Today we have a guest post from Justine Stafford , who runs the fab Cape Town lifestyle blog i for one. Take it away, Justine... What makes watching people so fascinating? It's a hobby of mine, one I adopted many years ago...

Our editor, Karen Roos, was in Milan this year for Design Week 2009, and you'll find her highlights of the show on pages 28-31 of Issue 62, on shelf now. Here are Karen's highlights again, but this time with links for you to follow...

Deger Cengiz, who calls himself "DC" for short, is co-owner of a new furniture store, Voos, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Trained as an architect, DC is also a designer of quirky conceptual pieces that fall somewhere between furniture and art...

Tall, thin pics in today's post - suitably enough, as I've got a tall, thin building to tell you about! The Modulightor Building in East Midtown, Manhattan, is on the list of buildings I've probably rushed past, without realizing...

Yesterday, in Kelly's post about all the amazing things she saw at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, she mentioned Deadgood studio, and showed us a little pic of their gorgeous Love Mirror. I adore it so much, I thought...

I spent an embarrassing number of hours exploring the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in Manhattan last weekend. There was so much to see, from the solemnly staged, exquisite Japan by Design pavilion to the Designboom Mart selling...

I'm so pleased to find that the exuberant designs of Alexander Girard have found new life with House Industries, a typeface foundry and general purveyor of very cool stuff. As many readers will know, Alexander Girard was an...

New York City seems to undergo a cultural reawakening in the fall. A number of major new exhibitions have opened and some older ones are just coming down. I caught "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling" at the MoMA last...

“I think every city has its own way that people connect to their neighbors. In LA it’s through the car window. In New York, I think it’s through the apartment window.” These are the words of photographer Gail...

I found last weekend's Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York to be a strange mixture of big brand names and independent artisans. After strolling past gigantic displays of outdoor kitchens and trickling water features,...

MoMA's store has unveiled a new collection of products by emerging designers from South Korea called Destination: Seoul. There is something here for everyone, from mini speakers made of wood to cloud-shaped notebooks, but they all...

Our New York correspondent Kelly Berman of The Brooklynist is back with us today, freshly returned to NYC after her recent trip to Cape Town. Nice to see you in Cape Town, and nice to have you back online with another great New York find,...

Yesterday was the last day of the Design Indaba Expo. I beat the heat and the crowds and got there early to see what was on offer, and to take a couple of snaps. Of course, the sheer quantity is overwhelming, and the poor lighting made snap-taking fairly tricky...

While the talks I saw on day 1 of the Design Indaba were all engaging with the ethics of design in the real world, the talks I saw on Thursday were all situated right on the needlesharp tip of the high end, where fantasy, imagination, excellence...

I was only able to make some of the afternoon sessions of the Design Indaba conference yesterday, but even just a few talks left me brimming with inspiration. 15:30 - Stephen Burks Firstly, I saw industrial designer Stephen Burks of readymade projects inc...

At last, the week of the Design Indaba has rolled around, and from Wednesday to the weekend, this is the event that's filling up my diary. Highlights for me include Ferran Adrià of elBulli, the world's best restaurant. Then,...

One of the events at every year's Design Indaba is the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa (MBOISA) Award. This year, objects are being judged "according to a variety of criteria resonant with the 21st century, including aesthetic...

Anyone who has ridden the NYC subway has probably noticed the eye-catching posters advertising the School of Visual Arts.I went searching for one online recently after I fell in love with a poster designed by Gail Anderson that had the...

In the leadup to the Design Indaba conference at the end of the month, there are some exciting things happening in the city. One of these is a trends seminar with world-renowned and respected trend forecaster Li Edelkoort, hosted by hot design crew The President...

Are they vertebrae? Coral? Insect pods?This week I introduce you to the ceramic artwork of Peter Lane, who shares a studio with the subject of last week's post, Pamela Sunday. The installation above, called 'Seabed,' was...

"A hobby that consumed my life" is how Pamela Sunday describes the exquisite ceramic sculptures she makes in the studio in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn that she cycles to every day. Her iconic pieces have been embraced by the interior...

February is Design Indaba month, and I've no doubt that the diaries of design-savvy types are already blocked out form 25 - 27 Feb to attend the conference and the Expo too.I'll be covering the Indaba, letting you know what I...

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,...

As a colour, as well as an earthenware material,Terracotta (terra cotta: baked earth) is fast becoming a favourite, with more and more designers harnessing its unique properties. Its brownish/orange colour varies considerably in...

