SJOE! 100 issues and counting… What a pleasure and memorable adventure it has been to put together the biggest-ever issue of VISI.

Since 2001, I have been fortunate to work on this very special magazine alongside some of the most inspiring and talented people in South Africa. Every one of us here at VISI has always pulled out all the stops to delight and surprise you, our loyal followers in print and online, and has gone all out to nurture this important local love-brand.

Thank you to all who have let us into their homes over the years, and all the super-talented architects, artists, crafters and designers who have shared their work with us.

For me, André Eksteen of Earthworld Architects sums it up best: “VISI defined a whole new approach. For the first time someone was making it ‘cool’ to be South African.”

– Sumien

Which cover is your favourite?

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We’ve dubbed this our gifting issue and packed the pages that follow with a bounty of beautiful presents you’re going to want to get your hands on. It’s our way of saying thank you for your loyal support of VISI.

Another highlight is the upcoming VISI Great Spaces tour of the members-only MESH Club in Johannesburg. For a small fee (R175) you can book to join us on a tour of this inspiring space in the City of Gold. Turn to page 54 for details.

It gives us great pleasure to share with you all the right places, all the right spaces, and the very best reasons to make this holiday season the best one ever.

Enjoy!

– Sumien

P.S. Loyal VISI fan Illze Muller has collected every issue of VISI since we launched the magazine in 1998! (We feature Illze’s house on page 84.) Show us where you store your copies of VISI – post a picture and tag #MyVISI on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter – and you could win a one-year subscription to the magazine.

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Just before going to print with this issue, Team VISI’s contestant in the SABC 3 Win A Home reality show, candidate architect and photographer Juané Venter, won the Viewers’ Choice prize for her apartment at Val de Vie Estate near Paarl. She not only won R50 000 but also now knows that thousands of viewers loved her handiwork in the apartment. All of us at VISI are enormously proud of her achievement.

Thank you so much for your support and a special thanks to the viewers who voted for Juané. Turn to page 112 to see how she transformed an empty shell designed by renowned architect Stefan Antoni into an exciting modern living space.

We are honoured to share Stefan’s own home with you on page 82. What a treat to find out that an architect and his family live in a house that was originally designed by another architect who in turn based it on the iconic home of one of the most famous architects ever. Best of all, you can see the house for yourself, as it is one of the VISI Great Spaces tours we’re offering in this issue.

Here at VISI we have always supported and loved local architecture, and I am so grateful to have been on the judging panel for this year’s Corobrik SAIA Awards for architecture. Corobrik MD Dirk Meyer sums it up perfectly: “The country’s diverse cultures, landscapes and people provide our talented architects with a challenging, unique and always interesting canvas upon which to realise their inspired designs.”

For me this was an inspirational and truly exciting experience, and we hope to show many of the award-winning 2015/2016 projects in future issues.

– Sumien

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Here at VISI HQ things have been very, very busy. Besides securing all the exquisite spaces in this issue, I have been assisting candidate architect Juané Venter, our VISI contestant in the Win A Home Competition airing on Afternoon Express on SABC 3.

For both Juané and me, this has been a huge journey of discovery, which has given me renewed respect for the work of talented interior designers. It looks so effortless, until you have to do it yourself… which is when you realise it is a specialised field that demands rare talent.

The experience has also made me aware of just how kind and generous people are with their advice. I will never forget that icy Saturday morning in the Green Point branch of Weylandts when John Autard, who heads up Interior Placements, a weekly online newsletter for the South African interior design industry, gave Juané a crash course in decorating. His three top tips were: Never scale down your furniture for a small space, just use less; every kitchen needs a good clock; and never buy a three-seater couch, because no one wants to sit in the middle!

Juané, who has a master’s degree in architecture, is also an accomplished photographer and took all the pictures in the apartment herself. From the beginning of the competition she had a very clear idea of what she wanted to do, and she has stuck to that idea throughout. You can look forward to seeing Juané’s completed apartment in our next issue. In the meantime you can vote for her at privateproperty.co.za/propertytv/winahome/competition – who knows, perhaps you will be the lucky winner of a home on Val de Vie Estate in Paarl.

