Fifty Shades of Grey

To say that our Junior Designer, Linda, has been obsessed with the "50 Shades of Grey" movie is probably the understatement of the year!

I have been obsessed with Grey far before the book or the movie and probably before it came in fifty shades. The staple of any contemporary or modern interior designer is Grey. It is the perfect base colour as it goes with everything. If you don't believe me, you're simply wrong.

So I proudly submit to you my "50 Shades of Grey" for your enjoyment:

From the Desk of Linda Sithole

I went to college having done much research on interior design. I enrolled into College ready to learn and succeed in the career I loved. I furthered my studies through the Bachelor of Technology in Interior Design because I felt there was more that I still needed to learn before I design an appropriate environment for my first client.

I found my first job as a Junior Interior Designer in one of the best Interior Design companies  in South Africa (Jossi Interior Design - obviously!). I was introduced into the real industry of Interior Design, not the “staged” interiors we worked on in college as practise for the real world. 

This is it! 

I am in the real world now, one mistake and it may cost thousands of rands. Here drawings have to change overnight because a client wants their bathroom 5mm bigger than what she signed off yesterday. Site inspections are no longer a field trip with your peers where you take selfies and post online to say you are “On site –my dream!”. No, no… NOW I’m a Junior Interior Designer and I’m behind my desk getting confused by drawings I drew yesterday because they all look similar, but your senior knows exactly which one it is at first glance and you look at them and you are like

Interior Design is transforming a space into a functional environment that can live up to its full potential. Being the Junior Interior Designer teaches you how to do that.

Interior design is hard work…and I LOVE IT!

'Til next time! J

Linda Sithole

XOXO

HOMI Milan

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to travel to Milan for the HOMI Lifestyle Trade Fair in January 2015. 

The fair was smaller than some of the other fairs I have attended however it was more personal and I was able to spent time chatting to each supplier, finding out the process of manufacture; the concepts behind the designs and understanding the materials that they were using.  Also of key interest was the feasibility of getting the items to South Africa and the costs involved.

  

I must admit that I have gained invaluable insight into the Italian furniture and accessories market.  I was always aware of their reputation for "Italian quality", but I was even more impressed with this concept when I saw the obvious pride that the Italians put into their work.  Still so much of what they manufacture is done by hand.   

This not only shows their love and passion for what they do but the importance of tradition.  And even with this concept of "tradition" the items they produce are incredibly modern.  The fact that each item is handmade means that there is such a fantastic attention to detail, and I also discovered from my lengthy discussions with the suppliers, this allows for greater design flexibility… if you want it in a larger size or different colour – “Non c’è problema”!   

The amount of Crystal and Glassware on show was amazing, with such fantastic colours and designs to choose from.  The use of gold in their details is quite impressive and it is used extensively, even gold dust inside the crystal sculptures.  This of course makes the items rather pricey, but it is also rather refreshing to note the detail and the extent that the manufacturer/ craftsman to ensure that the client is getting that one-of-a-kind piece that cannot easily be mass-produced.

After the show I jumped on a train to Florence and was escorted to some lovely little Italian towns where I was able to visit the various factories and see even more products: from contemporary beds,  headboards and pedestals to crystal and ceramic vases; lighting and even leather.

Italy is a truly amazing place. I love the old buildings; the language; the people; their sense of style and design… and of course the food!

I hope to visit again soon.

Article in the Woman&Home Magazine

China February 2014

My recent trip to Guangzhou, China left me with mixed feelings.  I have never really understood how you would save money by travelling to China, paying for accommodation and food and then still having to purchase the furniture, pay the agents fees, as well as all shipping and duty charges.  Surely this would work out to be the more expensive route?

Well it seems that in the past it was possible, but now with the current Rand exchange rate it is proving to be more and more difficult to get the bargains.  I think it was a bit a surprise to all parties concerned when my 2 clients got together and offered to take me with them to China in search of their furniture, curtaining fabrics and accessories for their homes.  What I discovered is that the prices for most of the furniture items were either the same as back home or more expensive.  Sure, there was alot of negotiating taking place and the prices did drop dramatically thereafter, but after factoring in the shipping and duties already mentioned, I am not convinced that there will be much of a saving.  We await the final quotation from the agents to make a decision here.

However I must admit, the quality of most of the furniture items was better than I had expected.  I was not that optomistic about what we might find in China and was therefore pleasantly surprised by the quality of the items that I saw.  Of course you will get what you pay for, so the more expensive items were definitely of better quality.  

We spent most of our time in The Louvre, a multi-storey furniture shopping center in Shunde.  Shunde, however, was an hour's drive from our hotel in Guangzhou and the traffic in China is rather bad.  Our daily drive to The Louvre often took up to 2 hours, which was a terrible waste of time each day when we had so much to source.

Each floor of The Louvre had something new to offer, in general the stores were focused on furniture items such as couches, coffee tables and beds.  But moving onto the higher levels of the shopping center you would find stores dedicated to artworks, some to vases, lamps, obje.  The top levels had the most expensive furniture which was well worth a look, but rather depressing to say the least as the items were totally unaffordable.

The fabric selection was incredibly disappointing.  I am not sure if we were taken to all the wrong places but the designs were rather out of date and my clients left China disappointed in this department.

On the last day I did manage to get away to explore the most amazing Chinese temple.  I spent a good couple of hours here taking in the most detailed architecture I have ever seen.  Every inch of this temple is intricately decorated.  It was the perfect end to my first experience in China.