Built in 2010, this modern barn in Iceland may embrace the rugged North Atlantic Ocean more than it does a traditional Icelandic Design, but its owners have blunted the elements with a simple and thoughtfully curated interior.

Icelandic Interior Designer Rut Káradóttir is a dreamer. For five years, she collected items from her favourite Scandinavian homeware brands and treasures from her travels, storing them in her garage. She’s patient, too: for years, Rut and her husband, marketing consultant Kristinn Arnarson, had been taking the 45-minute drive from Reykjavik to Stokkseyri whenever they wanted to indulge in a bucket of fresh lobster tails at their favourite restaurant, Fjörubordid. On one of their visits to this sleepy village on the Great Thjórsá Lava shoreline in the southwest of Iceland, the couple spotted a new barn being built. They fell in love with it, and it might be no coincidence that Rut began her beach-house collection around the same time as they first saw the barn. Suddenly, each visit to Stokkseyri not only meant a great dinner, but also a chance to check on “their” barn.

Fast-forward five years to a leisurely Sunday morning, and Rut was browsing the real-estate section of the local newspaper, “more out of habit than a desire to find a new property”, when she stumbled upon “their” barn. “We had just finished renovating a property in the west of Iceland and I knew we couldn’t afford another one just yet – but at least I’d finally get a glimpse inside,” she recalls.

They immediately arranged a viewing and, two days later, were the proud owners of their getaway by the sea. “There was a lot of interest, but the owners were incredibly taken by our enthusiasm,” says Rut, who promptly set to work. Over the next six months, she stamped her unique Nordic style with a touch of Japanese simplicity on the house, all while keeping their latest addition to the property family a secret.

Rut and Kristinn’s barn stands out among the more traditional cottages in the village of Stokkseyri. The previous owners had a strong connection to the sea – the husband was a ship engineer and had spent most of his life on or around ships. In their late 60s, they commissioned their architect son to devise a house for them, reminiscent of the husband’s maritime past. “It is no surprise that the former owner chose this spot for their barn ship,” says Kristinn. “With the North Atlantic on the doorstep, you feel out at sea; even more so when standing on the Bridge (balcony), with the Icelandic wind ruffling your hair.”

Inside, the seafaring theme continues, and Rut and Kristinn still fondly call the two floors Upper Deck and Lower Deck – they’re connected by a staircase that wouldn’t be out of place on an elegant yacht. The couple were conscious that they wanted to work with the building’s past, embracing nautical details such as the porcelain cabin lights, and even adding some of their own, like a porthole mirror in the hallway.

Just like a ship, the barn has adapted perfectly to its surroundings. The Siberian larch that makes up the exterior cladding has weathered to a soft, cloudy grey, blending perfectly into the volcanic landscape. Rut believes that “when the architecture of a building is very strong, you have to ensure that the interior and exterior are working in unison”. And through her unique style that is so firmly rooted in her native countryside, she has ensured just that. She selected a neutral colour scheme, drawing on natural elements that surrounded the barn – the moss-covered lava stones, the beach behind the house. As a result, she managed to bring some of Iceland’s untamed landscape inside, adding a touch of luxurious elegance to the barn without losing any of its authenticity.

Now that the garage is empty, what’s next for the enthusiastic duo? “We’re still too young to just sit back and live the dream,” says Rut, “so we’ll go on dreaming for a while.” For now, her interior design studio is keeping her busy, and when she’s not collecting chairs for her future house, she’s transforming the properties of her international clients with her uniquely Icelandic-chic aesthetic.

Rut and Kristinn are delighted that they get to share all this with the ever-increasing influx of visitors to Iceland. “At some point in the future, we plan to be here more regularly, but in the meantime, we are very happy to rent it out so others get to enjoy this unique spot, too.” Their visitors certainly have a lot to look forward to, from the possibility of spotting the Northern Lights during the winter months to the opportunity to observe the starry night sky through the window above the bed in the master bedroom – and, of course, fresh lobster tails at Fjörubordid.

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A church in the coastal Kennemerland region of Holland has been reimagined, redesigned and reborn as a breathtakingly creative family home that was both a homage to the past and functionally future-forward. 

Set among Noord-Kennermerland’s dunes, wide beaches, quiet forests and colourful fields, this church has seen renovations several times in its hundred-year history. Unfortunately, the various adaptations and rebuilds masked much of the original architecture of this national monument – so its new owners looked for a team to reimagine the space. They wanted an original family home that both respected the building’s history and looked ahead to its new future.

Netherlands-based interior designers Studio Erik Gutter pulled together a specialised team of architects under the guidance of creative director Erik Gutter, whose first order of business was to do some historical research. “We wanted to map out all the architectural interventions and renovations before we started designing,” he says.

The church underwent significant changes in both the 1960s and the 1990s and, while the ’60s renovation had some worthy qualities – particularly in the specialised concrete frameworks – the ’90s layer added little value, and was demolished to allow the character of the church to become visible again in one large, open, high space. “We advised our clients to keep five big concrete window frames,” says Erik. “Because of the space, they provide a rhythm and a depth, adding a contemporary, somewhat Brutalist element to the interior.”

In 1969, the interior had been adjusted so the east facade could be used as an entrance, with the balcony above it. Today, this is the master bedroom and bathroom. A high vertical window created on the ground floor near the “altar” allows the morning sun to shine serenely through. Outside, closed masonry openings were reopened to provide a view of the enclosed garden and the forest behind it.

The team created a new entrance in the shape of a small portal – a nod to the original entrance from the early 20th century – and added an independent sturdy steel frame that supports the upper floor, dividing the living volume into upper/lower and left/right sections. On this steel frame’s solid wooden base is a freestanding green-painted wooden “box” that appears to sink through the floor – this houses the children’s bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a media room. The left half of the space, rising to the saddle roof, is the living area, while the right side houses the kitchen, dining area and home office on the ground floor.

Erik’s clients were open to an innovative approach to the interior, especially when it came to colour and materials. “It was definitely all a bit ‘out of the box’ but I think the team really surprised the clients with what you see now,” he says. “For us, an interior always starts with visualising an atmosphere. We often think in colour, images and feelings, and only then decide which sofa, table or armchair to use. We like to look for the strength and originality of a room, and enhance this with our interior solutions, art and accessories.”

For the furniture, the team opted for traditional designs, using pieces by both international brands and local makers such as Florence Knoll, Warren Platner, Job Smeets, Patricia Urquiola, Piet Hein Eek and Gianfranco Frattini. “We are especially proud of the bright yellow wall of glazed tiles,” says Erik. “It really anchors the new interior, making reference to all the bright colours, sturdy materials and designer furniture used throughout.” The wall is also an effective counterpoint to the owners’ photographic art collection, and the painting in the master bedroom by Dutch artist Levi van Veluw.

The end result is an impressive interpretation of the clients’ brief that has turned a church interior into an extension of personal freedom and creativity – and a space that still invites reverence.

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Hygge? She’ll pass, says German interior designer Daniela Gottschalk, whose Camps Bay villa has attracted its fair share of location scouts and influencers with its irrepressibly OTT interior.

Restauranteur. Bar owner. Psychotherapist. Interior designer. As far as CVs go, Daniela Gottschalk’s is quite prolific. But there’s a linearity to the professions, as the Frankfurt-based Cape Town semi-grant tells it: “Twenty years ago, I opened a restaurant; after that, I opened a bar. At the bar, people would buy a drink… and want to tell me all their problems. I said, okay, I’m not listening to all that for a cappuccino – so I qualified as a psychotherapist.”

The interior design bug officially bit in 2015, when friends asked Daniela to decorate the interior of a holistic boutique hotel in Split, Croatia – and after that, the job offers started streaming in. “I figured out that I never actually needed to open a bar or restaurant in the first place, because all I’d actually wanted was to design their interiors,” she says.

