Published On: Mon, May 13th, 2019

Designer with Middle East Experience Joins Clive Daniel Home Boca

Thuraya Khatab

Boca Raton, FL  – From designing sumptuous palaces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s top royalty to helping a family renovate a three-bedroom condo in Boca Raton, Clive Daniel Home’s newest designer, Thuraya Khatab applies the same principles she has used during her 25 plus years as a professional interior designer.

“The environment may be different, but clients still want to be surrounded by beautiful things that make them happy, no matter where they are,” she says.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Thuraya’s father was a developer in Lebanon and Kuwait, where she graduated from an American school. She earned a B.A. in Interior Design from North Texas State University with intentions to work in civil engineering with her father. But her love of architecture and interior design led her to spend 15 years as a commercial and residential design professional in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Fresh out of college, she worked with an architect to remodel the home of a senior Kuwaiti government official, later the Saudi King’s grand-daughter’s custom 35,000-square-foot palace. Other residential and commercial jobs followed in Lebanon and Bahrain, including retail shops, model homes, commercial banks, hospitality projects and a dining room to seat 100 guests. Working with an architect, she provided design consultancy from start to finish for all interior aspects of an eight-story hospital exclusively for plastic surgery patients and presented a series of 20 weekly TV episodes on Interior Design.

In a region where women were not allowed to work and men were the only designers, she quietly did her own trailblazing by teaching interior design and computer art to many of Saudi’s top families. Her membership in exclusive ladies’ organizations opened doors to commercial and residential projects. Adjusting to the culture and traveling with a bodyguard was challenging, but she remained focused on every job.

In reflecting on her time as a design professional in the Middle East, she recalls, “Where ever I lived, it was important to learn about the culture of the area to fulfill the design requirements of clients. They were well traveled, luxury demanding and clients’ budgeting was not an issue. Materials came from all over the world, many custom made.

In 2003, she and her husband decided to move back to the US to raise their two boys, eventually settling in Florida. She worked closely with builders and architects in designing medical clinics, waterfront condos, clothing boutiques and kitchen/bath remodels. For six years, she worked with Bryan Ashley, providing interior designs for five-star hospitality projects. She was also a design consultant for the Breakers, Trump Towers and several Margaritaville hotels, working with interior designers and architects.

These diverse transitions have given her a perspective rarely experienced by many designers.

Adds Lori Mutobaya, General Manager of Clive Daniel Home’s showroom in Boca Raton, “We are delighted to have Thuraya on our design team. Her international experience has enabled her to bring a new perspective to what we do.”

Located at 1351 NW Boca Raton Blvd., the 70,000-square-foot $12 million Clive Daniel Home showroom opened in January 2016 and employs about 65, including 26 professional interior designers. The flagship Naples Clive Daniel Home opened in 2011.

About the Author

Discover more from The Boca Raton Tribune

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading