The following is a guest post from the Dihzahyners, who along with Dispatch Beirut, renovated an old stone house on Geitawi Street in Achrafieh. With generous amounts of paint provided by their sponsor, Colortek, they set out to pull the house out of its dire state and transform it into a wonderland.


A Little Wonderland started out as an old untouched space. It originally consisted of a broken-down house, a fountain and a series of rusted walls and doors. It was ignored and was treated as a garbage disposal. 

The house before its renovation

We started off by renovating the space and making it friendly enough for us to work with. We then began applying applying our artistic elements. For the walls, we applied a heavy coat of white paint in order to hold up a coat of color. Afterwards, we painted the walls a turquoise blue. 

Preparation

Working on the exterior

We applied a lilac purple on the doors and shutters, taking into consideration the small details on the doors such as the iron bolts and the screws on the sides, which we also painted in a metallic purple or a royal gold.

Taking on different tasks

Front door details

Stencilling the fountain Then, using the patterned stencils at hand, we painted in the details on the retouched surfaces of the fountain - ornamental flowers of blue, red and yellow, to stand out and give it that vintage feel.  Designs of beautiful birds, cages and flower pots were also illustrated and painted on the door.

Dispatch Beirut bring in their signature touch

When the painting job was almost done - we began with the exterior elements that would liven up the house and make it pop out; the painted bicycle which would hang above the door, the pots filled with flowers covering the surrounding, the roof of the house, and finally, the lanterns lit with candles inside. We placed the lanterns on the old tree bark and the edges of the old doors.