Looking Ahead
Building thoughtfully, creating boldly
At the start of 2026, it feels like we’re stepping into something exciting.
Last year was full of change and new beginnings, travel to Morocco, finally finishing my bathroom and dressing room after nine years, joining my friend Lynn at The Trove in Melville, completing a family home in Zambia, and lining up lots of new projects for the year ahead.
Amid all this, I’ve felt a quiet shift inside me, toward more clarity, confidence, and intention. I’ve been thinking a lot about agency this year, not as something to show off, but as a way of moving through life. The ability to make deliberate choices, trust your instincts, and take responsibility for the direction you’re heading. Building thoughtfully. Creating boldly. I know I’ll need that energy in 2026, and maybe you will too.
The holidays reminded me to slow down. Staying in Johannesburg, spending time with family, and enjoying the calm of a city that softens when everyone heads to the coast. Space to think. Space to imagine. Space to feel ready.
As we begin the year, I’m excited for what’s ahead and everything we’ll build along the way.
In the early 2000s, I attended a Li Edelkoort lecture at Design Indaba. The world was still trying to make sense of life after 9/11. Cultural perspectives were shifting, and a collective sense of insecurity had settled in. The world no longer felt safe.
Her talk stayed with me because it wasn’t really about trends, it was about human behaviour. About our instinct to retreat, to protect ourselves, to create places that feel safe. She spoke about how this would show up in our homes: no more white, sterile spaces. What emerged instead was a desire for comfort and protection. The forecast was “more is more.” Homes that felt enveloping. Pattern on pattern. Heavier textiles. Warmer palettes. Greys offset with contrasting accents, like bright lichen against stone.
In fashion, she predicted veils, militaristic silhouettes, and more covered-up bodies. While not every forecast comes to pass (I’m still waiting for veils to transcend religious context), the underlying psychological drivers were remarkably accurate.
Looking around now, the same instinct is everywhere. Open Instagram and you’ll see posts from Maison & Objet and 2026 style predictions featuring deep ochres, rich colour, and lots of texture. At the end of last year, Kendall Jenner’s “grandma-core” mountain house made the rounds, and even the toughest design critics couldn’t fault Heidi Callier’s work. That says a lot.
Despite Pantone naming white as its Colour of the Year, the interiors we’re actually seeing tell a different story: deep burgundies, moss greens, rich browns. Pattern is everywhere. Materials are honest and tactile like marble, stone, brass, coloured glass, wood. There’s a renewed appreciation for authenticity: pieces that feel inherited, thrifted, lived-in. Homes that tell a story.
2026 arrived loud, fast, volatile, and unpredictable. In response, we’re grounding ourselves and reclaiming a sense of control where we can, in our homes.
This feels less like a retreat and more like an invitation. An opportunity to slow down, to be intentional, to surround ourselves with things that comfort us and tell our stories.
Curate spaces that feel warm, layered, and deeply personal. Make them cosy. Make them meaningful. Make them yours.
I’m excited for this chapter, and for everything we’ll create along the way. Here’s to the adventure that is 2026.