The design concept for a hospitality project in the winelands called for more than interior design.. For a collection of guest cottages on a wine farm in the Swartland, Western Cape, the starting point was the landscape — and the idea of creating spaces that feel connected to it rather than competing with it. The existing cottages were run down and lacked any real architectural language. Rather than simply updating the interiors, we introduced new architectural features and interventions —...

Wow, how we love each and every renovation project that comes through our studio. All our spatial planning and design skills need to be applied to achieve both a practical and beautiful result...and within a budget! With the renovation of House D, we needed to upgrade a drab home, and add value in terms of lifestyle and rands. This young family had a good budget - one that we wanted to utilise with the utmost effectiveness. The question was, how do you add value without blowing the budget?...

Read on for the design hacks we used to overcome some existing blah moments on this renovation, as well as some tricky problems we needed to solve... First off, this home was dreary and in need of a personality. We decided to use texture and some well placed pops of colour to bring it to life. We did keep it light and breezy with minimalism in mind to ensure a timeless design. The passageway to the bedrooms was not a very uplifting zone of the home. In general I dread long narrow passageways....