Indholdsfortegnelse for Modern Living 2021 i Modern Living

After sending this second issue off to print, I can safely tell you that there is nothing quite so dangerous for the wallet as a décor magazine. After more than a year of mooching around our own homes, languishing in front of Zoom screens where we get to peek inside the quartered-off lives of our colleagues, far-flung friends and even the odd celebrity (thanks Insta Live) we are interiors obsessed. And – huzzah, my mother would be thrilled at last! – we are equally gardening obsessed! Being sequestered in our own homes has made razor-sharp decorators of the most lacklustre of us, as we pulled together WFH nooks, colour-coordinated our book shelves, Home Edited our pantry cupboard and painted statement walls. And we grew stuff. Gosh, did we ever? We…

Snuggle into winter with locally-made lofty duvet inners and pillows from Room Service. Each item is super cosy and made with meticulous attention to detail, down to every last stitch. Whether you prefer natural feather and down, hypoallergenic microfibre or repuffable – the choice is yours. We have your dreams covered. Visit www.roomservicehomeware.co.za or call us on 021 933 9824 for more information.…

Colour has the power to transform a room – just ask any interior decorator – but it also has the power to transform a mood… And couldn’t we all do with a little bit of that magic right now?! This new decade’s décor trends see a swing towards punchy colours. These saturated hues are bold and cheering and allow the addition of colour in both small spaces and large swathes. Do as these global home owners did and pull in pops of bright through decor accessories that are easy to change up – and accent walls that can be reinvented whenever you feel the need for change.…

Emily Valentine set out on a mission to make those mundane, but necessary household goods more aesthetically pleasing (hello dog beds and baby baskets). “We wanted to create a brand that focuses on the home and allows our customers to create beautiful spaces with them,” Emily explains. “In essence, it was all about turning practical objects into design objects.” You might recognise these IGfamous dog baskets from You & Lou, which was a business Emily and her best friend, Courtney Eley, set up as a passion project. “Courtney is an owner of the successful clothing brand, Float Apparel, and we came to a point where expansion was proving difficult due to time and the fact that we were solely a pet brand and both had other things going on,” says…

Don’t believe us? Check out Woolworths’ new athleisure range, which offers plenty of textured, cozy white pieces.…

Stonecrest – one of the most beautifully unaltered Edwardian Arts and Crafts homes on the Westcliff Ridge in Johannesburg – is named after the carved stone crest high on its red brick façade. Set above two tall, gracefully arched windows, the crest features a sleek, noble-looking hound at its centre. “One early owner, I was told, had 17 dogs,” says Annabelle Desfontaines, who has lived there for the past 30-odd years and can still remember walking up the driveway for the first time as a young woman with her heart pounding. She has a couple of hounds who look very similar to the one on the crest, which adds a strange sense of timelessness to the way she and her family inhabit Stonecrest – it seems they could always have…

Simply Colour, is reinventing the way we’ll redecorate, forever. Simply start by taking their online colour quiz which, with the help of an artificial intelligence wizard, will help you find the right colour options for your space. And we’re not just talking about the shades that work morning, noon, and night. “We worked with a trend analyst, colour psychologist, and an interior decorator to curate 48 shades that are infused with positive energy to evoke good vibes, and ensure you’ll never need any colours other than what’s in our range,” explains Founder, Megan Shave. “We know that colour profoundly impacts mood so we want to uplift, inspire and evoke positivity in whatever space you’re painting.” Once the AI wizard presents you with recommended colours, you order their Peel+Stick swatches to…

The storied history of this handsome Italianate mansion dates back to the 1880s when it occupied a three-hectare block, complete with horse stables and a carriage path. Commissioned by a banker, the estate has been a family home and a series of reception rooms before being subdivided into flats and a boarding house. While its modifications have been as varied as its tenants, its architectural gentility has always remained intact. After purchasing the property, the current owners also bought the plot next door, so phase one involved amalgamating the two and building a tennis court on the east side of the block. On the west, a pool was relocated and a manicured garden took its place. “While the eastern side of the house is all action - tennis and basketball…

