Livingrooms
Earth clay bead chandeliers. They epitomise our growing desire to make our homes places where we connect with real materials and real people. Made by women of the African KwaZulu-Natal community, beads from local clay are hand-rolled, sundried, kiln-fired and dyed to make unique light shades with a human story.
Fabrications Fabrics are getting in on the act for 2017. Reffet says natural textural fabrics will continue to set the mood – linen, heavy cotton, canvas, hemp, wool. Silky gauzes and velvets tone down and soften with more refined weaves and a luxurious sheen. Burnup predicts lots of unfinished edges on raw fabrics and salt-wash linens. Forget neat hems
Being a desert wanderer doesn’t mean your home will resemble a Bedouin tent or a Mongolian yurt, or that elegance has left the building. Cool, white interiors and clean, modern furniture can be stunning with a few well-curated tribal pieces. This home has perfected the look with tactile velvety leather in dusty brown, dramatic tribal artefacts and touches of indigo.
desert wanderer is one of her favourite trends for 2017. She sees it as inspired by ancient cultures, a desire for a less rushed approach to modern life. “Translated into interiors it’s about primitive, raw elements, old textile techniques and rug work, borrowing and adapting traditional tribal patterns from old cultures, like Aztec and Moroccan.”
Seek out a sideboard. A home to everything from napkins to board games, and with space on top for displaying favourite objects, a sideboard is an indispensable and much-cherished addition to a dining room or living space. While midcentury designs look streamlined and sleek, a vintage version with chunkier lines will have a more friendly feel.
Fan in living room
Our old sideboard
Doors to main bedroom
White walls inside makes it much lighter inside
French living room
A home office is tucked into a corner next to the great room. Throughout the space, a concrete slab floor with a matte charcoal cement-based microtopping “was chosen for its cool modern look as well as easy maintenance,
Light colours to lighten up interior
The floor tiles
Stone arch to butlers pantry
Arch or wooden beam between living room and music room
A small home is easier on the environment. By using less water, power and other resources, a smaller home also has a smaller environmental footprint. Take that a few steps further by adding features like energy-efficient appliances, solar panels, rain barrels and a compost bin for the garden.
A small home can free up money for other things. Choosing a smaller home can free up your finances to cover other things that are important to you, such as travel adventures, business investments or a water view. Before thinking you “need” a certain amount of space, consider what you could gain by giving up some square footage.
A small home can be cozy. When you think about a home that feels warm and cozy, a cavernous space probably does not come to mind — that’s because when we’re in a smaller space, we naturally gravitate toward one another.
Shutters and doors used
The space-saving aspects of a built-in daybed with storage beneath and a concealed bunk room can be appreciated when you consider that this home has a small footprint. Low-energy LED lighting has been used throughout
The back wall of the room is a feature element of the house. It concertinas out to reveal a bunk room for guest room
Corten steel
Throw over Mum's couch
Check wood beam detail
Wooden beam and arches
Floor
Like the beam
Wine barrels - use as coffee tables in music room
If you’re looking for an upholstery fabric that will stand the test of time, it doesn’t get much better than linen: it’s the strongest of the plant fibres
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