We caught up with Noor Charchafchi, director of luxury interior design company Celine Estates.
My car of choice
I am a Range Rover girl, I love the strength and power of a big car and being a mum with three kids also means I need the space!
My favourite holiday destination
I love spending time in the Middle East. I am an Iraqi Londonner and so I love to be able to have my children spend time amongst other Arabs and be around their colourful cultural background. The Midde East is an extraordinary place, Saudi Arabia is flourishing at the moment, Lebanon even with all it’s troubles is an absolutely beautiful country with an energy like no other, Jordan boasts beautiful sites and the Emirates is just a world of its own, full of everything and anything you could dream about. I also love to travel to Paris, I love the whole of France and I love the fact that it’s just a few hours away on the train and I love train travel!
My gadget I can’t live without
My phone, definitely. No explanation neeeded I guess in today’s tech-mad world.
My go to fashion brand
I am obsessed with fashion that reminds me of the female form so something structured to signify a woman’s strength mixed in with soft curved lines or fabircs to reflect a woman’s softer side. I also love fashion that comes with a wealth of history, a story behind the brand captures my imagination and passion for the brand. To that end, the brands I love are McQueen, Balmain, Chanel and Delpozo is now definitely one of my favourites.
My airline of choice
I have to say that I feel the Middle East does flying like no one else. I feel the Middle East understands and appreciates luxury in a very real sense and they bring that to life in their aviation fields. Emirates is clearly an incredible choice, they have excellent service and beautiful aircraft. Royal Jordnian have also invested in a beautiful new fleet of aircraft and they are also a great airline.
My favourite watch brand
I am actually not a huge fan of watches or jewellery. I love design and appreciate beautiful jewellery and watches although I don’t have a passion for the subject. I really do not like the Apple watch which everyone in my family seems to have (including my kids), I feel there is so much Apple around to have it on your arm too is a bit much. I do love the look of a beautiful watch, I just tend to appreciate it more on someone else!
My favourite restaurant
My favourite restaurant is a tapas style Indian restaurant in London called Amaya. I also love the food at the new Oswalds private members club in London, I think the food there and at 5 Hertford Street is second to none and very little else competes. I also love the Jean Georges at the Connaught for dinner and a must have daytime club sandwich at the Dorchester tea room for lunch!
My guilty pleasure
Interiors. Chocolate. Fashion.
My favourite way to give back
I don’t think I have a favourite way necessarily but I do love to give back if I can and we are always trying to think of new routes and options in which to make sure we are giving back. I make sure my kids never (or at least try to never) walk past someone in need without buying them a meal for the day. I try and make sure my business gives back thorugh different types of schemes where we offer our time back. There is a charity I feel particularly passionate about called the Chain of Home who carry out life saving heart operations for children all over the world, I think this is definitely one of the charities that is on my list of those I would like to offer more to.
