My Tom Boy

This little one is such a sweet, special child.  Holding him is like having a calming palm laid against my heart.  In these crazy days of manic work schedules and chaotic family life, I have had almost no time to meditate.  Yet, when Tom and I sit alone in the dark, welcoming the first streaks of dawn on the early morning sky, I feel happier and more at peace than at any other time in my life.  He is a gentle, gentle, tranquil soul x

Animal Hides & Mid Century Modern Furniture

Like many designers, I love adding an authentic Eames, Bertoia or Thonet chair into my interior schemes for punch, but have you noticed that a lot of Mid Century Modern Classics are very hard (and cold) on the derriere?  I specified eight Tolix chairs for a studio space once only to discover that my clients spent the entire winter sitting on folded blankets!  So what to do about an uncomfy, chilly butt?  Take a leaf out of the northern European rule book of design and drape the chair in an animal hide of course!  I love the juxtaposition of the hard, man made edges of the furniture with the organic, textural feel of the hides.  It immediately turns the chairs into an inviting place to snuggle up and get toasty.

Artwork Love

I love finding boutique suppliers of quirky artwork.  White Horse Home have some sweet little pieces to pine for.  My favourite: Cross Wall Hanging - $89.95 online.

Kids Rugs

Finding rugs for children's rooms can be a real challenge, particularly when you want something that is going to add a real punch of colour and fun.  The new Junior Collection from Armadillo & Co is the answer to my prayers!  Bright band stripes and solid circles are mixed with natural tones to create a really stunning, vibrant range of rugs for kids spaces handmade from soft hemp and pure wool.  Sensational stuff!  

All rugs available through Angela Steyn Interiors.

How To Decorate With Neon

Neon shoelaces on a ten year old is one thing, but how exactly do you pull off electric hues in the home without getting it really, really, really wrong? The 80's child within me loves a dash of highlighter pink more than I care to admit but I have shied away from neon brights fearing they will be too loud and boisterous and overwhelming.  So my challenge was to find a way to introduce them so they worked with my typically white, classic and calm interiors.

The answer: restraint and lots and lots of white paint! By pairing just a pop of bright with neutral, natural tones it suddenly takes on a whole new personality.  By reducing the glare factor and turning the colours into neon pastels, the schemes become ridiculously pretty.  Mix in a few organic textures and I'm swooning. Candy coloured heaven!

Last Days...

By next weekend our family will be four.  

A brand new baby will be passed between our arms, held and cherished and butterfly kissed by the gentle light of the autumn sun.  

A little person full of promise and wonder - an old soul to teach us - a sibling to play with - a child to adore.  

Hurry up my angel baby, we are eager to stare in rapture at your sublime, perfect features and feel your tiny beating heart against our own.  

We love you already x

Photography: Angela Steyn

An Elf in Our Garden

Quick, someone call Santa... one of his elves has escaped!

Photography: Angela Steyn

The Countdown

In amongst the complete chaos of my world (think mountains of paperwork and fabric samples piled up beneath a graveyard of broken toys and stale biscuits) it has suddenly dawned on me that I have just two weeks until we welcome our no. 2 bambino into the world - if indeed our no. 2 is as punctual as our no. 1 who arrived right on schedule (he is a Virgo after all!).

I have just taken on a stack of new clients in the past week - how I imagine juggling them all along with a newborn and a boisterous toddler is totally beyond me but I suspect it has something to do with being in complete denial about just how much our lives are going to be altered by the joy, wonder and ear-splitting cries of a teeny weeny baby.  

The first time around I wasn't self-employed.  I finished work 7 weeks before the baby came... 7 WEEKS!!!  My God, how insanely decadent.  I pottered around making pretty little things to go in the baby's room.  I took yoga classes 3 times a week.  I cleaned our apartment from top to bottom with a toothbrush.  I had massages and went for long, ambling walks in the sunshine.

This time, the baby has to stick a foot into the side of my tummy with as much force as possible for me to even stop for two seconds to remember that I'm pregnant.  There have been no massages, no yoga classes and certainly no afternoons lying on the sofa reading magazines.  I have managed to wash the baby clothes but they sit in the laundry basket where they will no doubt remain until we bring our little bundle home from the hospital.  Life could not be more different.

But here is the question... would I change anything?  Not a chance.  I love the life that Andre and I have fought so hard to build.  I love the fact that we live immersed in creativity (which just so happens to also be our work).  Yes, I could use a few more hours sleep a night.  Yes, I wish I could slow down the clocks.  Yes, I wish I could carve out a few more peaceful moments to sit in quiet meditation with my baby.  But our world is such a beautiful blend of happiness that I feel my soul renewed daily by the craziness.

So watch this space folks.  Tick, tick, tick... the scenic route of life is about to get a bit rough under foot for a while!

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Sensory Play for Toddlers - Coloured Rice & Beans

Sensory play for toddlers - coloured rice & beans

I have a beautiful German friend called Sarah who leads the kind of life I can only imagine.  Her world is full of scandi-inspired wooden toys, organic food and lots of handmade pretty "stuff".  Her life is the life I would lead if only I could be bothered to locate and dust off the sewing machine which has inched its way further and further into the depths of our roof storage. Yesterday Leo and I popped over for a play and were met with more fabulous homemade creativity - this time in the form of sensory play tubs filled with coloured rice and beans.  Hours of entertainment right there!  Chubby little hands sifting through the grain, pouring, scooping, mixing and inevitably spilling... magic to watch.  Follow the instructions below to make your own coloured rice.

How to Make Coloured Rice

You will need:

• Large quantity of white rice
• White vinegar
• Liquid food colouring (in a variety of colours)
• Large glass jar

Method:

• Mix 2 tablespoons vinegar with a few drops of food colouring in the jar
• Add 2 cups of rice
• Shake like crazy
• When colour is completely absorbed, tip rice out onto a baking tray and pop in a low oven to dry out
• Repeat for different colours

Photography: Angela Steyn

The Long, Fleeting Days

With the passing days of being a Mama I wonder if I will remember all the things about my child that delight my soul and fill my heart to bursting.  The early morning sleepy smiles, the chubby hand absent-mindedly stroking my cheek, the shrieks of joy as he gallops past on the back of my husband, blonde curls bouncing, head bobbing.  The way he struggles valiantly to string words together correctly to form a sentence, his face earnest and furrowed in concentration.  His untainted perception of the world. His love of apple chippies, marshmallows and "teeny" bits of chocolate that he insists on sharing with his Dada.  The make-believe bath time chatter, his love of odd bod toys and bits of scrap paper.  His pride in doing his daily chores like feeding the cat and passing me the bed pillows. Most of all, I wonder if I will recall the exact sound of his laughter that fills our home with the kind of joy that can sustain a soul for eternity.

I am determined to document as much as possible as the years speed by, determined not to let the accumulation of long days bleach my memories of their beauty so they lie like a pile of faded photographs on my psyche.  These precious days are fleeting - one day, too soon from now, he will no longer want to crawl on my lap and press his sticky face against mine for comfort.  Too soon he will have grown up.  Too soon I will have grown old.

Photography: Angela Steyn