Diary date: 23-26 May Venue: Cape Town Convention Center The Mother city will be hit by a wave of culinary delights at this years Good Food & Wine Show. Rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in the food industry and...

Windhoek is rolling out a series of Pure Beer Society venues; existing venues, re-launched with handcrafted furniture and fittings made from materials specifically selected for authenticity and quality. Three local artisans were...

Recently launched at the Woodstock Foundry, the Benedikt-Taschen bookstore stocks the very best of Taschen titles, as well as a handful of carefully selected international magazines such as Frieze, The Gentlewoman, Architecture Now and Frame...

The culture of commuting by bicycle is growing in the Mother city, with events such as Moonlight Mass (happening tonight) raising urban cycling's profile. Starting in Green point and going throughout town, over 1000 bikers take...

Decorex is happening this weekend and the CTICC is going to be packed full with a variety of exciting and innovative products, people, trends and events. Decorex gave us a heads up on what not to miss! 1. Bliss Entrance Feature. Well...

r among Capetonians is well-established restaurant Societi Bistro. Known for balmy summer evenings spent under their fairy lit trees and cosy winter nights seated at their atmospheric log fires – they have something to offer all year round...

shopping may become a thing of the past with the newly renovated Siam Center in Thailand which incorporates a refreshing mix of technology, art, fashion and design to create an interactive digital interior between shoppers and retailers:...

DECO talent is always on the scout for talent of all kinds and when great art and furniture are found in one amazing creative space, we can't help but get excited. WHATIFTHEWORLD is a project space situated in the heart of Woodstock in Cape Town...

  On the first Thursday of every month, Cape Town’s streets become a museum, a gallery, a shopping experience. Walk the streets and enjoy an evening of art, entertainment and culture until 9pm. Starting off the weekend...

Another inspiring space aiming to be just that, is Cape Town based 'It's a house". Situated in the heart of the trendy De Waterkant 'it's a house' is a creative melting pot where imagination is the key ingredient...

A weekend or two ago, we took a trip down the rabbit hole, at the Flamjangled Tea Party in Durbanville near Cape Town. A realm of hilarious absurdity in which loved up dragons and giant vultures reign. In the world of the Flamjangled,...

With the ever-in natural-luxe mohair trend looming large, a talk and tea hosted last weekend by Mohair SA together with 'Glitter Knitter' Steven Berg in Port Elizabeth's trendy Stanley Street, piqued our interest.  Steven...

he Flamjangled Tea Party in all its quirkiness about to rock the socks off the Cape this weekend, what better to scribble about than the much loved drink called tea. Tea comes in four main varieties: white, green, oolong and black...

Bicycle Club is an expression of Madame Zingara’s colourful history and of its eclectic past in Loop street; a wacky bohemian venue where guests are encouraged to let their hair down - and expected to stay up way past bed time. Especially...

  We were knocked out when our new pop-up unit arrived at the office last week, courtesy of Xanita. We love the look of this eco-happy material. It’s such strong stuff, we can see it being happily lugged from one event to the next...

We're popping out of our skins with excitement, since just yesterday morning Label Orange agreed to have our Elle Decoration Xanita-sponsored pop-up alongside their stunning 7-day showroom in Woodstock's Salt Circle Arcade....

When we're not at our desks, there's a strong possibility you'll find us here. The Blend is the new coffee shop on Roeland Street, one of the nicest coffee shops in Cape Town. When ordering, you can choose between three different beans...

The Elle Deco team was lucky enough to be invited to a Le Creuset event with chef Reza Mahammad at Cape Town's Sillwood Cooking School earlier this month....

We look at the Cape Rococo architectural influence in Cape Town and other elements that inspired some of Michael Chandler's design....

The souffle On Wednesday night, DECO stylist Hendrik and I joined 15 of our readers at a Lindt chocolate workshop held at the Lindt headquarters in the Cape Quarter, Cape Town. Chocolate, its provenance and all things cacao related, was the main event...

We’ve just received this photograph (above) of the beautiful collaborative wallpaper design at the Saartjie Baartman Centre in Manenberg. The centre, a refuge for women and children who have experienced domestic or sexual violence,...

The Cape Town City hall is abuzz with last-minute touches and preparations for this weekend's Toffie Pop Culture Festival. For an entire weekend, the City Hall will be transformed into an avant-garde playground for design lovers and enthusiasts...

