My Design Indaba recap

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Karisa

This year’s Design Indaba which took place at the CTICC from 27 Feb to 3 Mar was a visual feast as always… On the day I was very much drawn mostly to the decor / interior design sections (oh and the food section - come on now, you know me ). For some weird reason I wasn’t really in a fashion and jewellery mood, so therefore you’ll see that my recap is mostly focused on all things to beautify your home. But don’t you worry, I have some really amazing things to show you.

I did at least catch a bit of one of the fashion shows and I totally loved the Design Indaba ramp setup this year. Check it out:

Cool hey? Very retro and weird and interesting… all the good things really.

The show was for Chimpel who specialises in luxury leather accessories and whoever came up with the idea of putting all the models in simple black deserves a high 5. It certainly ensured that the accessories and the accessories only took centre stage.

The Chimpel stand in the fashion area

Now for the rest of my findings…

Loved these colourful “Play Play” cabinets by De Steyl. They’re all the way from the Garden Route and for these babies you can select your cabinet size & style, what colours you want and what furniture feet you want. They’re made from Birch Plywood with laminate faces and finished in natural oil:

They say these are “Furniture for kids of all ages”. Now I certainly no longer classify as a kid, but I still try to be a kid at heart at least. I loved these, they made me smile and I could easily see one of them in my home, kid or not.

Still in the category of wooden cabinets, how insanely beautiful is this piece by Andrew Dominic who does private commissions and custom interiors:

I won’t lie, it took us a while to figure out how to open it, but you just gently push and ta da…

Lucas R Adams from Kraftisan offered up some fun, environmentally friendly lamps and laptop stands:

And I was totally obsessed with these moustache cups from Quirky Me (they’re situated in the Old Biscuit Mill btw):

“Do epic shit” – I agree!

Other ceramic pieces which caught my eye were these cute animals in bowls and on plates by Cath Price Ceramics:And other intersting things included the following (apologies, I realised afterwards that I didn’t get business cards / names for all, but I’ve tried my best to add that info in where I could):

Top: bamboo & brass lights by MOS (Makers of stuff) products, with names like “The Smile” and “The Cloud”, they were just absolutely magical; Bottom left: wooden monkey (I freakin’ love monkeys – designer unknown); Bottom right: light bulb heart light (designer unknown)

Clockwise from top left: raw wood table with glass top (designer unknown); Graeme Bettles Design sitting lamps; graphic & colourful side tables (designer unknown); cool skull fabric by Hands that Rock the Cradle

Clockwise from top left: Wintec Innovation (winners of the Innovation Award for their Stratflex furniture system which allows rigid boards to become flexible); Photo Blox by Jasmin on Jupiter; Meyer von Wielligh designs (loved this plant inspired book shelf); then loved that woven chair in the middle (designer unknown)

Bjorn was very drawn to this stand by Thingking with their version of a Rube Goldberg machine which is a deliberately over-engineered machine that has to perform a very simple task in a very complex way, using chain reaction events. For example here the ball has to travel from one end to the other, but it has to do so by passing over and through various weird & wonderful things that ensure that the ball keeps moving:

They actually won the 2013 Most Creative Stand award…

And I was captivated by this little sheep dressed by cowgirlblues who designs knitwear made from top quality, natural & local fibres sourced from Karoo sheep & goats farms:

Hello babba… you wanna come home with me?

I also loved these little recycled robots by Jasper Eales Original. Don’t they just look like the possible character lineup for the next Pixar film in the making?

Want one? Then contact him on 082 224 3749 or jabbaeales@yahoo.com

Because I’m allergic to pollen, these beautiful hand-painted paper flowers by Durban based Freshly Found were also right up my alley:

And they won’t die!

Now you might have heard that Gavin Rajah‘s pebble dress won the prize of Most Beautiful Object in South Africa:

Photo credit: Gavin Rajah Facebook page

And I agree, it is quite spectacular. I couldn’t even imagine what it must feel like to wear a piece like that. Stunning.

But my personal most beautiful object has to go to the cupcakes from Queen of Tarts :

Cupcakes are a form of art to you know…

All ‘n all the Design Indaba was a very inspiring day out. Well done to all the creatives who exhibited this year. It’s so exciting to see how South Africans are pushing the boundaries of design, thinking outside of the box and creating things that uniquely African.

