The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Another day, another mega mall in Cairo. After one week of hysterical brouhaha surrounding Mall of Egypt – the penguins! The snow! The crowds! – we decided to pay a visit to Egypt’s latest and most impressively designed mega-mall to date. Once inside the maze of levels and shops, we noticed that most stores have yet to open, but we enjoyed a good walk around, admiring the birds hanging from the ceiling and the pretty creative lighting designs in a few window displays.

This is when we stumbled upon Beit Matta; a pop-up shop located on the ground floor, just a few minutes’ walk from the infamous ski area. The shop has a minimal sized yet prettily arranged front space, where a display wall carries different furniture pieces, such as stools, mirrors and ice buckets, surrounding a large TV screen showing videos of the store’s set up and production process. The effect is quite mesmerising; especially because of the colour pop of all the furniture pieces: orange, lime green, turquoise and peachy pinks fill up the wall and contrast nicely against the white wall, reminiscent of a Greek island’s colour contrasts.

We liked their large stool (around 2600LE), which is covered in a soft, velvet turquoise fabric with a colourful print pattern of purples, blues and greens, and supported by bright green pillar stools. Equally eye-catching was their candy stool, wrapped in lime green fabric with a plush, swirly design pattern in orange, blue and purple (around 1900LE), as well as a large mirror framed with intricately painted tiles depicting figures from a typical countryside theme.

It’s hard not to notice the grand, velvet couch in royal blue at the centre of the shop, and it’s just as hard not to touch and sit on it – a sign clearly asks that customers not to – and equally eye catching is the chandelier of different levels and different coloured lamps hanging from the right side of the shop ceiling. The brand also sells a range of copper trays, ashtrays, bookmarks and nickel ice buckets, priced between 300LE and 1100LE, which can apparently be personalised according to the customer’s request.

Beit Matta’s products play on Egyptian rural themes but with funky elements, patterns and colours that would attract a younger, trend-conscious consumer and work equally well in Egyptian and international homes. The items feel like they’d belong in a summer home, a space with lots of light and preferably a sea view.

 This is the brand’s first store in Cairo, apart from its Gouna location and branch in Greece. Our understanding is that this sales point in Mall of Egypt is a pop-up for a limited time, while Beit Matta explores other venues and expansion possibilities in Cairo.