inspiration

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Before and After: MAMA MONEY

These delicious humans came into my life over a year ago and we have been working together ever since to create a dynamic working office environment. Each time we finish a floor the company has grown so immensely that we have to start on a new space, and even as we publish this we are currently working on their latest level (4th in total thus far)!

It goes without saying that it has been fantastic working with a group of young smart individuals who have created an incredibly successful start up. What has been the most rewarding though is seeing the company culture they have created and nurtured and being able to play a small part in that by creating a beautiful space for them to work in. These type of personalities that have the vision to create companies of this nature are hard to come by and when they do, you make sure they stay in your life for a long time.

Ill never forget waiting to meet one of the founders at our initial meeting and being greeted by literally ever employee that walked passed me. I was quite taken aback by just how happy everyone was that worked here. Who are these people, I thought, and what the hell do they do!

A huge part of the brief was creating the right flow and space planning for a rapidly growing company. The company eats lunch together every day, so creating a restaurant and kitchen that functioned well was vital. Colour and comfort were key elements in choosing the furniture and decor. This was hugely refreshing to me to be briefed with removing grey and adding a fresh vibrant palette instead. Many of the pieces we selected come with a story or some quirk; handwoven pendant lights, custom made copper pendants, 70 style armchairs and funky art to name a few. Atlantic blue, teal, pinks and greens fill the spaces, creating a joyous unexpected arrival for any new visitor. Custom screens were designed and developed to create some level of flexibility in their growth too. Across all the floors, plants fill all the nooks and crannies, adding life and vibrancy. With some of the teams being call centre focused, plants were a very necessary tool in creating clean air and creating a happy space that people wanted to sit in for 8 hours a day.

One of the quirkiest aspects of the brief were the 2 oversized “yes we can” artwalls of Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai, designed and installed by Cara Saven. One hell of a motivational driver for the staff and a perfect summary of this company’s unique flair and creative drive.

February 26, 2020 0 comment

inspiration interior styling styling tips

Becoming a basket case

The simple basket, an object of pure perfection.

I think I may a love a basket more than most, and have been to some incredible factories both locally and in Vietnam before where it truly is an art form.

Its quite remarkable watching how some simple fibres are transformed into vessels of sheer beauty. Much like watching someone plaster a wall, it definately looks easier than it actually is.

August 2, 2017 0 comment

inspiration interior styling styling tips

Curating your art walls with care

You can tell a lot about a person by the art or decor they choose to showcase on their walls. When it comes to decor in the home, art is the most tricky to get right. Subjective and unique for each person, it really is that final finessing touch, the thread that brings the space together, that talking point or playful piece…so what does your art say about you and your home?

There are many different ways to curate your walls with care – big bold statement artworks to create a strong focal point in the room, a vehicle for bringing colour to the space, or just a playful collection of your favorite pieces.

We have collected some of our favorite walls from spaces we have curated to inspire your own curation skills at work or home. Have fun, art should always bring great joy or at least stir some emotion within.

1. The statement piece

2. Colour pops

3. The collection

May 24, 2017 0 comment

green fingers inspiration interior styling styling tips

The broke girls guide to styling with plants

Oooh the sun is shining and the newly painted toes are out. With Summer now in full swing, using plants in your home is a great way to freshen up you space and quite literally, inject some life into it. With the plant obsession trend not going away anytime fast, this is a quick and easy way to make your space look loved and cared for.

Here are my 5 top ways to style with plants:

Let them hang

2. Off the wall

3. The ultimate shelfie

4. Create a statement

5. Use fronds or branches

See full board here

November 2, 2016 2 comments

inspiration style trends

Rug (ged) Interiors

Like any half decent Capetonian, I have spent the most part of the last few weeks complaining bitterly about the cold. So time to shake off that frost bite and find some serious inspiration in the textural deliciousness of rugs.

They not only bring warmth to a space (quite literally, warmth is ALL I can think about), but they add texture and visual interest, taking even the dullest of spaces to the next level.