I sadly left there wanting to change up pretty much my whole apartment (again). Hopefully one of those “you’ve won the <insert name here> lottery” emails will come through… ** crossing fingers **

xxx

PS. If anybody can confirm the designers I missed above, please leave a comment below and I’ll update the post.

Dark Horse & Kingdom brings amazing things together under one roof

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Karisa

The few weeks ago I told you about the new Woodstock Exchange in Albert Rd. It’s the new home of Superette as well as lots of other great creative spaces and a definite must see if you’re looking for that something different for yourself or your home.

Anyways, I went back for another visit recently because there’s this shop called Dark Horse & Kingdom which I fell in love with the first time I saw it and I just had to go back to take some piccies to show you guys what amazing things they have…

Now as the name would suggest, it’s actually two labels sharing one roof. Dark Horse is a Cape Town based design studio which makes beautiful leather goods and some rather quirky furniture (oh and their actual studio has also found a new home at The Woodstock Exchange – you’ll find it on the first floor). Whereas Kingdom searches the world (think India, Morocco, Europe, etc) for unique treasures and then brings them together in one store for you to explore without having to fork out any travel costs yourself. How much do you love that?

Some of the Dark Horse leather goods. Absolutely love that leather laptop bag.

Some great South African finds are also included in the Kingdom stock. This is such a great place to find that “talking piece” you’ve been searching for.

The store also stocks a small fashion selection for both ladies & gents:

They source Dutch labels and such. So again, in keeping with the “something different” theme.

Guys will especially love their selection of panama hats, leather bow ties and poor boy caps to create that perfectly suave, vintage look:

And girls will love their wide range of fun & striking accessories:

I was lusting over quite a few things. But the following were my absolute favourites:

Beaded clutch – R800. Paired with a sexy LBD, yes please.

Art piece – R860. I know, they look kinda sad… But that’s exactly why I had an undying want to take them home with me!

Didn’t get the price of these art deco style cups & saucers. But how stunning are they? Almost too pretty to use, but I definitely would.

Colourful sling bag – R660. I’d be the most fashionable person at the next music festival for sure.

But sadly I’m currently trying to save up for something quite big I can’t talk about just yet… so I had to leave these beautiful babies behind.

** my heart has a big hole in it now **

But maybe you guys can go shop there and then tell me what you got and that way I’ll just vicariously shop through you?

So to recap:

You’ll find them at: 66 – 68 Albert Rd, Woodstock Exchange Building, Ground Floor Retail – Unit AG09

And their opening hours are Mon – Fri 10am to 4pm and Sat 10am to 3pm. Go spend, spend away! (I’m totally envious)

xxx

Weird & wonderful things at REcreate

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Karisa

Another really great Woodstock find was a store called REcreate. REcreate actually shares the same address with Vamp Furniture, but I guess you can say they sit at the front of the property and Vamp is at the back. If that makes any sense…

I really love their business description: “Extraordinary Repurposed Furniture” because well, what you’ll see inside really is exactly that. Extraordinary, unique & very special.

Owner Katie Thompson (also super lovely – these Woodstock folks seem to be so chilled) takes things some might consider as junk and gives it a new life, but in a totally different form. That sounds weird, right? I know. It is weird, but it’s also really interesting & very cool. Katie’s store also has that magical feel to it, like a treasure chest just waiting to be discovered…

Here are some of the things I loved and they’re all great examples of this “one thing becomes another” technique of Katie’s:

Old pot lids are now kitchen clocks – R230 each

Antique teacups become a beatiful lamp – R1600 (excl shade)

Rustic milk cans become handy seating – R1990 for the big one in front

Oh and she also has a really awesome collection of old suitcases. She turns them into other things, but you can also just buy them as is. I’ve seen them used as decor pieces and they just look so cool. Prices vary but you’re looking at R120 for a little one up to approx. R500 for a big one.

Here’s one example of what she does with the old suitcases. She turns them into chairs! R5900

Or what about using it as a little medicine cabinet – leather suitcase cubboard R1980

Have you ever thought: I wonder what happens to old keyboards? Well Katie turns their keys into fun fridge magnets. Genius. R2 each or R250 for a whole jar.

This was my favourite suitcase chair, covered with natural linen R7950

And it has a really beautiful matching sink bath ottoman for R5950. But the really cool thing is that you can open it up and use it for storage as well.

