Superclean: how to find the balance between “good” clean and “bad” clean.   Let’s investigate the UV disinfecting   Loving the sunlight Humanity has had a love affair with the sun ever since that first dawn. We have cloaked it in myths, we have created a bunch of different sun deities and gods, and Icarus even found his downfall by not respecting it for the awesome power it has. (or so the myth goes…) For South African’s the sun is playing an important role at the moment. Where our government and service providers are failing us, we are looking (well, squinting) up at the sun for o ..read more

Superclean: how to find the balance between “good” clean and “bad” clean.   What’s the point of anti-microbial materials.   Have you missed a step in the clean home routine? Post pandemic the world went a bit Clean-Crazy. Everything was suddenly anti-viral anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. While this was probably just an over reaction to our fear of the unknown and the shocking realities of covid, there might have been some method in our madness. While things like disinfectant cleaners, sprays, hand sanitizers and even shoe sanitizers or covers became common place, one thing we all s ..read more

Don’t neglect your side piece.     Bedside tables deserve more attention from us.   A nightstand is a piece of furniture we rarely think about. Like salt on your steak, you only really notice it when it’s not there…It does such a thankless job, and we think its time for this neglected side piece to be given some main character love. Let’s talk about what makes a bedside table such a universal piece of furniture, and how we can give it the love it deserves. It keeps your electronics, your books, your jewellery, your favourite lip balm, your expensive face cream and your life-sa ..read more

Hurkle-durkle in your happy place!   Make your bedroom your me-zone. Don’t get up just yet. There is a difference between hitting snooze and turning over for that second nap, and waking up on time, but not getting up. There is a word for this…it’s called “Hurkle-Durkle” and its lovely. Although most human beings can see the magic in this, the word originated in Scotland, and it basically means lounging around in bed beyond the time you are supposed to get up. Now, as comfort creatures, this resonates with us, and we love the thought of enjoying a bit more me-time in our bedroom sanctuar ..read more

Why a headboard is an excellent place to start.   Make your bedroom dreams come true A good night’s sleep begins during the day. To truly transform your “good enough” bedroom into your “better than ever” happy place, you’ll simply have to follow our guidelines. Let’s start at the top. (of the bed) Beds have come a long way. No, were not doing a deep dive into the ancient history of beds going back to grass and mud matrasses of prehistoric times. So lets just leave it at this: Beds have changed, they are more versatile than ever and this means your bed is the perfect place to live out yo ..read more

Don’t set yourself up for home-hate by decorating on a whim.   Trends pass. (That’s why they are called trends.) There is much to be said for home décor trends. They are fun to follow, exciting to DIY and can help you update an otherwise bland space. Pretty glass containers on open shelves are actually sensible, big open windows and screed floors create space and calm, and smart lighting and home tech can actually improve your quality of life…So these trends get our thumbs up. BUT, (and this is a BIG but), not all trends deserve to be followed. In fact, some of them are rather silly and ..read more

What should your garden wintertime routine be? Change is the name of the game. Seasons are shifting and climate change is real – this means we probably need to adapt our winter garden routines to ensure that our plants get the rest and care they need for the spring and summer growing season. This year, we faced unprecedented heatwaves and dry conditions for the last couple of months of the “summer”, which left many of us in a garden rut. Yes, most of your plants would have at least been in their final growth phase, but instead of being fortified by the late summer rains and sunshine, they ha ..read more

We asked our expert, Kyle Brooks to tell us more about himself. Trusting an expert takes some time…get to know our favourite new expert, one question at a time.   The construction industry is a lifelong love for Kyle. “I was lucky enough to be introduced into the property and construction industry as a teenager by family and friends. My best friend’s father was a property developer, and we would go to site on weekends and school holidays. He ran very big jobs and had a staff compliment of 400 people and constructed developments valued at 100 million Rand in the early 90’s. This gave me ..read more

What is making my house look cheap? Keeping up with the jones’s (or Kardashians if we are honest) has always been a social burden and often times our desperate attempts to “upgrade” our homes, come back to bite us on the bum.   Here are some of the decorating faux pas you should avoid if you want to really, sustainably up your home décor game and skip the cheap.   1. “Decorated” rooms instead of “collected” spaces. A sure-fire way to cheapen your home is to furnish a whole room with the exact same wood laminate self-assembly furniture. A room should look collected, and not decorate ..read more

There’s a Yiddish word for it… “Tchotchke” Meaning something inexpensive or frivolous.  Also known as Trinkets, Bric-a-brac or simply clutter. Whatever you choose to call it, every home has some version of it. You know what we are talking about – the decorative teaspoons on their own little mount, the Kruger National Park shot glass, the little porcelain house, or the coloured glass animal statuette. The souvenir Eiffel tower, the decorative salt and pepper pot, the tiny little Turkish tile, or some other bauble. What in the world is a tchotchke even? We can talk and talk about de-clutt ..read more