Design, Travel & Good Living Magazine

I heart the Corner Café

Have you seen the yellow “I heart coffee” stickers on cars all over Durban with no idea where they came from? The mystery has now been solved! Nestled on the corner of Cromwell and Brand streets in Glenwood you will…

Book now for Decorex JHB

Decorex Joburg, Africa’s finest décor, design and lifestyle exhibition celebrates 20 years of stylish living at what promises to be a blissful, feel-good show in 2013. This year’s exhibition kicks off on 7th August and promises five days of unforgettable inspiration…

Jani B Wedding Photography Workshop

Morning all my fabulous BigCityDwellers! As you know I am a fan of fabulous photography - so have decided to join Jani B on the 17 & 18 July for her Joburg weddings photography workshop. Theres going to be a…

Inspiration is a Woman. PIXERS Collection

Coco Channel, Audrey Hepburn, Frida Kahlo, Madonna… these woman are all icons throughout history and have been celebrated with these gorgeous Power Women wall murals bought to us from the creative team of PIXERS. Just like the characters themselves, these wall statments…

Modern Industrial Hilltop Interior

Inspired by Hoi P'loy gorgeous globes - todays house of the day can be found high on a hilltop in Oregon USA. This modern industrial interior is dripping style and sophistication, and is the perfect hidaway to take your inspiration for your…

Design Your Walls!

I love wallpaper! I especially love wallpaper that is beautifully designed and made in Jozi. Wallpaper is fun and gives any space big, or small something to say.A room with wallpaper has a conversation with you and feels interesting. Design Mate…

Vintage Fabulousness!

Perfect for creative lighting clusters above your dinner table! Hoi P'loy, a vintage revival brand started in 2012 by Ploy Phiromnam and Guy van der Walt in Woodstock, Cape Town. "We're filling a gap in South African decor this season by…

Umcebo Design

Umcebo Design have proposed to the World Design Capital 2014 Committee that they make them an official partner organisation with the hope that they will then assist them to come to Cape Town - to hold workshops with groups that…

Thomas Heatherwick

It was the moment hundreds of millions around the world had been waiting for – the lighting of the Olympic cauldron to signify the official start of the 2012 London games. Seven young British athletes set their torches to the…

The Egg: A History Unscrambled

Eggs. We’re obsessed with them. We always have been… Take the cosmic egg creation myth. Back in the day, cultures as diverse as the Chinese, Egyptians, Finns, Indians, and Babylonians all believed that the world sprang forth from a giant…

Africandy

Building a strong design industry isn’t easy. It’s taken a long time and a whole lot of hard work for South African design to overcome the stereotype that’s it’s nothing but curios and wire cars. Fortunately, the world is starting…

We Heart This

We Heart This. The name gets straight to the point. It’s fitting, memorable and oh-so-easy to think up on-the-nose compliments about. In the most literal sense, it’s an online storefront dedicated to local handmade design and décor. But we like…

the chicken or the egg?

Some like to ponder what came first: the chicken or the egg? In the spirit of Easter, that most egg-celent of public holidays, we’re more interested in where we can find the famous egg and the best way to enjoy…

BigCity Story Builders

Thou shalt not' is soon forgotten, but 'Once upon a time' lasts forever" Philip Pullman We are the BigCityStoryBuilders, who create useful marketing that tells the story of your product and then continues to build that story to respond to an unpredictable…

Spotted! Wonderland at Arts On Main

Photo EssayWhile recently attempting to bake cupcakes at JHB Culinary & Pastry School, I took a casual stroll around the buildings I came across this gorgeous Art Installation in one of the buildings. As I am currently completely obsessed with…

Rob Ryan

I have crossed over to the dark side. This I freely admit: I now read 98% of my books in electronic format on a kindle and have almost perfected my argument in praise of avant-garde reading habits … but I…

The art of drinking tea

There is only one expert to consult for a designer sip of something as unique as the Black Daisy tea from Tibet. It is hand picked at 13000 feet, transported by donkey down the mountains, with a picking opportunity of…

The Pumpkin’s way to infinity is by Polka Dot

Apparently the dot is back this season.. Which leaves the way wide open for me to write about my heroine of the dot – Painter, peacenik, performance artist, Yayoi Kusama. Image via: http://ribandrhein.com/wordpress Beginnings Born on 22 March, 1929 in Matsumoto,…

Rooikop

The Trend Dictator demands a rooikop by your side - toute de suite. Don’t you come complainin’ if you’re caught without her sassy style and plush playful plastic complexion. Rooikop is an upcycled designer bag, made from recycled plastic bags…

Pretoria city guide – Die Moederskip

The wolves of Doktrine is slowly but surely sinking their teeth into the tar and mortar of the Pretoria street corner, Pretorius and Hilda. They are gnawing away at this piece of city scape to make space for their mother…

Plan Zee - Your DIY guide to home décor begins here...

Plan Zee2 I believe that a home is linked directly to the owner’s soul. Relax -it’s not some strange cult that is about to be flung at the unsuspecting. Just another way to say that home is where the heart…

Five senses tour of Jozi

During the hot, dry summer months, the animals of the Serengeti leave the arid plains to the more fertile river areas. The denizens of the urban jungle known as Gauteng have much the same migratory patterns – in the summer,…

De Waal Art

De Waal Art calls their vinyl decals “wall tattoos” and we can't disagree. Their products allow people to bring all the fun and self-expression of body art into their homes. The big difference is that unlike permanent tattoos, you can…

White On Light

For our spring inspiration we look to this gorgeous bohemian chic Design Hotel located at San Gorgio beach in Greece. This perfect slice of paradise situated in the most beautiful part of the Mediterranean has been designed by the ever brilliant team…

Artisanal Eating

George Bernard-Shaw had it right: “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” Passionate affairs are as intense and ephemeral as fireworks, while committed coupledom never quite feels the same in the twentieth year as it did in…

Joanne Harris

From Anne of Green Gable’s Avonlea to Little House on the Prairie’s Walnut Grove, the thought of idyllic small town life, preserved in time, has long had a strong imaginative allure. Add the some of Europe’s green rolling hills and…

Neighbourgoods Market.

Fresh. Organic. Natural. Those aren’t the words that immediately spring to mind when you think of Johannesburg’s inner city, but that’s exactly what you’ll find when you head into Braamfontein on Saturday mornings for the Neighbourgoods Market. The market was…

Dokter and Misses

Dokter and Misses questions BigCityLife's answers to life, the universe and… well everything.We love their answers! D&M: Do you like ice cream? Do you like the sea side? Do you like seaside + ice cream? Yes! Yes! Yes! D&M: Would you…

Kelly Hoppen

Kelly Hoppen questions our answers... This South African-born Londoner, whose creative and entrepreneurial projects extend far beyond her day job as an interior designer, took the time out of her busy schedule to answer a few of our questions. Hoppen’s…

Marcelle Wanders

One wouldn’t expect a knot to be the stuff of mythmaking, but it was a knot that launched Alexander the Great’s legend: the young general raised his sword and sliced through the devilishly snarled Gordian Knot and by doing so…

Tom Dixon

The pages of the history books are filled with men and women who had to walk down many a wrong path before stumbling upon the one that led to greatness. Alfred Hitchcock was a draftsman and advertising designer before he…

Tord Boontjie

Ever dream of having all your design inspiration in one conveniently gorgeous location? Because gorgeous is almost always convenient, right? So …. on to 23 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London where the dreams of dreamers and players and people who look…