A January 2026 EDITION

I believe that you should re-read and re-watch your favourite books & movies at different stages of your life. The plot never changes but your perspective does. A Greek philosopher said (I guess) - a man never swims the same river twice, for it’s not the same river nor is it the same man. :)

For over two decades, Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens have practiced a unique kind of authorship, living on site, designing slowly, and allowing the landscape to dictate its own architectural grammar. The interior is wrapped in timber, honeyed ceilings, exposed trusses, and brick hearths that work together to hold warmth both visually and emotionally. The reds in the upholstery feels deliberate, echoing the earth tones of the Mara.

Here, timber decks, cane-backed chairs, and woven tables sit lightly between inside and out. The palette softens further, muted browns, warm blacks, weathered wood, allowing the landscape to remain dominant.

Timber slats, shadow lines, and long verandas slow the body down. Here, space is designed less for movement and more for waiting. Some views are left untouched on purpose.

Sophistication in this home, arrives through restraint: a single artwork placed just so, a sculptural chair held in pause, who knew Chesterfields can be such a statement. Small, deliberate gestures will always shift the atmosphere without rewriting the architecture.

Objects do the talking. Each piece feels chosen and curated. Materials, colour, and take a dominant form in conversations, they simply cant be ignored. This home feels very lived-in, cultured, and confident. In interior design depth lies in what you choose to add last, not first.

Refinement lives in the edit. A playful artwork against classic bones, a textured rug grounding an otherwise formal room, a sculptural object interrupting symmetry. Have you seen the choice in fabric selection? How about the pattern play?

Babacar M’Bodj Niang created thought provoking pieces that aren’t your typical fashion and furniture pieces. Niang’s work hints at an intangible sense of our animalistic nature, something elemental and visceral in our human psyche. The materials he manipulated – found wood, leather, bone and metal – helped to create that sense, but the real genius of his work was in the honing into elegant forms.

Many of his pieces lean toward the human without imitating it outright. A chair reads like a stance, a bench like a body at rest. The proportions feel intuitive rather than calculated, giving the furniture a quiet, almost watchful presence in a room.

What stays with you is how little is wasted. Scraps become structure, offcuts become detail. The material selection carries its own histories and Babacar simply reorganises them, allowing wear, scars, and imperfections to remain visible. The result feels so lived-in from the very beginning and strangely complete.

Mixed-media fibre art like this slows me down in the best way. Raw, tactile, unapologetically imperfect. This piece by Vik Shpetna, shown at the Diálogos exhibition in Figueira da Foz, feels so composed; jute, coarse fibres, soft crochet, restrained colour. I love when fibre is mixed with other mediums, when materials argue a little and still find harmony. I’ve been so obsessed with this language lately.

The Colour of Calm In a world that so often feels unpredictable, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer arrives like a breath of fresh air, transforming your space into a sanctuary that feels serenely ethereal yet daringly provocative.
With the first week of the year, comes a new studio obsession., click the image to see what’s inspiring us this January. I’ll see you next week.