DeKamer is a network of co-working spaces, created by Jeannine van der Linden. Since the first location opened in 2010, DeKamer has grown organically to nine locations in the Netherlands. With the growth and various locations, DeKamer has also seen many types of coworkers.
Rana Salah is one of the many interesting coworkers who makes use of DeKamer. She uses DeKamer as a flexible fulfilment centre for her interior design business, Golden Glam. You can get inspired by Golden Glam latest home decor trends and on Instagram.
Rana’s passion for interior design first started as a hobby, while she was working in the corporate world in the finance sector. Her passion for interior design grew and later she moved away from the corporate world to create her own business to help others design and furnish their spaces.
Recently Rana moved to the United States but has remained a part of the De Kamer community and with the community can continue operating her business in Europe, Middle East & North Africa, and the United Kingdom.
About Rana and Golden Glam
Rana is an interior stylist and a co-founder of Golden Glam – a Dutch retailer of home furniture, lighting, and accessories. Golden Glam also offers interior design consultations, developing a team to work with you to select the best pieces to make your space beautiful. Rana and her team are devoted to taking your unique styling ideas and turning your house into your fabulous dream home.
Surprisingly, being an interior designer was not Rana’s first choice. Prior to this she worked a corporate job in the finance function of a large multinational corporation. Her motivation to pursue her dream in interior design was driven by her friends who were able to see her talent and build her courage, always complimenting her skills and sense of interior style.
“It feels natural to me to design spaces,” says Rana “it comes naturally and I really enjoy it.” Rana says that she started by helping her friends furnish their houses, and with each completed project she continued to fall more and more in love.
During her early days working with interiors, Rana built on her passion by teaching herself some industry standard rules. She developed her skills by taking Interior stylist courses from top ranked institutes and professionals. Thereafter, she went on to start her own business: Golden Glam.
The adventures of Rana
Initially Golden Glam only serviced clients in the Netherlands, but the company has since grown to offer their services and products to clients across Europe, the UK, and East Africa. When Rana decided to move to the United States, she chose to keep using DeKamer as a fulfilment centre. It made it easier to ship the products off to clients in Europe, UK, and Eastern Africa.
During the global pandemic, Rana offered virtual consultations with her clients to see how their spaces could be furnished. With most travel restrictions now lifted worldwide, Rana is able to travel again and do site visits.
Though, the pandemic taught her some interesting tactics, and after her site visits, she has shifted her model so that the rest of the consultations can happen both on-site and online.
“I have a large number of expat clients in the Netherlands,” explains Rana. For them it is important to have someone with experience designing their space. This is mainly because of the individual nature of the business – after all, different countries have different types of houses and sizes. Coming from another country to Europe can be quite a shock, especially when it comes to designing a space.
Another part of Rana’s journey is to assist couples with designing their dream home. “It can become quite a challenge to try and make different aesthetics within a relationship work within a space,” says Rana.
She enjoys the challenge and sees it as a way to express her creativity and ensure that both parties in the relationship love the end result.
Her inspiration
“There’s a lot of things that inspire me: the colours of nature are one of my biggest inspirations,” says Rana. She also loves symmetry and tries to incorporate it where she can.
One of the major things that help her through the design process, is to take inspiration from the culture and the aesthetic of her client and build upon their taste.
“I always find it important to create something that is practical and has harmony, but also something that is balanced,” says Rana. She also finds it important to create a space that is interesting to be in and does not leave people feeling bored.
Designs need to be timeless, so that you wouldn’t want to change something too soon. Rana says she always aims for something that is cosy, homey, and easy to live in.
“It’s always a very thin line between each point and I tried to balance all of this and create a mix of different styles,” says Rana. Creating harmony and balance in your space is key, she says, because the spaces we spend our time in affect us psychologically.
Creating harmony
To create balance and space in harmony is not as easy as it sounds. Often Rana finds that her clients like a piece of furniture in a catalogue or at the store, then they bring it home and they feel it does not fit within the space. Rana explains that it’s just a matter of incorporating the piece rather than just putting it in an empty spot.
“Sometimes harmony is achieved with symmetry and sometimes with contrast,” says Rana. Other times, Rana says, pieces are just not meant for a space and though it looks great on show, it won’t always make sense in your space.
Creating balance becomes an easier task when done from scratch, but once there are other base pieces involved it can become more of a challenge. But, a challenge has never scared Rana. She loves figuring out how to make sure that existing pieces and new ones work together.
Being able to run a fulfilment centre from another country has helped Rana and her clients to create harmony in their homes even when she is not on the same continent. Making use of DeKamer as a fulfilment centre has allowed Rana to ensure that the products are delivered to their clients in a rapid and orderly fashion, with the personal touch and attention to detail that is central to all that Golden Glam does.
