Style & Taste

Notes on a softer existence.

Style & Taste is the Soft Existence journal — slow reading on considered living in Dubai and the wider UAE. We write about scented soy candles and how fragrance behaves in air-conditioned rooms, about woven cotton baskets and the quiet work of home organisation, and about the kitchen storage that keeps a warm, humid kitchen calm. Everything here is written for homes in this climate, not imported from another one.

The pieces are practical rather than aspirational: fixing a candle that has tunnelled, storing flour and rice through summer, styling a shelf without buying anything new, preparing a majlis for guests. New stories are added most weeks — start with the latest below, or follow the tag on any story to read by theme, from candles and scent to storage, styling and care.

Morning light over a compact coffee corner with two ceramic cups, an oak tray and a clear kitchen counter.

Latest

Dubai Living

Coffee Station Ideas for a Small Kitchen: A Morning Worth Keeping

Coffee station ideas for a small kitchen: one useful corner, considered canisters and a morning routine that leaves the rest of the counter clear.

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Blush frosted-glass soy candle with a bamboo lid sitting in half-unwrapped kraft paper with a cream ribbon and blank tag on an oak table, a second wrapped parcel behind
Candles

Secret Santa Gift Ideas in Dubai, by Budget

Secret Santa gift ideas for Dubai offices and friend groups under AED 100, 150 and 200: lidded soy candles, a woven basket set and a kitchen canister set, with what to avoid and how to wrap it.

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Cream apartment living room dressed for Christmas: a lit amber glass soy candle on an oak console beside eucalyptus in a jug and brass baubles, a woven cotton basket holding a knit throw on the floor and a small potted fir behind
Candles

Christmas Decoration Ideas for an Apartment: Light, Green and Not Much Else

Christmas decoration ideas for Dubai and UAE apartments: low warm light, fresh eucalyptus, one dressed shelf, a small potted tree, a simple table, and everything packed into one basket in January.

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Hygge evening in a cream apartment: a lit blush ceramic soy candle with its gold-trimmed flower lid beside it on an oak side table next to a linen sofa, a cup of tea and an open book, a woven cotton basket holding a wool blanket on the floor
Candles

Hygge at Home in Dubai: The Danish Idea That Works in a Hot Country

What hygge means, how to pronounce it, and how to have it in a Dubai apartment: low warm light, a throw in a basket, natural materials, one candle, and fifteen minutes of putting things away first.

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Anniversary dinner for two at home: a small oak table with a linen cloth, two stoneware plates, two glasses of wine, a white ranunculus in a bud vase, and a lit amber glass soy candle beside a lit white ceramic candle in the centre
Anniversary

Anniversary Gift Ideas for the Home You Share

Anniversary gift ideas by year and by budget for couples in the UAE: paper, cotton, leather and wood done properly, candles for the evening, a basket set, and the kitchen finally sorted.

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Baby shower gift in a pale nursery: a small white and grey woven cotton basket filled with folded muslins and a knitted rabbit on an oak dresser, beside a white ceramic soy candle with a flower lid, a cream ribbon and a blank card
Baby Shower

Baby Shower Gift Ideas the Parents Will Still Use at Two

Baby shower gift ideas for Dubai that are for the parents and the nursery rather than another set of clothes: a woven basket set for muslins and nappies, a lavender candle, and group gifts by budget.

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Thank-you gift for a teacher on a wooden school desk: a blush ceramic soy candle with a gold-trimmed flower lid tied with a cream ribbon and a blank kraft card, beside a stack of three books, a pencil and a small potted succulent
Candles

Teacher Gift Ideas in Dubai That Are Not a Mug

Teacher gift ideas for World Teachers' Day and the end of term in UAE schools: lidded soy candles under AED 100, class-group gifts with a basket set, what to write in the card and how to wrap it.

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Dining table set for four in a cream apartment: a washed linen runner, stoneware plates and linen napkins, a low bowl of pomegranates, dried grasses in a stoneware vase, and a lit amber glass candle beside a lit blush glass candle down the centre
Candles

Dining Table Decor Ideas: Nothing Above Chin Height

Dining table decor ideas for every day and for dinners: a runner, low candles, a low bowl, one rule about height, small round tables, the holidays, and what to keep off the table.

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Scandinavian-style kitchen with pale oak cabinets and a light stone counter, a cream four-piece canister and bread bin set with bamboo lids in a row against the wall, a wooden board leaning behind and a ceramic cup
Dubai Living

Scandinavian Interior Design in Dubai: What to Keep and What to Change

Scandinavian interior design for UAE apartments: the five things the style is made of, where it needs adapting for strong sun and tiled floors, a room-by-room plan, the palette and the lighting.

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Minimalist living room in a cream apartment: an oatmeal linen sofa, a low oak coffee table holding only a lit blush glass soy candle and a ceramic bowl, and a white and grey woven cotton basket set on the floor with a folded throw
Dubai Living

Minimalist Living Room Ideas: Take Things Out First

Minimalist living room ideas for a rental: remove everything unused for a month, three objects on the coffee table, closed storage in a woven basket, one large piece on the wall, a rug, and lamps not ceiling lights.

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Gift for her on a cream linen table: a small white and grey woven cotton basket lined with tissue holding a white ceramic candle and a blush ceramic candle with flower lids, a cream ribbon, a blank card and a dried rose beside it
Candles

Gift Ideas for Her: The Calm Version of Her Own Home

Gift ideas for her in Dubai by budget and by who she is: the candle she would choose, a woven basket set for the pile, the kitchen finally sorted, how to wrap it and same-day delivery.

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Blush ceramic soy candle burning with a small clean flame on a white windowsill beside an open window, a lidded frosted-glass candle and brass wick trimmers next to it
Buying Guide

Are Scented Candles Safe? An Honest Guide to Wax, Wicks and Fragrance

Are scented candles safe? What the wax, the wick and the fragrance actually do, what the research shows, and plain answers on pets, pregnancy, asthma and children, with six rules for a cleaner burn.

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