Having visited and fallen in love with Cape Town in 2007, Daniela’s dream to buy and renovate a house in the Mother City finally came true last year when she bagged an old Camps Bay fixer-upper. “I’d collected furniture over the last three years without even knowing what kind of house I was going to buy,” says Daniela. “I knew I wanted a property that would allow me to style it like something from Palm Springs in the 1960s, where you could imagine Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton sipping martinis next to the pool and listening to Frank Sinatra.”

To help turn her vision into reality, Daniela roped in local construction contractor Debbie Verreyne to start the revamp, while she directed the process from Frankfurt – from redoing the floors to knocking out a wall between a pokey kitchen and dining room. The pair worked together so well that they went on to found interior-design company Tinzeltown. For all the meticulous planning, the one thing Daniela hadn’t counted on was the fact that the shipping container filled with designer furniture that she’d dispatched from Germany would only arrive the day before her South African visitor’s visa was set to expire. “I managed to extend my stay by five days; in that time, I basically decorated the whole house,” she says. Aesthetically, there is a definite leitmotif at play: curved arches, varying shades of turquoise and lime green, graphic black-and-white designs, and accents of postbox red and metallic bling. Think sexy Mid-century Modern meets Pop Art. “I wanted everything to be a bit over-stimulating and larger than life,” she says. “Home interiors don’t all need to be shabby-chic, or hygge in whites and beiges.”

Ironically, the Jonathan Adler mouths that pop up in various places – from the polka-dotted chair in the living room to the collection of ashtrays on display in the brass Maisons du Monde shelf in the hallway – are not a nod to the fact that Daniela makes a living from listening to people talk. “I’m just a little bit obsessed with them,” she says. “Jonathan Adler is my design icon.”

A notable stylistic departure is the bathroom, with its opulent blue-and-black marble tiles and gilt- framed his-and-hers vanity. “I wanted it to be a place to calm down; a kind of posh, elegant spa.”

You might wonder: does the kaleidoscopic, slightly zany interior have any psychological significance? “I always say, the more structured you are on the inside, the more chaos you can accept on the outside – and it’s the same with colour,” says Daniela. “I mean, I definitely don’t think it’s for everyone, but for the people that it is for… they’ll feel like they’re in their very own butterfly sanctuary.”

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Seeing its hidden potential, creative couple Lauren Shantall and Derek Eyden have transformed a neglected Mid-century box in Fish Hoek into a colourful retreat that suits their new post-COVID lifestyle to a tee.

As many couples did during the pandemic, Lauren Shantall and her husband Derek Eyden re-evaluated their lifestyle. To beat the claustrophobia of their new work-from-home regimen, Lauren, who runs her own PR company, and musician Derek would regularly pile into the car with their 13-year-old son Daniel, and make the trek from Rosebank in the heart of Cape Town’s suburbia to the Deep South – the colloquial name used for the slack-paced string of suburbs that hug the Cape Peninsula’s coastline. “We were waking up three, four times a week to go for sunrise swims,” says Lauren. “Covid meant that I suddenly lost 40% of my business – but it also meant that I could work from anywhere. We realised we could minimise our petrol bill and just move to live next to the ocean!”

The Mid-century Prairie-style house the couple ended up buying in Fish Hoek wasn’t exactly their architectural dream, but its lofty location against the mountain, with a view of both the Atlantic and Indian oceans, was. “It was one of those 1960s box houses, where you open the front door and walk into a rectangle,” says Lauren. “Derek and I knew roughly what we wanted to do. We measured the space, made little scale drawings and cut out pieces of furniture that we’d move around, trying endless configurations.”

Architect Ian Macduff and interior architect Charisse Johnston of StudioSALT helped the couple crystallise their vision. The previously closed-off lounge, kitchen and sunroom became one sprawling living space that spills out onto a large balcony, and another storey – with an impressive custom-designed steel staircase to match – was added to accommodate a small study and an en suite master bedroom with its own balcony.