Mother’s Day is upon us, and let’s be serious…there will be flowers involved. Don’t do the usual this year, think laterally and give your mum flowers with a difference... Here are a few ideas: Stick them to...

Our DECORATING issue (now on shelf) showcases various deliciously dark and delicious food. Exploring this a little further, we have compiled a list of dark foods to tantalize your taste buds.This is not just a trend; dark fruits, veggies...

utral and natural colour palette is a major trend for 2013. In no way dull, neutrals are evocative and reminiscent of nature. It is about going back to basics, removing unnecessary elements to get to the raw essentials. As described by...

We all know Pantone chose Emerald green as their colour of the year but chosen by the world’s foremost creative designers, architectures and fashion experts from all over the world, was the moody hue of indigo. A rich, intense shade...

  Featured throughout THE DECORATING ISSUE  (now on shelf ) white takes on a new stance. A very warm one.  Traditionally associated with a cool, pure look, we discover how white can inject cosiness. Also the colour of...

Following on from last week's post 'How do you like your eggs?' here are some ideas for laying your table in ways that honour the time and trouble you put into making wonderful brunches on weekends. These rustic settings...

It's worth the work, making your workspace a place you actually love to spend time in. When you consider that it is the place where we spend at least a third of our lives - that's around 90,000 hours of our lives - it makes complete sense...

Guest blogger, Cape Town designer Jaco Janse van Rensburg, sent us a few more images from his Instant Grass interior revamp - and more tips for you to copy at home....

Big thanks to former ELLE DECORATION Deputy Editor Kelly Berman, for sharing her wedding album with us. We love how Kelly integrated plants into the decor for her wedding party, and how...

As seen in the September issue of our sister magazine ELLE, this Chanel-inspired charm is the doing of our DECO designer Gera Smuts. ...

Our interns at ELLE DECORATION have been trying out a few things with fluoro and neon. On their travels, they also found these wonderful inspirational ideas (scroll down) on the beautiful...

This year's pile of invitations to scope out the "Salone Internazionale del Mobile" was a show in its own right. Our editor Laureen Rossouw got bagsful of beautifully designed 'Come See's' for The Milan Furniture Fair 2012...

We just love this vertical garden idea – a refreshing take on the traditional stag head display. These plants mimic the shapes of animal trophy heads in comical fashion. Here are some more contemporary animal trophy head ideas...

We're smitten with these porcelain plate cut-outs we recently produced for a fairytale-inspired shoot in our latest Ideas Issue (page 65). Lucky for you, were giving two away to a DECO reader... WIN A miniature porcelain stag head (above)...

We take the 'hunter gatherer' look to the extreme in our latest Ideas Issue. It's jam-packed with trophy heads, stuffed animals and nature-inspired curiosities, ranging from the more traditional to the more eclectic....

It's Easter weekend, so we went looking in our vast library of past issues for a little treat, and discovered this shoot by DECO contributor Maranda Engelbrecht in our 2011 Revamp Issue. It's a lavish tongue-in-cheek take/twist...

On page 94 of our latest Ideas Issue we’ve created a CIY typographic wallpaper (below) using whiteboard paint, primer and coloured pens. It’s inspired by this image (above) of a bedroom in the beautiful Danish family homestead on...

In anticipation for our upcoming Afro-inspired Ideas and Pattern Issue, we've gathered some more bright finds from the Design Indaba Expo: Dizzying patterns, afro-cool colour, beautiful pattern combos, and colour blocking with wood and steel...

Here's a fun idea: Grab all the plastic you can lay your hands on – garden chairs, tupperware, and plastic tablecloths – and head to the beach for an adventurous and waterproof outdoor dining experience. This is exactly what...

Cooking made easy! Hendrik Coetzee, DECO's talented new stylist and food lover, prepared heart-shaped beetroot for us to enjoy for Valentine's – each one carved by hand. Eat your heart out! Dress with balsamic vinegar,...

Today we visit the beautiful home of the happy-picture-making couple Maike and Travis, the creative duo responsible for the hugely successful wedding photography company welovepictures. We've been following their work for quite some...

DECO's Charl Edwards and housemate Katrin Coetzer have created a little garden on wheels in their Cape Town apartment. Sourced from a second-hand furniture store in Wynberg, this trolley has become the perfect indoor mobile garden,...

