais Quaraouiyine didn’t limit themselves to just rugs –although, the rugs are enough to spend days ogling over! In a nearby antique shop, they support other Moroccan crafts, including bronze lighting and marquetry furniture. More on that in a minute!
One of the rugs we bought has hieroglyphic symbols of peace and good tidings (at least I hope it does…do we need to Google that?!).
Ernie’s office got an uplift with a rug that incorporated three weaving techniques: embroidery, knotting and weaving.
Rug Buying Tips: Dead Wool vs. Live Wool
Did you know not all wool is created equal? Wool taken from living sheep is superior to wool taken from dead sheep—somehow that makes sense to me!
Wool taken from hides is “removed from a sheep’s hide chemically and is brittle, coarse, poor quality and used in the production of many high volume commercially available rugs. Dead wool rugs also shed profusely. Durable and soft, live wool will retain its lanolin and essential oils, which adds resilience to a rug. The best live wool captures light and diffuses it among its fibers.” (source)
So, if you’re looking to purchase a wool rug to add some color to your floors, knowing the type of wool is a bonus. But how do you know what you’re getting? The answer is to know your rug dealer!
When I’m looking for a rug for my clients, I always specify wool or natural fiber rugs. Check out this video about viscose and natural fiber look-alikes; basically, you get what you pay for. As a designer, part of my job is to vet vendors who source only the best materials and stand behind their products. That’s part of the benefit of using a professional!
Rug Buying Tips: Chemical dyes vs natural dyes in rugs
Again, I’m all about natural! For me, natural dyes are usually an easy choice, however, according to this website, chromium dyes have been developed over the last 40 years, and in quality, they are now almost equal to vegetable dyes. They are colorfast in washing, they do not harm the wool and they offer the rug designer a much wider variety of shades and colors than natural dyes. Most rugs today combine the use of natural and chromium dyes. Awareness of what you are getting for your price point and what your priorities are will help you evaluate if it is worth potentially paying more (or less!) for a rug.
Dreaming in Zellige Tiles
Beyond being gorgeous and masterfully made, Morocco’s mosaics are famous for practically covering the entire country! They’re where I expected to see them—in mosques and restaurants—but also in unexpected places, too. Ambling along, enjoying the sights, or indulging in some shopping, we’d suddenly stumble upon alleyways and back hallways of glimmering mosaics. I loved to find these little pockets of beauty, as though Morocco was letting me in on a cherished secret.
These mosaics are often made of zellige tiles, which I’ve talked about in a previous post. They’ve become a trend du jour here in the United States, but the Moroccans have been hip with the zellige trend since the 12th century when they became common fixtures in architecture. However, mosaics as an art form have much more ancient origins. They began, as all things seem to, with the Greeks and Romans.
A gorgeously complicated mosaic at the roman ruins of the city of Volubilis.
The Roman ruins at Volubilis, a Unesco Heritage site, has many beautifully excavated and lovingly preserved examples of mosaics. Romans were nutty for mosaics, and for good reason! They’re timeless; after two thousand years, they still draw the fascination (and spark the imagination) of interior designers like yours truly!
It was fascinating, and a bit humbling to walk what was left of the streets of this city and imagine the lives lived here.
And now, for your viewing pleasure is a bit of eye-candy of more examples of Moroccan mosaics:
This display showed the different patterns of mosaics —some of them look so modern and all of them are still copied today in design.
On the first day of the trip, we visited the massive Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. It is the largest functioning mosque in Africa. The mosaics were large in keeping with the size of the mosque buildings!
I should have had someone stand next to this fountain. It is enormous!
We saw this combination of carved plasterwork and tilework all over Morocco.
This riad turned rug co-op showed off Moroccan craft to the max: carved plaster, decorative painted wood panels, and gorgeous tile patterns on the walls and floor.
Our hotel in Fes was designed in the authentic style of a 19th-century Moroccan palace. Notice the gorgeous patten play between the floor, wall, and column mosaics which are cheerfully in conversation with the elegant carved plaster Source.
Our sitting room in Palais Faraj with further examples of cheerful mosaic colors and white carved plaster. I love how the bright green painted wood ceiling works happily with the blue, black, and yellow checkerboard floor and dark burgundy woven moroccan rug.