As far as possible, Lauren and Derek repurposed the house’s fixtures or went to great lengths to source reclaimed fittings and furnishings that wouldn’t look out of place. The sunroom’s slasto stones and sliding door, for example, were redirected to the guest loo and scullery respectively, while the parquet flooring was one of those Facebook Marketplace finds that DIY home renovators’ dreams are made of. “The sellers were getting rid of it because they were putting down vinyl!” says Lauren. Another score was the retro teak kitchen unit that had been gathering dust in someone’s garage. And then there was the pink-and-black Zulu Mama Café chair by Haldane Martin that now lives in Lauren’s study, because the original owners wanted to redo their home interior entirely in black and white, as one does…

Lauren – whose career spans decades working in the design and art realm, and who is also an artist in her own right – and Derek worked together to create a tailor-made colour story for the home. It plays out from the paint palette she chose for the walls and joinery to the artworks and curios from the couple’s enviable collection – much of which is still in storage after the move. “Many of the colours reflect the fynbos around us, like this protea,” she says, gesturing to a large Leucadendron gandogeri growing in the indigenous garden below the balcony, its gradients of green, yellow and orange-pinks echoed in the open-plan living area. “My husband is a musician, and while I don’t pretend to understand music very well, I’d like to think what I’ve done here is like colour music. The colours are notes that form a melody through the house.”

The new milieu undeniably fosters creativity – not only for Derek, who now composes and records music in a plant-filled studio bathed in serene shades of green, but also for Lauren, who has a dedicated art room bathed in natural light. “I’m working on an exhibition called ‘Plant Babies’, which will open this year,” she says. Three guesses where she gets her inspiration from…

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A new family home in Durbanville fuses raw concrete with living plants to create a minimal feeling of an “urban jungle”, and a place of quiet contemplation for the homeowners.

The home of Deon and Anina van Eeden is situated in the heart of a new Durbanville estate Clara Anna Fontein, overlooking the rolling hills and mountain ranges of the much-loved wine-route destination.

They used architect Jean Odendaal from Architech for the project, with a brief to give the surrounding nature priority in the build, being prominent both inside and outside. Giving an organic feel and using plants inside to reflect the farm-like feel of the estate was important for Anina. Being an interior decorator, Anina wanted to work with someone who could share her vision and understands the relationship between architecture and interior design. Building from scratch and creating a space in collaboration with Jean was important for the project, resulting in a cohesive home that ticked all the boxes for the family. Staying on an estate means that there are quite strict build rules and the team had to work within those guidelines, while still creating a space that felt unique to the family and brought their personality to the forefront.

Building more with less was also a big theme, which led to the medium concrete – an honest material that is both contemporary and classic and allows the surrounding interior design to pop. Mute exterior and interior finishes act as a platform to showcase statement furniture pieces, artwork and the garden. Garden design by Penny Moir Landscape Architects in conjunction with Anina ensured that the garden gives privacy and an escape from the hustle and bustle of the surrounds.

“A limited number of materials were used for the floors and the walls as well as joinery and other finishes to create a minimalist decor theme as a calm sanctuary away from day-to-day life where you can relax and unwind,” explains Anina. “I love lighting or the lack of lighting to give atmosphere. I have had the Parentesi lights for the lounge area for five years in my garage. I believe that you need silent spaces to give items of art or furniture a chance to stand out. Not to fill every wall and space,” she elaborates.

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Casa Gialla, a micro-apartment in the heart of Madrid received a modern and bright redesign by Gonzalo Pardo and the team at got architects.

The one-bedroom apartment, built in 1910 and renovated in 2003, needed a contemporary facelift that matched the character of the new owner and her partner. Taking inspiration from bold colour pops and geometric lines that are prominent in 1960s Italian homes, the team wanted to make a space that oozed style while being completely functional and comforting.

“When we started the project, we were very clear about the actions to transform this space into a new one. They can be summed up in three words: demolish, drill and equip,” explains Pardo.

They started by removing the interior walls to create an open-plan space, lined with bright yellow floor-to-ceiling cabinetry – a trendy storage solution for a tiny home. This cabinetry contained the apartment’s kitchen, office, and storage space, as well as forming a secret wall that allowed the bedroom to be either closed off or opened up to the rest of the house.

An indoor/outdoor feel was created with the installation of an outdoor bathtub and shower, with a wall-sized door allowing the two spaces to be completely connected or disconnected. The apartment also featured a hidden folding bed for when guests stay over, and an office built into the corner of the apartment.