Doreen de Waal is bursting with all the energy, curiosity and warmth you would expect of someone who has taken the decision to open up her home to an ever-evolving mix of tenants from around the world. A respected Cape Town design consultant and freelance stylist, Doreen’s latest project is InAWEStays – a portfolio of Cape Town cottages and loft apartments owned and designed by Doreen and her husband that are available for short or long-term rent to tenants who have come due to work or wanderlust. Three of these cottages are set on the grounds of the beautiful residence that she shares with her husband, Meyer, two youngest children and a menagerie of pets – a historic villa in the heart of Cape Town’s City Bowl dating to the…

“Nothing is more rewarding than finding unloved gems and restoring them to their original splendour,” says Margot Gilfillan who, along with her husband James, own Vredenhof Farm. The property, less than an hour’s drive from Cape Town, is nestled in the Elgin Valley – ‘apple country’ to the locals – and was originally purchased as a home to which Margot’s father could retire. But, unexpectedly seduced by the advantages of country living, the then city-based couple and their three daughters, having spent many weekends and holidays on the farm, decided to renovate its impractical homestead, before relocating permanently in 2014. The twobedroomed cottage was built adjacent to the farmhouse and served as home to the Gilfillan family during the many months of renovation and upgrades to the property. Today, the…

“Why not elevate your displays into living installations by opting for unusual containers and surfaces?” Display plants vertically in a wooden box, old drawer or hexagon or triangular shadow boxes and mount on the wall as a solo display or as part of your gallery wall. To get the look, carefully remove the plant from its plastic pot and set it aside on some newspaper. Make sure the plastic pot fits into your chosen display box and, if using more than one plant, mark out your desired arrangement. Remove the pots and drill small holes, two for each pot (more depending on the size and weight), making sure to align the holes in the box with those in the base of the plastic pots. Use gardener’s wire or cable ties…

The newly-launched Art Gazette platform is led by the former CEO of London’s Saatchi Gallery, Nigel Hurst; South African art collector, entrepreneur and philanthropist Martin Epstein and curator Morné Visagie. Says Nigel: “The past year has been unimaginably challenging for artists around the world, so we [were] delighted to officially launch Art Gazette as a viable, alternative revenue stream at a time when many artists are struggling to make ends meet. As we begin to emerge into a post-Covid world, it is critical that the visual arts sector continues to innovate and create new opportunities for artists and buyers.” In a nutshell, Art Gazette focuses on smaller pieces and recognises work that is not ordinarily monetised, such as preliminary studies and sketches that would rarely be exhibited. By working with…

Aside effect of global lockdown has got to be the uptick in gardening. Whether you’re growing your own veggies, finally watering your house plants or planting OTT floral displays, over the past year, the planet has taken up gardening with gusto! FYI, GlobalData undertook a survey last year and gardening was listed as the second most popular hobby, ahead of cooking and reading. The gardening app Candide doubled in the space of a year, but who else should you be following locally for garden inspo? Stellenberg Gardens @stellenberggardens Situated at the crossroads of what were once four oak-lined avenues in upper Kenilworth, the old Cape Dutch homestead of Stellenberg is surrounded by enchanting gardens and mature trees. There are sixteen distinct areas in the gardens, all of which are shown…

WHAT TO PLANT Plants suitable for terrariums must fulfil three basic requirements: they must enjoy high humidity and low to moderate light levels, and they must remain relatively small. HERE’S A LIST OF THE TOP 10 PLANTS THAT WILL LOVE A GLASS HOUSE: Ferns Selaginella moss Miniature orchids African violets Tillandsias — air plants Carnivorous plants Helxine soleirolii — peace in the home Coleus Cyclamens Pileas It all began with one Dr Nathaniel Ward, way back in 1829. Ward was a physician in London and, like the rest of the empire, obsessed with collecting things. Colonies, animals, plants — Britain’s thirst for all things exotic was in full swing. Transport took long, often many months, and most birds, bees and trees didn’t make it to HQ London. Dr Ward kept…