Some more stools, but this time made out of old oil tins R2930 (those are real leather seats)

And then last, but certainly not least – this suitcase side table for R2800. I’m really trying to work out how I could use this piece in my space at home. Just love it. But love the fact that you can store things inside even more…

Doesn’t all these amazing creations just put a totally fantastic spin on recycling? Not just the boring process of separating your paper & plastic anymore. Now a whole new world of possibilities!

Do go check this out for yourselves, you’ll be entranced. The address is 368 Albert Rd, Woodstock (across the road from the Old Biscuit Mill). Or contact Karie on katie@recreate.za.net / 021 447 0007 / 076 989 0871.

xxx

It’s time to Vamp up your living space

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Karisa

This past weekend I decided to do a bit of Woodstock wandering. One place I’ve been dying to check out for ages is Vamp Furniture. You see I’ve been subscribed to their weekly newsletter for a while, so every Friday I get inboxed with all their latest finds & creations… it’s torture really, because I usually want at least 80% of what I see.

The Vamp Furniture store is situated in Albert Rd kinda opposite to the Old Biscuit Mill. You’ll see their Vamp sign from the road and then you just need to follow a little side path to get to their front door. Entering the store gives you that Alice in Wonderland feeling. There’s just sooooo many cool things, bright colours and fun displays. It’s a sensory overload, but in a really great way.

Owner Paula van Niekerk (who is absolutely lovely btw) brings together retro kitchenalia, vintage collectables, revamped furniture as well as modern designs into one awesome space. My brain totally froze for a while as it tried to figure out where the hell to start. There’s really so many great things to discover here and they get new stock weekly! I could easily blog about this for days…

But instead, let me just share with you some of the things I really loved:

People bowls by local designer Sessi Bee. How cute is this Fantastic Mr Fox looking guy? Cost R275.

Ballerina table R1850 – according to Paula, ballerina themed stuff was huge at one point back in the day…

Maple sideboard R3650

Colourful desk R1950

Italian Cafe Cosies chairs (circa 1984) R5000 each

Sorry – didn’t get a price for this chair. But doesn’t it look comfy?

J.H. Lynch “Woodland Goddess” R1100 – they have lots of these old school pictures & mirrors. I think in the right space it will look really great.

Grey and white vintage kitchen unit R3750 – this kinda makes me sad that I’ve gone all modern with my kitchen renovation…

You see, soooo many things I was lusting after. I’d really love to work some of the bigger pieces into my apartment, I just have to figure out how exactly I’m going to go about it. So in the meantime, just to feed my soul with a little retail fix, I went home with a few small goodies:

I bet you you’re gonna have that Lionel Ritchie song stuck in your head ALL DAY now. hehe. This print is from Essie Letterpress btw.

These are actual medicine bottles from a 1950s pharmacy… so cool.

And then let me introduce you to Francis (the fish) and Bob (the bunny). The boyfriend HATES Francis for some reason. But how? He’s so freakin’ awesome!? Whatevs… I love him and he’s staying… Bjorn will just have to sit in the other room then. ha!

To keep up to date with all their new stock, pop on over to their website and sign up for their weekly newsletter. Paula also updates their Facebook page regularly with the smaller things. The exact store address is 368 Albert Rd, Woodstock. And you can contact Paula either on email (paula@vampfurniture.co.za) or just give her a ring on 021 448 2755 / 083 961 5522.

xxx

Cool things at Typo

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Karisa

My friend Leigh gave me a tip-off about a new decor & gifting store in Canal Walk. She was like “you are going to absolutely lose your brain, it’s that awesome”…

Now Canal Walk is not my favourite place to shop, it’s just sooooo big, and people walk sooooo slowly, the parking is insane (I mean when you have to remember that you’re on the dolphin level for example, that’s scary) and their old school parking pay stations which doesn’t give you change in notes just irritates me. They need to take the lead from the V&A on that one. So because of all these reasons, I don’t really go there a lot. Mostly only if I need a specific item which I can’t find anywhere else, because being so big, of course one plus is that they do pretty much have anything & everything.

But how could I not plan a visit after such a convincing sales pitch from Leigh? So off I went. You’ll find Typo on the lower level, near Edgars, on your left if you’re heading towards Pick ‘n Pay. It’s actually linked to Cotton On – an Australian clothing brand which also opened a store in Canal Walk during December of last year.

The store really is very cool. They’ve got all kinds of weird & wonderful things to add some quirkiness to your space, whether it’s at the office or home, as well as some fun gifting things for the friend or loved one who appreciates something a little off beat.

