The Holiday Home: Design, Decor, Dance, and More, Top Tips with Muneeza Nasrullah
“The beauty of the Holiday season is the feeling. It should reflect in the whole house. I like to decorate the whole first floor so when we wake up and come downstairs, it is like entering the holiday season.” Today’s woman dreamer, Muneeza Nasrullah, is truly a creative soul. Design, Decor, Dance, and More. Muneeza shares her lifelong passion for dance and how she finds creativity in her daily life. And as most of us are home for the holidays this year, enjoy Muneeza’s top tips and essentials for the cozy, idyllic Holiday Home!
1) You are a very creative woman of many talents. Tell us your story. How did you find your passion for dance, and the creative world?
My earliest memory of dancing is me sitting on my Dads tummy while he put his thumbs on his shoulders and his middle finger touching one temple at a time . That is the first dance move I ever learned at the age of 4.. To move my neck side to side. My father was very fond of dancing , be it mild bhangra or ballroom dancing. I always got up with him to give him company. My mother was an avid Bollywood fan and would watch every single film released on video cassettes. ( Cinemas could not play any Indian films during my childhood) So I would watch only the songs with her. As I grew older i also developed the love of Bollywood.
I would like to say my dance Guru was Bollywood. Living in a conservative army family as well as in a Muslim culture, my father was against any formal dance training. He would say “Jitna Aata hai, Kafi hai” What you know is quite sufficient:-) So I grew up yearning for an audience and found it in the form of friends and family weddings ( that is still my main audience:-) I always feel TRULY ALIVE when performing. Its a feeling that is hard to mimic… I wish I could earn a living from it:-)
2) Who are some dancers that you admire, and your most favorite performance?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sri Devi, Madhuri, Shilpa Shetty. Grew up dancing to their songs and copying their steps for Hours and hours.
My absolute favorite performance was “Inhi Logon Ne” from the film Pakeeza. I first mastered that song when I was 16 for a college talent show. It has been my claim to fame since then. Basically I have been dancing to that song for almost 30 years. Even my husband who does not understand nor speak Urdu/Hindi knows all the moves to this dance
3) How do you bring creativity to your daily life? How do you keep yourself creatively fulfilled, especially this year?
Cooking is another passion, actually cooking and decorating. I like to focus on presentation as much as the food. I love staging homes. I have painted all my homes myself and change colors and schemes pretty regularly.
4) What was your favorite holiday memory you had? Any special traditions?
Growing up it was always Shab-e- Baraat. We lived in flats and our whole building would have a competition on whose balcony would look the best. My mother would buy us tons of small clay lamps (Diya) and I would spend weeks painting them and decorating them. The whole building would look so beautiful. Another favorite was of course Eid but the most exciting tradition was the night before called Chaand Raat.
My father would drive us to the bazaar and we would get matching bangles for our new outfits for the next morning and get Henna designs. Next morning on Eid day was when we would get Eidi (money for parents and relatives) My kids today like that part the most about Eid:-) actually that and the food:-)
5) You also have a passion for decorating during the holidays. What are your top 3 tips to the perfect holiday home? Was there a particular holiday decor you have done that you would like to share? (Feel free to send any photos of a holiday decor you have done that you would like to share)
ALWAYS buy holiday decor AFTER XMAS in sales…. Local nurseries, Facebook marketplace ( people downsizing will give away boxes full of holiday decor) and yard sales. These ornaments etc cost a fortune if you buy them at full price.
The beauty of the Holiday season is the feeling. It should reflect in the whole house. I like to decorate the whole first floor so when we wake up and come downstairs it is like entering the holiday season.
Fake trees are easy but NOTHING is like the real one. Especially with the heating on or close to a fireplace, a pine tree smells heavenly.
6) How do you make your home cozy during quarantine? What are your essential items?
I try to use what I have in the house for decor. Lots of trees around us here. Just take a walk outside with a pair of shears and find greenery there. Great for making homemade wreaths, mantle decor, center table decor etc. Same with pine cones. Great project with kids would be to paint pine cones and then glitter them. Super cheap.
My second most favorite are candles. I use a lot of empty glass bottles, especially green wine bottles as candle stands. There is nothing more magical than candle light mixed in with glass, greens and pine cones. Again candles can get expensive but a good quality candle will last you much longer than a cheap one. Look in after Holidays sales. That’s where I stock up yearly. Votives, flameless, Pillars etc.
And of course Christmas lights. I tend to prefer the classic warm white and yellow lights. LED lights that are stark white don’t bring out the warmth in a room.
7) As #Dreamcatchers, we would love to know, what is your next big dream?
I would love to make dancing a more regular thing in my life. Maybe in the form of a dance team… I also aspire to be a builder of homes. Some day :)