The science of styling is a curious thing: an alchemy of practical knowhow, an astute understanding of visual balance, a knowledge of design both past and present, an ability to interpret future trends and, of course, an indefinable touch of magic. It seems portentous then, when speaking to this maker of modern fantasies, to discover that Jean-Christophe Aumas’ apartment was once inhabited, in the early 19th century, by a “famous Parisian sorcerer, fortune teller and magician.” Before launching his agency, Singular, Jean-Christophe headed the visual identity department at Louis Vuitton under the helm of Marc Jacobs. Now his original touch is coveted by a client list that reads like the pages of Vogue: brands such as Céline, Dior, Boucheron, Nina Ricci, 3.1 Philipp Lim, Kenzo, Cacharel, children’s clothing labels Bonpoint…

Chelsea Hing’s ‘boom’-style terrace in Melbourne’s Bayside operates effectively as both an office and a home. The design studio is celebrated for its fearless use of colour. As the webiste attests: “our work is marked by soulful, expressive spaces, with a distinctly charismatic style.” And you can find it all right here, in her home too. THE VILLAGE ENERGY “It’s a quiet cul-de-sac that feels really removed but is just 10 minutes from the city. The pace is slower, it’s a short walk to the beach and the local strip has everything: wine bars, bookstores, cafés. I don’t really need to go elsewhere, it’s so convenient. There’s a village vibe with lots of crossings and everyone gives right of way to pedestrians. If someone barrels past you, we know that…

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to join the 26.6K interiors enthusiasts following Vongai Mapho’s home Instagram account, @ByVongai_Home. Her feed is meticulously curated with aspirational, yet achievable snaps of her own home. We’re talking endless scrolling of clean, white, intimate corners, which are oohed and aahed over by her online audience. An audience, which has grown with Vongai along her path of self-discovery. Originally a nurse, Vongai reveals that she woke up one day and realised she needed a career change, “I was honestly fed up with being in the hospital and old age home setting, so I decided to start creating content. Well, I began doing make-up on people but quickly realised that I could be a digital content creator, sharing make-up tips online. I think right…

Cape Town-based magazine editor, stylist and interior designer Laureen Rossouw first saw this house five years ago. She and her husband, Koos, were about to move out of their City Bowl apartment and she spotted a picture of “a dilapidated house with classic Bauhaus lines” in the newspaper. “I thought it might be a bad picture or wishful thinking,” she says, but she rapidly made her way to the house, which was in the ideal location in the City Bowl suburb of Oranjezicht, on the edge of one of Cape Town’s most charming parks. As soon as she saw the characterful, mid-20th-century building, which most definitely did have Bauhaus ‘bones’, Laureen was smitten. “I immediately phoned Koos to tell him I had found my dream house and he loved it…

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IsoBoard offers an easy-to-install insulation solution to fit to new builds or retrofit to existing buildings. This enables your home to manage external temperature fluctuations with ease, maintaining comfortable living and working spaces for the lifetime of your building. Suitable for all the different areas in your home, this environmentally responsible thermal insulation solution is as versatile as it is effective. You’ll keep your home’s temperature steady, which means using less electricity for heating or cooling. Did you know? For more tips, tricks and information, visit www.isoboard.com, like us on Facebook.com/isoboard and follow us on Twitter @isoboard. GET IN TOUCH CAPE TOWN 021 983 1140, southsales@isoboard.com DURBAN 031 569 1800, dbnsales@isoboard.com PRETORIA 012 653 8204, northsales@isoboard.com…

An ornately carved Moroccan door leads from the large Berliner Zimmer to the bedroom in Kasia Korczak and Payam Sharifi’s apartment in a classic Gründerzeitwohnung in Berlin Moabit. Payam says that when it’s closed, it has a trompe l’oeil effect; guests often don’t realise that it’s a real door. “Because it doesn’t fit in that environment – there’s this traditional Moroccan door squeezed into a 19th century house – [they assume that] it’s a sculpture or a wall piece,” he says. “They don’t think it opens up.” But it does, and it has a curious psychological effect. “There’s an open-sesame effect of opening an old wooden door, as opposed to a standard door, which makes the passage into the bedroom more pronounced, dividing the private space from the more public…

