Ideas

I am surrounded by artists, but I am a painter. I have always loved painting my house myself, room by room, slowly but surely. In this way I paint away the quarrels and ghosts of previous residents and a worn-out space gets a fresh, new look. And so I make the house my own. Before I can pack up and enjoy a break (yes, I write my letters that far ahead of time), there's a massive wall in my passage waiting for a bit of love. I had to have a section of it replastered earlier in the year and the builder's paint colour didn't exactly match the existing colour. The old panelwork was also too hastily put back in place and now looks ugly. The question is whether I take…

IF YOU FIND YOUR ATTENTION BEING PULLED BY THE SOUND OF BIRDSONG, LET YOURSELF BE PULLED. AND THEN, NO MATTER HOW HURRIED YOU THINK YOU ARE, STOP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING AND LISTEN. LISTEN AS IF THIS MOMENT IS ALL THERE IS, AS IF EVERY ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER ASKED RESTS IN THE RHYTHM OF INHALE AND EXHALE. LISTEN AS IF ONE DAY YOU WILL RUN OUT OF TIME TO LISTEN. LISTEN UNTIL YOU ARE SO FULL OF SONG YOU CAN'T HELP BUT SPRINKLE IT LIKE SEED TO EVERY HUNGRY HEART, AND WHEN BIRD LIFTS HER WINGS TO FLY, GO, PLEASE — GO FLY WITH HER. ©Julia Fehrenbacher…

CRAFTMANSHIP AND QUALITY If you are in the market for beautifully crafted décor, go and have a look at the gorgeous Ethos Store online platform at www.ethos-store.co.za. The business was born from a love of interiors and the joy that comes from discovering unique décor pieces both locally and internationally. Sourced from as far as India, each item is carefully selected to uphold the brand's vision to provide comfort and quality. Ethos also delivers free across South Africa, and the products are wrapped in beautiful earth-friendly packaging with a gift card. NECK HELP IS HERE! Nothing gives away our age more obviously than our throat area and hands. They are also what we most neglect in our skincare routines. Good news is that Prai Beauty's Ageless Throat & Decolletage Crème (R960 for 50ml)…

Looking every bit the suburban housewife's vintage dream, flamboyant and successful Australian fashion designer Alannah Hill is devastatingiy glamorous in a little 1950s-inspired apron and slippers, with cakes in the larder and a fire crackling in the grate. But don't be completely seduced by the sugary coating – Alannah is just playing house. In a quiet tree-lined Melbourne street, her colourful and feminine home is more like a surreal 1950s film set than a suburban residence. She lives here with her young son, and after a busy day at work comes home to ‘bake cakes and play’. ‘Real food’, apparently, comes from elsewhere. As for the fire in the hearth, in the spirit of an oldfashioned romance heroine of the 1930s, Alannah has developed an evening ritual of gazing at the flames,…

IN A FOREST The ‘jungalow’ style (a combination of the words ‘bungalow’ and ‘jungle’) is here to stay. We are becoming ever more aware of the power of plants and the importance of caring for the environment, so what could be better than growing a small ‘forest’ in our home? Plants clean the air and it has been shown that they reduce our stress levels and boost our productivity. Forget about plastic, you need the real thing. It's therapeutic to water your plants and care for them, and they reward you with the loveliest living green decor. Natural materials like wood and ceramics, landscape scenes, botanical prints and walls in various shades of green work perfectly in this setting. DOPAMINE COLOUR After the monotony of our lives during the pandemic, there's a need…

In 2019, a story about seven young Chinese women went viral on the internet. Unusually though, it wasn't about celebrities, or TikTok dances, or even something with international political relevance. Rather, it was the tale of the women's joint purchase and renovation of a large house – in which, they declared, they intended to spend the years of their retirement living together. In short, it was a heartwarming and charming story about friendship. While it's a long way from the leafy suburbs of Guangzhou, Zelma Kriek's home in the small town of Calitzdorp is a rather similar sort of space. Here, Zelma lives with her Labrador Retriever, Fifi, and four cats: Rumi, Fatso, Royal and Ice Cream. And also regularly resident in her three-bedroom house are one or more of Zelma's…