At the historical centre of Amsterdam, iconic Dutch design label Droog has opened the hotel of our dreams. But it must be said, dear friends, that pushing zzzz's in dreamland might not be what you really come here for. Hôtel Droog...

Recently we looked at Hermés inspired wallpaper. Now this guest post, kindly brought to us by Honestly WTF, explains exactly why the Hermés silk square scarf deserves to be so wanted. ...

Moederskip is a collaboration between the coolest collective of designers, artists, film makers and foodies in Hatfield, Pretoria - brought to our attention by photographer Suly Kuhn. ...

We look at the Cape Rococo architectural influence in Cape Town and other elements that inspired some of Michael Chandler's design....

At last we're allowed to talk about it. The Secret Festival: a weekend-long fest offering insight into food, wine and arts trends....

Being the first week of Spring, we're loving looking at botanical prettiness and came across this beautiful thing: the Belle Epoque Florale Edition by Japanese artist Makoto Azuma,...

Happy Spring week. We're having a flowerfilled week, sending our Spring Issue to print and finding it hard not to pick the jasmine that keeps tumbling over the wall into our yard. ...

This month ELLE DECO is celebrating 25 wonderful years. The 'Then & Now' feature in our current International 25th Birthday Issue looks at brands, products and designs...

It's hard not to like the look of Durban's 'Love Coffee'- muchas gracias to Durban photographer, Bron Fourie of Vanilla Photography, whose pictures gave us a look-see...

Got some Moerse Random ideas? Big Blue is asking. Makhulu Polane (roughly speaking, a ‘big idea’) is their annual t-shirt design competition and it's now in its sixth year. This year’s theme is 'Moerse Random'...

Hard on the heels of the fairytale Hästens fashion show in Cape Town earlier this month, our ELLE DECORATION stylist Hendrik Coetzee found a picture book in which a teensy little mouse...

"No princess will lose sleep over a pea in a Hästens bed." So say Hästens, makers of luxury beds from another dreamland altogether. On Wednesday night last week the opulent Swedish bed brand joined forces with...

Architect-designer Renee Rossouw strolled the streets of Paris looking at the vibrancy of pattern that is literally everywhere in the French capital. The detail is remarkable: like the plates on a wall at Shop Merci, the tiger graffiti...

The Life Dress Belgian social design studio AnnaMariaCornelia is a think tank for how people interact with the world around them. Annamariacornelia's projects combine humour and craftsmanship with new technologies in materials design...

ed in Elle Decoration Winter Issue: Cushion by Missibaba en Mevrou Missibaba en Mevrou, bring it on. The ice cube room posted last week (28 June) with the ever-shifting Bang + Olufsen television was, we thought, supremely tasty. But...

Forget arguing over who gets to hold the remote - or what series to watch tonight. Bang & Olufsen have just brought out a new range for the contemporary minded - it's called BeoPlay. Not only are these products...

Acid yellow flowers pop from the rustic base of a conventional Persian rug - turning tradition on its head in a wonderful way. This is the work of Italian designer Marcantonio Malerba whose experimental approach is spirited and modern...

At the Milan Furniture Fair 2012, a wonderfully whimsical cartoon-like approach caught our Editor's eye. The visual up top is 'Analogia', by Andrea Mancuso and Emilia Serra. These rubber scribble placemats were by YOY at Saloni Satellite...

  Our very design-minded intern Inge van der Merwe, went strolling through the streets of Cape Town this week and snapped off these beautiful cameos showing the classic use of typography in architectural signage. Good to...

Paola Navone designed these massive colourful nests, woven with 11,000 hazelnut branches from springtime prunings. 'The Secret Garden' project was part of an installation presented by Barovier & Toso and Citco in the...

This year's pile of invitations to scope out the "Salone Internazionale del Mobile" was a show in its own right. Our editor Laureen Rossouw got bagsful of beautifully designed 'Come See's' for The Milan Furniture Fair 2012...

As the relevance of design is becoming hotly debated, young designers are approaching their work with a sense of mischief. We couldn't help noticing a playful approach to products coming through at this year's Milan Design Fair...

  Do you feel like you need an excuse to party someplace wonderful? You can win an exclusive party for you and 30 of your friends at The Snug, with R3 000 worth of Canapés. (You can view the canapé menu online at http://societi...

