Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — As majority of young Saudis are now seeking to find new modern interior designs, yet some others still go for classic wooden home products. According to Ghassan Jerbaka, technical manager at Ashohan International Contracting and Interior Design Group which sells handmade wooden tables, chairs, beds, and doors, they are still serving their loyal consumers. Despite their high costs that start at SR160,000, they still believe they are attracting the young generation. “People value our products, and they still buy them despite the presence of the new fashion and modern designs.” The demand for classic designs did not decrease in the last 30 years, he said, instead people are now appreciating the quality of their products even more. Jerbaka comes as a distinguished booth at the Decofair exhibition which was inaugurated here in Jeddah on Sunday evening, as majority of exhibitors are competing to provide only-modern designs and prefer to stay away from classic designs as they are not attracting the young generation. Sisters Hatoun and Rahaf Al-Sharif who graduated from interior design started their consultation and design office along with a furniture store. The two sisters started operating in the market four months ago and said they are doing “very well”. They have benefited from their father's engineering company and started to have their own path in design. “We get our ideas from the international fashion trends and we get inspired by international fashion brands including Channel and Tiffany,” said Hatoun Al-Sharif. Some conservative people however do not welcome their designs, said the sisters. They design chairs that are shaped as human and also use animal images in their designs. Yet they said people are interested in their designs and they have been receiving many orders from consumers. The two sisters buy their products from Italy and manufacture them in Hong Kong. In the future, the sisters want to have an independent factory operating here in the Kingdom. According to them, people used to go for brands only because they are not aware of what is new and is of high quality but things have changed now. “People, especially the youth, are more aware now and are looking for variable options even if they are not branded. We offer different options for our consumers that is suitable to their budgets.” Muaz Al-Katani, the CEO of Design Development Company, said that the main challenges that face décor sector in the Kingdom is the imitation of interior design and the architecture.
