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else’s, and this ensures the individuality of yours. Upcycle – never be frightened to paint, re-upholster, and alter. Natural materials are always a personal favourite for Tracy, and she mixes rough with smooth – like natural woods with beautiful marble, and organic textured tiles with natural sisal and cane. Likewise, Nikki Rolfe suggests, “Add straw and rattan for appealing texture; or combine natural objects with lush greenery.” Tracy also suggests that “Fabric with texture is huge – think a chair cover in a textured wool. It feels like a giant hug – just what we all want, isn’t it?”
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Plascon’s Evening Mist and Dulux’s Winter Bird – then add feature walls of colour, cladding, mirrors or wallpaper. “That white palette provides a cohesive, unfussy look, and allows you to go wild if you like, on your decor and fabric colours. Wallpapers, too, are massive at the moment, as are murals, particularly featuring botanicals or tropicals.” The indoor-outdoor trend will never leave sunny South African shores, so our focus on indoor greenery as a decor trend – pictorial as in framed botanicals on the wall, or live plants – makes perfect sense: “Unanimously, the inclusion of our environment and how we can bring it indoors has translated into loads of greenery. The positive energy radiating from plants within a home is priceless,” says Tracy Kelly. All decorators agree on plant power: “Indoor plants – the bigger the better,” says the Vision team. “Palm trees or banana leaves which touch your ceiling. Even a vase on a server, with oversized green leaves. People want a fresh feel.” There’s long been a pull to natural, even earthy fibres, colours and finishes,
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compounded by growing awareness around sustainability. Bluntly, not everyone cares deeply about putting sustainable or local first, but with local it does tend to trickle through in accessories, artwork, and the like. Tracy Kelly feels strongly, “Producing more local content and developing our skills is imperative. In time, we’ll improve on quality and pricing – we’ve
FOR MORE INFO JOSEY HAYTER AND SHAZ MILSTEAD: www.visionbymilsteadandhayter.com TRACY KELLY: www.tracykellydesign.com WENDY-LEE DOUGLAS: www.douglasanddouglas.co.za NIKKI ROLFE: www.nikkirolfe.co.za
White is powerful, ancient, smart, timeless and loved by architects and designers relied on imports for too long.” For those not focused on sustainability, combining old with new feeds into reusing and recycling. “Mixing old pieces with new is certainly current, and nothing makes a home feel more lived in than when you have a collection of vintage pieces,” says Tracy. Nikki concurs, “Whip out old pieces and combine them with new ones.” No one wants a home which looks like anyone
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