Our DECORATING issue (now on shelf) showcases various deliciously dark and delicious food. Exploring this a little further, we have compiled a list of dark foods to tantalize your taste buds.This is not just a trend; dark fruits, veggies...

Following on from last week's post 'How do you like your eggs?' here are some ideas for laying your table in ways that honour the time and trouble you put into making wonderful brunches on weekends. These rustic settings...

Melissa's Eggs For Hiding So this long weekend, what'll you be doing ... besides staring at those shelves in that your pretty pantry of yours, eating chocolate, hiding chocolate away from people, cooking, sleeping and eating? A...

Vovo Telo is an idea that started in Port Elizabeth, and ended up just about wherever crumbs land on tablecloths. We love everything about Vovo Telo. Their sarmies, their salads, their incomparable pizzas, and of course their wonderful...

For a while, Superette has been an icon of Woodstock cool, uttered in the same breath as words like Instagram and amazing or as concluding remarks in a property trend report. So what's new? What's new is that Superette has...

Our November 2012 Johannesburg Elle Decoration reader event was held in Sandton City. Since we find it virtually impossible to go to Sandon City without popping into Walnut Grove, it seemed so right to meet our readers there. Walnut Grove is an institution...

Our beautiful Eastern fusion food feature in Elle Decoration Trends Issue No. 88 has had a few of our readers feeling hungry for more. So here you have them. The shots that didn't make it into the magazine. Turn to P89 in our latest...

Elle Decoration Trends Issue No. 88, now on shelf, offers a DECOKids cooking feature, with fun, cool recipes that kids can easily pull off. This chicken pie, for instance, raises an instant smile and is as easy as falling off a rolling pin...

Melissa's, The Food Shop, has come to Joburg. Finally. And if you're anywhere near Parkhurst, then please help yourself to a large slice of one of the Cape's most adored institutions in food. Melissa's...

The Elle Deco team was lucky enough to be invited to a Le Creuset event with chef Reza Mahammad at Cape Town's Sillwood Cooking School earlier this month....

Nook in Stellenbosch is a daily eatery that does breakfast, a seasonal lunch buffet, light snacky meals and home baked pastries. 'We love meeting and serving people in a space filled...

It's hard not to like the look of Durban's 'Love Coffee'- muchas gracias to Durban photographer, Bron Fourie of Vanilla Photography, whose pictures gave us a look-see...

Cafe Paradiso of Kloof Street, Cape Town, is about as old as we are. And we're going to say it again, loud and proud. Elle Decoration celebrated its 25th birthday, last week. So Paradiso stood us to a birthday lunch on Friday...

Have you ever made lamb koeksisters? Not? Really? Well scribble down the recipe below. If you can plait hair, koeksisters and wool, you can plait lamb belly. And what a great party trick. The plaited lamb belly, up top, was served...

O goes to Creation Wines in The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley There's a tickbox approach to living well. On the list (which could and should change periodically) there are a few mandatories. For instance, we need to all have cake once a week...

What a treat to have dinner with world-renowned Food Network chef Reza Mahammad. On 31 May, Reza treated ELLE DECO readers to an intimate cooking demonstration, preparing a three-course meal using Le Creuset cookware. The warm and inviting...

The souffle On Wednesday night, DECO stylist Hendrik and I joined 15 of our readers at a Lindt chocolate workshop held at the Lindt headquarters in the Cape Quarter, Cape Town. Chocolate, its provenance and all things cacao related, was the main event...

It's Easter weekend, so we went looking in our vast library of past issues for a little treat, and discovered this shoot by DECO contributor Maranda Engelbrecht in our 2011 Revamp Issue. It's a lavish tongue-in-cheek take/twist...

Save the date for our Design Banquet at Toffie Pop Culture Festival on Saturday 31 March. Amsterdam-based designer Hannes Bernard and his team from the Sandberg Instituut (Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam) will be curating and hosting a...

On our first encounter to this street-side burger joint we walked in and asked for a business card. The response: "We prefer word-of-mouth." That was late last year and it hasn't taken long for the word to spread. This...

If you've picked up a copy of our latest Colour Issue, you would've noticed a second person on our Editor's page picture (below), alongside Editor Laureen Rossouw. While shooting this photograph, Ezzy, a drummer at the...