We spied this prototype,the Cube Light, amongst all the people, art, gadgets, furniture, colours, techniques and food etc at Decorex this weekend. Perched at illustrator, graphic designer and thing-maker Lauren Fowler's stand,...

In celebration of Earth day we decided to feature the idyllic and eco-friendly home of Graphic designer, Tino De la Carrerra. A desire to escape the hustle and bustle of city life in Madrid led him to the mountains of Segovia, Spain...

We are thrilled that it is this time of year again, hello Decorex Cape Town 2013! Taking place at the CTICC between the 25th and 28th of April, we look forward to being inspired by what is new in decor, design and lifestyle and trying...

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...

    Featured on page 11 of the DECORATING issue (on shelf now) we commemorate the one hundredth year of Piero Fornasetti and his eye-catching designs (excuse the pun!) and also gives a nod to the black and white...

Tomorrow night, pop on your social hat and join the Elle Deco at Crema Design in Cape Town for the launch of their new Tom Dixon 'Shop in Shop'. Designed by the Tom Dixon team and including many of his recently launched...

We're big fans of the Soweto Theatre and our Editor Laureen Rossouw put in a vigorous punt for this extraordinary building, one of the top ten finalists in the 'Most Beautiful Object in South Africa' 2013 awards. The...

rtesy of maxrollit.com and Jasper Conran The announcement of emerald as Pantone Colour of the Year - 2013, inspired us to scope out at these heady infusions of green (see Laureen Rossouw's top emerald pick in Ed’s Letter of our TRENDS issue, now on shelf)...

Elle Decoration stand at Design Indaba Expo 2013 Thanks to the amazing cleverness of Graphic Laminates, our Elle Deco stand at Design Indaba 2013 last weekend made us incredibly proud. We loved every minute, sitting around such a...

t comes again... a showcasing of stellar international design ideas along with South Africa's top creative talents at the Design Indaba 2013. Taking place at the CTICC in Cape Town this week, creativity of all sorts will reign. From...

  Inspired by the Beijing house on P82. and Trend 13 in our TRENDS Issue No. 88 (now on shelf), we explore pendant lights in all their hanging glory. From industrial minimalistic cool to clustered and unusual, there are pendant lights to match any taste...

Art director and graphic designer Tatjana Buisson is the creative mind behind Postick, an innovative way to transform virtually anything into a personalised postcard. Whilst living in Barcelona, Tatjana got busy and enjoyed collecting...

Yesterday Elle Deco Managing Editor Maryke Olivier zipped up her travel bag and flew off to the Black Forest, to get an eyeful of Duravit Design Days 2013.  A collection of the most beautiful bathrooms in the world, including design-minded...

In our Trends Issue, our trend piece 'Memphis-Meets-Africa' looks at the colourful revival of the famous 1980's Memphis design movement and explores its links to local South African design. We featured a beautiful...

LLE DECORATION SOLVE New Talent Search is back, now in association with Pick n Pay. For 2013 SOLVE, creatives are asked to turn their ideas for the perfect piece of green design into reality. The inspiration for the competition is simple:...

    We know emerald green is the Pantone colour of the year for 2013. But beyond that, what else is on the horizon for the forthcoming year? Just when we were beginning to wonder, guest blogger Jaco Janse van...

    Last week, Kartell celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Louis Ghost chair. It seems like just the other day that L.G. entered our realm and left our jaws on the floor on account of its...

Freshly launched online, Africandy calls itself ‘The Definitive South African Design Emporium’ - an assertion that's anything but hot air. The store is packed to its virtual rafters with the very hottest local design...

Moroso presents 'Metamorphosis - Moroso Collections, from design to visual arts': the inaugural exhibition at Casa Cavazzini, the new modern and contemporary art exhibition space in the Udine, Italy. Masterfully designed...

Irving Harper is one of the most iconic living figures in modernist style industrial design. Harper, who was born in 1916, worked for George Nelson Associates, Inc. creating designs for Herman Miller furniture. During that time...

  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...

  Box it, hang it, store it and even stack it, these are just a few ways to make your magazine collection work for you.     Elle Decoration, Mid Century Modern Magazine Rack from Etsy     Images: Cristina Toledo Create an art installation in your living room using simple wire hangers.   Stacking against walls (or as a part of your existing furniture) is an international trend. This is an effortless way to deal with clutter. Behold design that doesn't try too hard and gives your space a lived-in, unregimented feeling.         Be creative, repurpose and make your clutter useful. Your magazines don't have to be stowed away. Show them off, they can make an interesting decor feature and double as seating or an eye-catching statement piece.  

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...