Even though the team had a limited budget for the project, beauty and functionality was easily achieved with smart storage solutions from places like IKEA – which is where they invested in the statement yellow floor-to-ceiling wardrobes, with the space proving you don’t need a lot of money to create a striking and creative home.

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Carved into the western slopes of Lion’s Head, this tiered hideaway – Kloof 145 – takes its cues from the indigenous trees and fynbos that once covered the landscape.

Five levels. Authentic materials. A clear design narrative. This sleek yet organic residence in Kloof Road, Clifton, makes a dramatic statement.

From the gabion-walled ground-level exterior that mimics the mountainside strata from which it emerges to the fold-away glass doors, skylights and pale timber used in the uppermost level, each floor of Kloof 145 tells a convincing story of natural progression. Most notably, a vertically slatted box hovers over the middle terrace, with space for the forest bushwillows from the second tier to grow. These lightweight aluminium screens, which can open and close, filter the amount of natural light entering the interiors.

“The idea was to architecturally express the varying relationships to the site and the greater context of mountain, sea and sky,” says lead architect Phillippe Fouche of SAOTA. Cécile & Boyd did the interior design, led by partner and designer Paul van den Berg, who focused on organic interior furnishings and finishes to reinforce the unfolding experience of natural elements that the house affords.

Looking for more architectural inspiration? Take a look at this modern Pretoria home.

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In the heart of Le Perche, just an hour outside Paris, interior architect Vincent-Louis Voinchet has boldly renovated two farm buildings to create a unique guesthouse.

Interior architect Vincent-Louis constantly shakes up traditions at his design practice, Studio Nohau. And he made no exception to this rule when renovating his country house in the bohemian countryside region of Le Perche, about an hour away from Paris. The upgrades included a restructuring of spaces – the remains of two rural buildings, which included cramped rooms and abandoned barns – and re-imagining them in a refined way that incorporates both Japanese and German influences. “I’m a great admirer of Charlotte Perriand’s work during her stay in Japan in the 1940s,” says Vincent-Louis, “but also of the Bauhaus style – of the search for an aesthetic that’s all about simplicity, stripped-down elegance and functionalism.”

In the renovation, which involved two buildings and more than 800m2 of floor space, he set out to create a new vision of what a country house should be. “I don’t like shabby-chic, scrap furniture, or old, damp stone that takes three days to heat up,” he says. “I wanted to create a comfortable, elegant, unique atmosphere here, surrounded by nature.”

Over a two-year period, the existing spaces were enlarged and modified to create a better flow. The passageway arches, the fireplace and some of the ceilings were clad in concrete; oak window and door frames were exposed and refurbished; and some of the openings were replaced by larger windows framed in vintage style metalwork. Finally, furniture pieces designed by Vincent-Louis in black

marble and steel were added to the reworked spaces. Careful design and attention to detail were evident throughout the process. “I’m a finishings maniac,” says Vincent-Louis with a smile. “For example, I drew up the plans for the bathrooms so there would be no cuts in the 15x15cm tiles. It’s much nicer and cleaner…”

There’s plenty of black in the elegant interiors. It works to ground and define the spaces, and acts as a framing element for the predominantly 1960s and ’70s furniture and lighting, most of which was sourced by Vincent-Louis for his extensive personal collection. As a result, the interiors are both intimate and ideal for socialising – the kind of spaces where subtle contrasts play out between the beautiful raw materials and radical architectural lines.

The updated home now has eight bedrooms, two lounges, a library, a hammam, two swimming pools (one indoors, one outdoors), a bar and even a cinema room for those long winter evenings. Originally designed as a countryside holiday retreat for family and close friends, Maison Ceronne has enchanted visitors so much that Vincent-Louis and his partner decided to open it up to paying guests,

making it a sort of small, rural hotel for guests wishing to escape Paris. And there’s little doubt that the combination of superb amenities and gorgeous setting will make the venture a huge success.

Looking for more architectural or travel inspiration? Take a look at this coastal Kenyan villa.