Recently launched at the Woodstock Foundry, the Benedikt-Taschen bookstore stocks the very best of Taschen titles, as well as a handful of carefully selected international magazines such as Frieze, The Gentlewoman, Architecture Now and Frame...

  What better way to start the year than with a fresh eye: our Trends Issue - showcasing stunning homes from all over the world and everything you need to know about the looks to get in 2013 - is out this week. Our cover...

We're popping out of our skins with excitement, since just yesterday morning Label Orange agreed to have our Elle Decoration Xanita-sponsored pop-up alongside their stunning 7-day showroom in Woodstock's Salt Circle Arcade....

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we loved putting it together. We're proud to say, our Summer Issue No. 87 is ready to hit the street. Look out for it at a magazine stand near you, later this week. (On the cover: our Ed's holiday house in St...

The daffodils are out, the tulips are out, and so is Elle Decoration Spring Issue No. 86. Grab bunches of great ideas from these 160 pages of Springy pleasure, from a newsstand near you....

The wonderful thing about the shoots we do is this. We bring home literally hundreds of beautiful shots. And not all of them can make the cut. So we thought we'd show you a few of our art director's selects of our Winter Karoo...

We've just hit 'print' on our upcoming 'Country Fresh' Winter Issue – best described as the most collectable issue of ELLE DECORATION to date. So you better save the date. It's on shelf 21 May 2012. We've...

We just love this vertical garden idea – a refreshing take on the traditional stag head display. These plants mimic the shapes of animal trophy heads in comical fashion. Here are some more contemporary animal trophy head ideas...

We're smitten with these porcelain plate cut-outs we recently produced for a fairytale-inspired shoot in our latest Ideas Issue (page 65). Lucky for you, were giving two away to a DECO reader... WIN A miniature porcelain stag head (above)...

We take the 'hunter gatherer' look to the extreme in our latest Ideas Issue. It's jam-packed with trophy heads, stuffed animals and nature-inspired curiosities, ranging from the more traditional to the more eclectic....

On page 94 of our latest Ideas Issue we’ve created a CIY typographic wallpaper (below) using whiteboard paint, primer and coloured pens. It’s inspired by this image (above) of a bedroom in the beautiful Danish family homestead on...

In our latest Ideas Issue, our radar has honed in on Christopher Jenner (page 31). While he might look like the lovechild of Don Draper and Tom Ford, jet around the globe the same way the rest of us go to the supermarket, have bucket...

We're proud to introduce you to our special GROW supplement in association with Pick n Pay – your guide to inspiring ideas for the urban interior. It's filled with the latest in green news, trends, ideas and buys. Read more...

Feast your eyes on our bumper Ideas Issue. It's filled with top tips, easy updates and design inspiration from cover to cover. We also introduce our special 'Create the Look' pages, a must-see for great interior ideas...

If you've picked up a copy of our latest Colour Issue, you would've noticed a second person on our Editor's page picture (below), alongside Editor Laureen Rossouw. While shooting this photograph, Ezzy, a drummer at the...

Our next issue is going to print in a couple of hours, so things in our office are, as expected, a little busy. Add to that the buzz of the Design Indaba Conference and Expo, and you've got a pretty good idea of our schedule. But...

In our latest Colour Issue you'll find a streak of colour running throughout – our colour-blocking trend pages kicks it off with a burst of refreshing colour combos. Which is why it's no surprise we're still obsessed...

In our latest Colour Issue we've compiled a handy little black book of ideas, trends, tips and a listing of useful contacts. 'There's nothing better than a recommendation from a good friend when you're renovating',...

In our latest Colour Issue, we’ve selected six of local fashion’s avant-garde – people whose inherent style we admire and whose trend-savvy we trust. Today we chat to designer and shop-owner Peacemaker Hliso, stylist Lulama...

Kartell, the Italian furniture company known for their collectable contemporary plastic furniture, has opened shop in De Waterkant, Cape Town. The company, with its headquarters in Milan, began manufacturing automobile accessories...

If you've had a look through the pages of our Colour Issue, you would have noticed an abundance of colour. Our upfront trend pages reveal decor's current obsession with electric blues, acid yellows, tangerine tango, soda pop...

In our latest Colour Issue we breathe new life into the desktop. We explore green avant-garde desktop installations featuring suspended gardens, shots of acid-bright blue, delicate pressed flowers, grainy timber, and chalky weathered walls...