Like with all things interior based, there is indeed a simple art to buying rugs and decorating with them. Follow some tips below to find your perfect match to transform your space to perfection.

Size

This is the obvious part, right? Take measurements for your rug based on the space you wish to fill.

If wanting to add a rug to your seating area, the size of rug you choose should sit comfortably within the size of your seating area. It is not necessary to fill the entire floor space or room, although if you have the space it’s never regrettable to be as generous as possible.

Ideally, all furniture should be placed on the rug, even it’s just on the edge – front-legs-only is generally the rule of thumb here. The basic idea is when sitting on the armchair or couch, your feet are on a rug, not the floor.

Under a dining table you ideally want to stretch as wide as possible, so your chairs are all sitting on the rug when pulled out.

However, sometimes you find the most beautiful rug, but its not in the right shape or size, especially when it comes to vintage or antique rugs. When faced with these situations, consider layering your rugs. Choose a basic larger rug for underneath in a neutral weave like a jute, hemp or sisal and then place your patterned smaller rug on top.

Colour and Pattern

This is of the most important aspects to get right, a real make or break decision. Chosen right, a rug brings a space to life. Chosen wrong, it’s quite simply the biggest eye sore (no pressure!).

Fail safe options and always a winner are neutral heavily textured natural fibre rugs. They always look great, are inexpensive and hard wearing.

Although a rug “reads” as your biggest piece of furniture in the space, don’t always play it safe. Choosing the right colour combinations and playful patterns, can really bring the space to the next level, especially if placed in a fairly neutral environment. Dhurries and kilims are known for their bright graphic prints and bright colours, and tend to work in just about any space.

If the space has a few colour combinations on the go already, then ensure you choose a rug that further enhances the main tones of the space, and acts as a thread tying them all together.

Texture – making the material work for you

One generally tends to forget about this feature when choosing a rug, and yet it adds a different dimension to the space. Bringing texture to a space makes it feel dynamic and complete, and a rug is the easiest tool to achieve this with. Let existing finishes in the space be your guide for what’s needed in the rug, sleek leathers team well with a richer softer pile rug, whereas a rich luxurious sofa looks magnificent on a harder jute or hemp base.

As always, be practical with this purchase and think about cleaning. If you have pets and or kids or if it’s a high traffic area, go for the easy to clean, hard wearing, durable types and leave the beautiful and delicate rugs for the calm of your bedroom.

See full inspiration board on Pinterest.

July 12, 2016 0 comment

inspiration

Digging Deep: A guide to finding motivation in business (and life)

This post was supposed to be about colour trends in interiors but to be completely frank, for the past two weeks I just couldn’t find the inspiration to talk about brown making a comeback (it’s true, I’m afraid) or all the fantastic shades of marshmallow pink (boys, be warned).

I consult with a number of young ambitious teams, and I see the reality daily of pressure and stress, and how it affects our motivation and quality of work. I have felt it too, in fact, far too many times over the course of my career. When I worked corporate it was immense pressure of targets and a need to succeed and trade. Whilst the mentorship and infrastructure was there, you need to have the will to want to do it, and not burn out somewhere along the path.

Working for a start-up is different (you’ve seen “The Intern”?) and whilst it’s not all fixies, beards and sriracha on your lunch, it was a different kind of pressure with a series of highs and lows. The highs were amazing, but the lows were hard and relentless. With one constantly carving out a path, and the other fighting off the naysayers on the outside.

Now I work for myself, and whilst it’s where I always wanted to be, with the pros far outweighing the cons, the down days are lonely with no team to lift you up and drag you along. YOU have to find that inner strength, that drive, that energy, and make it through the day, week, and month to reach your goals.

Life is designed (I believe) to be truly exciting with so many opportunities and options available to us. So let’s enjoy the process, take the risks, feel stimulated, and drive forward. This is not a love campaign, but the more we can feel motivated and inspired, the more we can make positive change to our own environments. Then those around us and so forth and so on.

So, let’s not say this is a definitive guide by any means, but I hope how I find my motivation and inner inspiration will provide some insight to you finding yours.