In this issue of the magazine there are so many spaces worthy of praise. I greatly admire the work of interior designer extraordinaire Andrea Graff, who worked with Julien Verspieren, founder of Work & Co, to create the most inspiring workspace in Cape Town. Andrea has the knack of mixing the unexpected and eclectic with a bit of old and new to create a happy interior. We are especially honoured that Work & Co has agreed to a VISI Great Spaces tour of their premises. Book early for this one, as it is bound to be popular.

When Etienne Hanekom left his job as VISI art director five years ago to become an interior designer, I don’t think he anticipated he would ever breathe new life into an old Victorian house on a sleepy street in Robertson. His weekend home is the perfect mix of the evocative and the mysterious, with just the right amount of crystal, taxidermy, modern steel and muted velvet to make it a space that both inspire and delights.

There are so many sumptuous reads in this issue of VISI. Enjoy every minute of your time with the magazine (but don’t forget to cast your vote for Juané Venter, and by doing so put yourself in the running to win that home!)

– Sumien

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With winter rolling in, the VISI team has been super busy sourcing the escapes, spaces and other necessities to get you through the cold season. With this issue in hand there is no reason to binge-watch series after series on your couch (although a good couch is certainly in the mix). What follows on our pages is sure to change your perception of winter as drab and dreary.

The escapes

Mhondoro Game Lodge in the heart of Welgevonden Reserve in Limpopo is the latest addition to a selection of five-star lodges in the area. It’s about more than a luxury getaway and panoramic Bushveld views, say the owners of Mhondoro, who are passionate about wildlife conservation. It’s also about providing a safe harbour for white rhino, elephant and the balance of the Big Five. Another covetable escape in our lineup is Harry Poortman and Steyn Jacobs’s intimate guest farm and organic lifestyle retreat just outside Stanford. HaesFarm may be small, but it packs a stylish punch.

The spaces

I love the crazy clash of things in Berdine Neethling’s Cape Town home. With the help of interior designer Alison Reynolds, Berdine is living the mantra “Life is too short to be colourless” to the full. In contrast, the Rawson family home near Paarl is all about uncluttered spaces with exquisite design details. We feel honoured that Julia

Anastasopoulos, the creator of SuzelleDIY, invited us into her home in Oranjezicht, which is filled with personal collections and DIY projects.

Home for André Sales and Morné Visagie is a Bo-Kaap apartment where they explore their creativity before sharing it with strangers. Don’t miss the VISI dinner they are hosting on our behalf (page 97). We met VISI fans Cornel and Marlize de Jongh, owners of the lovingly decorated home in Durbanville on page 102, on one of our VISI house tours. In this issue you can find out how they transformed a dilapidated suburban dwelling into a stylish retreat.

I felt incredibly privileged to be part of a judging panel for the Corobrik-SAIA Awards of Merit and for Excellence recently. Over a period of weeks we visited the most incredible properties all over the country, and I’ve fallen in love with architecture all over again. There really is nothing better than seeing a beautifully designed building in real life – which is another good reason not to miss out on any of our VISI Great Spaces tours!

The stuff

The pages that follow are filled with all the paraphernalia you’ll want to surround yourself with this winter: heaters, lights, coffee, couches, chairs, fabrics, fashion and decorative elements galore. Enjoy!

Until early spring.

– Sumien

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It is now exactly a year since we launched our VISI Great Spaces tours. In each issue we try to secure two of the special spaces featured for readers to visit. The Great Spaces tours have proven to be extremely popular, as not only do they give readers the opportunity to experience places to which they would ordinarily not have access, but they also give the VISI team an opportunity to meet and interact with our readers face to face.

Some readers are such fans of the tours that they have attended every one! To all our loyal readers, thank you so much for your incredible support. I hope to see you at all the Great Spaces tours we have lined up for the rest of this year, starting with a tour of Otto de Jager’s 117-year-old house in Cape Town (page 98), where you can see for yourself how he has brought a Victorian semi into the modern era. I personally cannot wait to see his cabinet of curiosities. To book, e-mail events@visi.co.za.