Finding the perfect home can often be what, at first, appears to be an impossible attempt to make two ends meet in a single space – secluded but cosmopolitan, modern but romantic. Yet, here in Cape Town’s tucked-away suburb of Tamboerskloof, with its tree-lined cobbled streets dotted with Cape vernacular heritage homes, the old and the new have come to coexist in quiet harmony. Homeowner and property developer Bruce Peach of Mason Developments was looking for a home that veered away from the modern and soulless. “He wanted to live in an urban environment but from the spaces he required a sense of heritage,” says Johannesburg-based fashion designer-turned-interior decorator Lindie Ferreira, who was tasked with making the homeowner’s vision a reality. “He loves authenticity and history, having spent so many…

What I like most about living here is the quiet, and yet I can walk everywhere… I can be in the city centre in minutes, without having to get into my car,” says Sanet Coetzee, co-owner of VM Central & Olive Studio, a visual consultancy based in Woodstock, as she stands on the small balcony of her top-floor apartment in Cape Town’s inner-city suburb of Oranjezicht. From the sweeping views of Table Mountain to the abundance of indoor greenery, to the tranquillity that permeates every inch of this two-bedroomed home and extends into the street beyond the block, a superb example of Art Deco architecture, it’s hard to believe that the city centre’s trendiest design districts, restaurants, coffee shops and, well, everything could be within such easy reach. But if…

Rich, moody hues and a more-is-more aesthetic are evergreen décor favourites, but as our world outside became a scarier place, the world of interiors saw a distinct uptick in this cocooning, multi-layered style… One that is resplendant with colour, fabric, texture and an overall sense of cosiness. Think fireplaces and candles; generously stuffed cushions adorning roomy couches and day beds; wallpaper and heavy framed artworks; dramatic ornaments and pottery; glassware and objets.…

Much of the Victorian era was about being rather prim and certainly very proper, and other than the ‘fripperies’ of lace-patterned iron-mongered trims, homes built in South Africa during this era, tend to follow a definite plan and style without digressing from the architectural norms of the time. Rural towns are full of examples of these Victorian homes and, for the most part, they’re viewed with fond nostalgia, with many since restored to their former glory, filled with gleaming antiques and Persian rugs. For interior designer Etienne Hanekom, that’s the last thing he envisaged for the down-at-heel Victorian dame he discovered in Robertson, a country town, situated an hour and a half from Cape Town. “I discovered the house by mistake. I was looking for a weekend place and a…

Meet Khanya Mashabela – she is a curator at the Norval Foundation, a private museum in Steenberg, Cape Town, which collects modern and contemporary art and produces exhibitions which are open to the public. It also has a sculpture garden where it displays world-class sculpture by the likes of William Kentridge and Yinka Shonibare in a picturesque setting. Khanya found her niche through writing for online magazines. She was fortunate to have met the right people at the right time and she created a supportive network of art professionals at a relatively young age. For Khanya, being an art curator means working with artists to create exhibitions that translate ideas that might be complex, into a language that feels immediate and creates an emotional response in the audience. “Art is…

DESIGN TIP Avoid your woven wares feeling too rustic and crafty by paring back the rest of your space so that the tactility of the weave speaks for itself. This will give you a much more elevated and modern look.…

Nombuso Dowelani documents her personal experiences using different mediums of art – consisting of paintings and prints – to engage with topics like fractured identities, being black and the adversities of being a black woman, sexuality, South African pop culture and personal experiences. Nombuso’s art is inspired by the women who raised her, women she has read about and the women she interacts with in her everyday life. The 21-year-old Johannesburg-based artist was one of 15 artists selected to showcase her work – a digital artwork “Madonna in Africa” – in online gallery Pitroda Art’s inaugural exhibition, which was displayed in five cities in the United States. Madonna in Africa is a remake of Raphael’s painting titled “Sistine Madonna” also called “Madonna di San Sisto’’, which was commissioned by Pope…