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First featured in VISI several years back, this modern farmhouse has settled into its own skin, with a decor style that has gradually built layers of houding, melding the owner’s style with the architect’s timeless aesthetic.

Smitten by its location in the picturesque village of Pniel at the foot of the Simonsberg mountain in Stellenbosch, Dané Erwee and Chris Willemse bought this 2.5-hectare piece of land 10 years ago. The idea was to start a flower farm that could supply their floral retail business, Okasie. “There was nothing here then besides a few gardenia bushes and plum trees,” recalls Chris, a horticulturist. “Our first mission was to build a road that would allow the builders to access the land.”

Architect Henri Comrie was entrusted to design the house. “We chose Henri for his strong ideas, and because we knew he’d give us something timeless,” says Dané, a master florist and landscape designer. “In fact, his answer to our brief for a re-imagined farmhouse was so spot on that, from the moment we received the proposed plans for this house, we honestly didn’t change a thing.”

READ MORE: Klein Karoo Farmhouse

Set between two peaks, the 400m2 house strikes an iconic pose against its backdrop of majestic mountains. “It’s like a temple that locks the peaks into its power forever,” explains Henri. “The idea was that, by establishing itself as a central place in this huge landscape, the house is able to command a potency far exceeding its size.”

The general organisation of the building hangs on to this connection too, from the house itself to the entrance, a cut cylinder tank fed by a great spout, a “tongue” of tended grass that stretches out from the building, a long pool and even the broad, werf-like wall at the entrance. Best described as a cube divided into a series of smaller, flexible spaces, the home features aperture openings at the front and back that give it a “tunnel vision”, ensuring spectacular views of the mountains that flank it. With few windows and openings on the sides of the building, all additional light comes from above, thanks to transparent roof structures and glass sections on the upper walkway.

The living areas on the ground floor are located at the front of the cube, while two guest bedrooms are located to the rear, parallel to the entrance. Upstairs, two en suite bedrooms lead out to an enclosed terrace that doubles as an outdoor lounge, which is echoed on the lower level.

The interiors are quirky and playful, blending Dané and Chris’s love of beautiful things in a mix of wood, linen, pattern, colour, texture and botanicals. “I definitely get a kick out of combining incongruous things that tell a story,” says Dané.

READ MORE: Montagu Country House

“It’s a philosophy that works – the house feels like it’s been around far longer than 10 years, particularly now that the landscape has claimed it as its own. It’s a brilliant design, but it seems entirely disproportionate to the joy it has given and continues to give us. To experience the seasons and the rhythm of the surrounding farming activities in the coolth of its spaces is heightened by its connection to the mountains, and the myriad ways in which light reflects off the peaks.”

It’s an inspiring place, too – for Dané and Chris, and for all who get to experience it. “It has sometimes felt like a challenge, and decorating it has, on occasion, felt like more of a responsibility,” says Dané.

“But then that inspires me further. It’s a constantly evolving relationship – with the house and the environment.” Which is exactly as it should be.

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SOUTH architecture transformed a cold and dark underground storage space into a bright and airy studio apartment near the Greek capital.

The architects were tasked with transforming a leftover basement of a residential building, located in the area of Lycabettus Hill in Athens, Greece, into a custom-designed studio apartment. The flat had a single opening into an enclosed atrium and a pair of ceiling skylights; features that SOUTH architecture wanted to enhance.

The fully equipped apartment consists of a sleeping area, bathroom, living area, kitchen and dining room, with a large courtyard for al fresco evenings.

A sculptural partition wall was used to divide the internal spaces from being one open-plan studio for privacy but still allowing natural light and flow through the apartment.

Arched circular openings double as a desk and vanity while cleverly creating the feeling of more space and a tradition between areas.

SOUTH architecture made use of custom-designed furniture to increase functionality and create a unique and definitive home. They chose raw materials, such as cement and glazed ceramic tiles along with unfinished plywood and black steel to counterpart the white walls.

Looking for more architectural inspiration? Check out this renovated Milkman’s Cottage – a small home in Australia.

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