Then there’s a special cooking class and lunch at Jacques Erasmus and Hein Liebenberg’s magnificently restored house in the small town of Montagu (turn to our story on page 62). Only 10 spots are available, so secure your place now.

Regardless of your personal style preference, I honestly believe there is a space in this issue that will speak to you.

There’s a West-Coast-meets-Versailles holiday house in Brittania Bay (page 40), a modern architect-designed home in Pretoria (page 52), a Parisian-style jewel in Cape Town’s City Bowl (page 84), a striking Cape Dutch house complete with glassed addition in Fresnaye (page 74), and the magnificent Prynnsberg Manor in Clocolan in the Free State (page 90). Last but not least, I just love the tiny whimsical garden created by hairdresser Wim van Zyl in Vredehoek, where angels and gnomes come out to play (page 124).

We also take a look at the temporary space Georgia Black created for the first LITTLEGIG 24H festival, held in a forest near Klapmuts in February. I adore the water installation that Kevin Mackintosh and Daryl McGregor created for the festival. (They also captured it beautifully for VISI – have a look on page 108.)

And how absolutely proud all of us here at VISI HQ were when we heard that chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen had become the first South African to garner a Michelin star. Take a look at his fabulous restaurant in Nice on page 122 and enter to stand a chance to win a copy of his book JAN – A Breath of French Air (Struik Lifestyle). Let us know if you ever pay it a visit and be sure to send us pictures.

Here’s hoping you enjoy the first mellow days of autumn.

– Sumien

ON SHELF 28 MARCH 2016

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For starters, there are nine great spaces for you to explore, including a 17m² POD-Idladla nano home in Joburg (as seen on the cover), Wiid Designs’ creative Cape Town warehouse and a striking container workspace (and coffee shop) in Midrand.

Deputy editor Annemarie Meintjes puts the spotlight on mirrors on page 118, plus we feature 17 of our favourite items to look out for at the 100 Beautiful Things exhibition at 100% Design South Africa on page 132.

It’s clear that colouring in for grown-ups is incredibly popular at the moment (you absolutely loved our post featuring 10 of the best colouring in books for adults), so we’ve teamed up with Dulux to offer a prize of R5 000 cash to one lucky reader who’s in the mood to get creative. All you need to do is get your hands on the mag, colour in the pic provided and tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. #VISIColour! Click here for more details.

We also have the ultimate all-in-one wardrobe from Block & Chisel to give away, worth R32 995. Feeling lucky? Enter here.

There’s so much more to look forward to in this issue. Don’t miss it!

VISI 79 is on sale from Monday 27 July.

Not sure where to find the new issue? Click here for a list of stockists across SA.

Here’s everything you need to know about subscribing to VISI. And if you’re keen on subscribing to the digital edition for only R150, simply visit mysubs.co.za.

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We’ve got 8 inviting spaces to share with you in this issue, from a sophisticated modular design in Pretoria and a modern farmhouse in Stellenbosch to a rustic hotel in the Little Karoo and a trendy Victorian in Cape Town.

Be entertained on page 27, as Vanessa Raphaely describes her love-hate relationship with her seaside “Bitch House”. You’ll also find a mix of winter warmer options on page 106, including an adorable Golden Doodle you won’t be able to resist.

Deputy editor Annemarie Meintjes shares her 10 favourite designs spotted on her rounds at this year’s Milan furniture fair, Salone del Mobile, on page 120, followed by the rest of our 31 Reasons To Get Fired Up About Design This Winter. Highlights include Le Creuset’s Marseille journey, traditional and contemporary rugs, Lize Grobler’s Nando’s creation, Tatiana Etienne’s SPINE collection and artist Thania Petersen’s striking photographs. Plus, there’s a nifty infographic on page 180 to help you decide which fireplace is best for you.

Speaking of fireplaces, we’ve got one up for grabs! Enter our competition and you could win a Nano 1100 bio-ethanol fireplace from Beauty Fires, worth R35 000.

VISI is on sale from Monday 25 May.

Not sure where to find the new issue? Click here for a list of stockists across SA.

Here’s everything you need to know about subscribing to VISI. And if you’re keen on subscribing to the digital edition for only R150, simply visit mysubs.co.za.

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