A typical dinner spot in Morocco! The Moroccan mentality seemed to be to try to fill into little corners as many various patterns as possible.
Quick tip: Avoiding tile installation headaches
Are you experiencing mosaic mania just by looking at these pictures? (I know I’m raising my hand!) Are you ready to put them into your home? (My hand is raised higher!) Before either of us get too swept away, I want to share a tip with you: make sure you hire an experienced installer for your zellige tiles. Part of the reason genuine zellige tiles are so desired (and so trendy!) is because of their handmade imperfections and lack of uniformity. However, that makes them extra tricky to install, requiring careful preparation so the completed tile design is smooth and fluid. Trust me, if you spend more up-front on an experienced installer, then you’ll be saving yourself money (and headaches!) down the road.
I love the idea of using zellige tiles as a backsplash for the kitchen sink. Ziatile.com
If you want to play it safer, opt for a porcelain tile that mimics the zellige effect, like Bedrosian’s “Cloe” tile.
Get into Moroccan Mood Lighting
I understand why moths are so intrigued by lights, I’m a lover of lighting, too! I’m often faced with the task of scoring an unusual fixture for clients when I’m sourcing from vendors here in the States. In Morocco, you have another problem: there are too many unique choices!
Navigating the souk was not to be done on one’s own. It’s a labyrinth, and we had a local showing us the way in, through, and out, of the maze. This lighting shop had every imaginable type of lamp in pierced metal. I could have lingered all day in this one shop alone—another reason we had the guide: to keep us moving!
The famous La Mamounia Palace hotel in Marrakesh had beautiful lanterns in their entryway to welcome us in.
The Four Seasons Marrakech couldn’t decide on a lantern either! Why choose? More is more!
Something I learned quickly in Morocco was to always look up! I loved the red tassels on these lanterns.
The pierced brass lighting in this shop bowled me over. They are stunning and I love the lighting pattern play.
So many unusual shapes and patterns in pendants, chandeliers, floor lighting, and sconces.
These torch sconces were one of my favorites—-if you’re looking for a statement piece, look no further!
I was clearly in heaven in this shop!
This gorgeous riad’s lighting played only one part in the theater of this courtyard’s architecture.
A series of pierced metal lanterns we (almost literally) stumbled across in the street!
Marquetry Furniture
And to wrap things up, let’s cover marquetry furniture. Marquetry (pronounced: “market-tree”) is a technique where individual veneer pieces of (usually) wood, but also animal bone and mother of pearl, are assembled into a decorative pattern or design. Typically, you see marquetry styles in small objects, tables, game tables, and case furniture like cabinets. Although wood is not something you’d think of as a main export of Morocco, marquetry crafts fit into the Moroccan design aesthetic of intricate and lush pattern work!
This is the marquetry jewelry box I bought from a cooperative we visited in the seaside town of Essaouira
A lovely coffee table found in an antique and showroom in Essaouria. Think how much time it must have taken to place each of these tiny individual pieces of wood veneer.
Also, can I say, I didn’t need another suitcase for my purchases? Never fear about trying to jam all your pottery, mosaics, and leather finds into your suitcase; vendors are happy to send your purchase(s) home – we bought rugs, pottery, and marquetry and everything was shipped by FedEx in crates. The Moroccan vendors are time-proven professionals: they have been shipping Moroccan finds back to the States for centuries!
Bringing Beautiful Morocco into Your Home
Moroccan crafts use ancient techniques, complex patterns, strong colors, and modern innovation to draw together a storied history of influences–both external and internal–-to create art and craft goods that are fully original, fully distinct, and fully Moroccan!
Throughout the trip, I can’t count the number of times I saw a beautiful piece and began to dream up how I’d center this object d’art in a space designed to match its vibrancy. Now, as I’m back home in Virginia, and reflecting on Morocco’s crafts, I think the key word is “dream.” The objects are certainly as beautiful as a dream, and I’ve already found myself staring at my new pottery, accepting the invitation extended within its eye-catching intricacy to pause, admire, and dream of Morocco.
If you’re ready to start inviting dreamy objects into your home or have a dream for your spaces but you’re not sure how to make it come true, I look forward to talking with you!
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