They’ve got a big variety of canvas prints, which is an easy way to add a bit of interest to any room:

As well as some crazy cool iPad, netbook & laptop bags and sleeves:

Then this was a big draw card for me – their greeting card selection is pure awesome. I always battle to find good greeting cards. The stock you get at places like CNA and Cardies is just plain sad. But here you really can’t go wrong. They are fun, different and beatifully designed:

Oh and I also found some things that I now desperately need, but never even knew I wanted before entering the store… Like these super cute porcelain owls:

Take us home! Take us home!

And every home needs a cupcake salt & pepper set:

Right? PLUS it’s all the fun but with none of the calories!

So if you’re in Canal Walk and your feet are tired from all the walking, your brain feels like mush and you desperately need some creative inspiration, do pop in at Typo. I just know you’ll find something there to lift your mood immediately.

xxx

PS. I see there’s a store in the Tyger Valley Shopping Centre now as well.

O.live lovin’

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Karisa

This past weekend I popped into O.live in Kloof St for the first time ever… (even though I’d driven past there like a million times before, thinking to myself “Hey, that place looks cool. I should check it out”, but was too lazy to do so. )

My reason for finally going inside? Well I was looking for these amazing paper placemats I once saw in a tiny little decor shop in the middle of nowhere. They were kinda like these:

But way more awesome… they had tons more detail and they were in full colour and I totally should have snapped them up right then & there, but I didn’t… cause sometimes (just sometimes) I’m a total knob head. Now you might be thinking – well why would one want paper placemats in any case? Many reasons really:

They are fun & different.
You can change them up all the time.
No washing / cleaning involved – just toss them away after use (and because they are paper, you can recycle!).

Someone then gave me a tip-off that I might find them at O.live. So thus the reason for my visit…

BUT what I found there was way more amazing than my precious paper placemats. That shop is like stumbling upon lost treasure, but for decor freaks. They have a great mix of interesting antique / second hand finds, lotsa quirky modern stuff, gorgeous ceramics & glassware and tons of other fantastical things that I guarantee you, you will battle to find anywhere else. Check it out:

They did in fact have a selection of paper placemats. But sadly only black & white ones and I have my heart set on brightly coloured ones. But that doesn’t mean I left there empty handed. After standing around with my mouth hanging open in amazement for a period which probably started making the lady looking after the shop a bit uncomfortable… I settled on this item from the sale table which totally stole my heart:

I got a whopping 50% off! Was R460, only paid R230.

To me it kinda feels like something that would have been used in a pharmacy from way back when to store medicine. Or maybe you could use it in your kitchen for spices and such. To be honest, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with it yet. But I’ve been cuddling up to it at night, trying to figure out where it would be happiest. I just looooove it so much. I WILL make it work… or change up all my other decor to match it dammit!

Wanna check out O.live for yourself? You’ll find them at nr 8 Kloof St, Gardens (across the way from the McDonalds).

Shop away!

xxx

It’s time to pimp out your place of residence

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Karisa

If like me, you are totally over the “OMG I got all this stuff from Mr Price Home for like under 500 bucks!” phase in your life and you now appreciate quality furniture & decor, then you’ll love this little shop at the Old Biscuit Mill that is home to both Abode Interiors & Quirky Me.

An abundance of awesome unique pieces...

They stock everything from creative art works, beautiful mirrors, interesting light/lamp shades, quirky ornaments to reupholstered antique chairs and more.

You name it they've got it... even some kitchen wares

They also had a small display cabinet with some intersting hand made jewellery pieces – a little too dainty & pretty for my taste, but very cool one-of-a-kind designs.

I really loved those two black canvases with the names of all the big cities from around the world... perfect for a trendy loft apartment.

The shop definitely gets ones creative juices flowing. It gives you some really great ideas for making a boring space more intersting. And for adding a nice quirky touch to your home. I mean who still wants stock standard, run of the mill stuff in any case?

Also loved the wicker lamp shades. Who would've thought that wicker would actually make a come back!?

Yes – the items you’ll find here are not going to be cheap. But you’re not exactly getting mass produced poo from China here people! Live a little, buy something different, I guarantee you… whatever you buy here will make you smile everytime you look at it.

I didn’t make a purchase here on this visit. But trust me, I’ll be going back.

Happy shopping guys & gals. xxx

My Love Affair with Cape Town…

Just random fun in my mother city

Tag Archives: decor