_{By Marie Claire Maison | Photography By Walid Rashid}

In the heart of Dubai, far from the deserts that surround it, Pascale Balze has created a lush, layered sanctuary—a home that reads less like a design scheme and more like a memoir in objects.

Having lived in Africa, India, and the UK, Pascale brings to her interiors a cultivated eye and a spirit of unfiltered curiosity. “Walking through the house is like reliving those adventures,” she says, naming places like the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe not as destinations, but as chapters in her life.

Her spaces resist minimalism in favour of meaning. Take, for instance, two bronze statues by Syrian artist Mustafa Ali—solemn figures that she crowned with traditional papakha hats, creating a quiet dialogue between memory and whimsy. “I love the unexpected combination,” she smiles.

The same philosophy shapes her use of greenery. “Perhaps living in the desert has made me crave green,” she muses, echoing her admiration for Geoffrey Bawa’s tropical brutalism, where raw form and natural lushness coexist.

Books and art form the intellectual spine of the home: history and politics in her husband’s study, design and architecture in hers. “Every piece brings a memory back to life,” she says. Yet for all its visual density, the home breathes. It evolves.

Pascale’s approach is deeply personal, almost philosophical. A believer in homes that unfold over time, she advises: “Look to your wardrobe—it reflects your truest colours. Don’t rush. Let the space grow with you.”

In her world, a home isn’t decorated. It’s authored—layer by layer, with thought, humour, and grace.