Making it happen

Whoa, thought I would ease you in? No, doesn’t work like that I’m afraid, jump onto that bandwagon and roll with it. By making it happen, I mean have a plan, a structure that you can work within.

What’s often the most overwhelming is the quantity of work that needs to get done, or lack of expertise (trying to code my own site comes to mind!) making a simple task seem insurmountable. Write a list of what needs to happen to the best of your ability and then START SMALL. I mean, minuscule, like colour coordinating your post-its and pens.

On a bad day, make your goal for the day as simple and achievable as possible so that you can actually get ONE thing done. On good days, have higher goals and hit maybe 10 things off your list, but literally take it one small step at a time.

Be positive

Negativity breeds contempt right? Right! So focus on everything and anything positive…write it down if you have to. If you can’t be positive then find those that can. Surround yourself with people that have great energy and attitude and try get it to rub off. Pinterest positive inspirational quotes all over your Facebook page if you have to, who cares, just find the happy sunny outlook. Switch off from news, and negative social media for a while…I promise it will still all be there when you come back again. Watch an inspiring TedX talk rather than crime investigation.

You have to invest in yourself and understand your own wiring so that you can give yourself the right fuel. Being positive saps a lot less energy than being negative does.

Walk away

On the days when you are rolling that boulder uphill, sometimes it’s best to take a break.

No, I am not condoning a life of mediocrity and of giving in, I’m saying on days where the energy is off, go get it back. Go for a run, go for surf, go watch a movie, go have a laugh for goodness sake, and then tomorrow hit it hard.

Seek solace

Not the crying yourself to sleep kind. Seek support. Build a strong foundation of support around you. Find individuals who can offer expertise, kind words, guidance or perhaps a shoulder to cry on. Do not surround yourself with those that want to find the easy path, pass the buck, seek blame or have a moan…remember negativity breeds contempt! Surround yourself with those that are solution driven, power houses and clever sausages.

Learn, teach, share.

Inspire

Start with knowing what actually gets you inspired. I get excited over beautifully packaged olive oils for example, but then that’s me. My more intellectual friends get inspired by reading Business Insider, others by music, some by nature and so forth and so on.

Just to be clear, your actual work might not inspire you on a daily level (oh, shock horror) so make sure your inspiration comes elsewhere so that you can be better, and do better.

Fill the gaps in your day with more things that puts you on a high and reduce those that shut you down.

Business “self-help” books often use the mantra of “you can do hard things” and you can, but sometimes you need a little compassion.

Don’t be so hard on yourself…it’s a killer. Don’t rely on others to constantly be giving you reassurances or praise.

On down days be kind to yourself.

Make some coffee and take a breath, then walk over to that record player, throwback to the 80s on full volume and sing with me…..” you are GOOOOOLD, GOLD, always believe in your soooooul, you have the power to know, you’re indestructible, aaaaalwways believe innnnnnnn (thanks Spandau Ballet) …..and well, you know the rest!

June 8, 2016 0 comment

inspiration

Bathroom simplicity

I have a massive crush on a certain local tile manufacturer and just can’t get enough of their tiling range.

Clean and simple, it brings the Scandinavian dream to life, making one want to camp out in the loo forever. Ok, that’s a bit extreme, especially with when I have 2 little kids, but a sleek, chic bathroom can make even the most jumbled of days seem like a zen retreat.

For the metro tile lover, here’s my bathroom eye candy.

See board on Pinterest.

March 17, 2016 0 comment

inspiration

Orange is the new Black?

So, one thing I have always got to declare pretty early on when meeting with a new client is my utter disdain for the colour orange (gasp!).

Yes, it’s true, orange in all its (un) glorious shades…tangerine, burnt (possibly my worst), melon, salmon (shriek!!), peach and of course rust, to name but a few.

However, in a bid to make this the year of embracing new things and seeking out the best in everyone, I have decided to let bygones be what they may and seek out inspiring interiors that use orange.

Red is after all my absolute best friend in the world and I love to sneak it into any space that I possibly can, so why not embrace it’s not so distant cousin?