An insider’s guide to Cape Town’s interiors & homeware stores
Over the last few years, Cape Town has definitely staked a claim as a world design capital — and the interiors scene is as dazzling as a Camps Bay sunset. From collectible African furniture to pretty ceramics and wallpapers you’ll want to stroke, the Mother City is bursting with places to feather your nest. Ready? Let’s go shopping for your home…
The V&A Waterfront
If you’re starting at the Waterfront, steel yourself: you’ll need a strong will and failing that, a larger suitcase… We suggest beginning at The Silo Shop. Tucked inside The Silo Hotel, its pillow-y windows an icon of the city’s night skyline, the curated edit of local art books and accessories is as chic as the hotel itself.
Just around the corner, the Southern Guild Gallery is one of the most important names in South African design. Expect collectible pieces by the likes of Andile Dyalvane, Dokter and Misses, and Wiid Design and in the shop, ceramic vases, sculptural bowls and lighting that doubles as art. Don’t skip the Zeitz MOCAA shop either; located on the ground floor, just below the gigantic concrete tubes of the old grain silo, it’s stocked with coffee-table books you’ll actually want to carry home.
And then there’s the Watershed, a market-style space bursting with the best of South African talent. Inside, it’s a beautiful melee of textiles, furniture, ceramics and gifts from Wonki Ware’s famously wonky tableware to throws by African Jacquard and pretty prints from local illustrators. If there’s time, pop next door to AAFRICAA and ogle the magazine-worthy interiors and collectible African design pieces. If it doesn’t make you want to re-decorate every room in your house, you’re not looking hard enough!
CBD
Make your way up to cool-as-a-cucumber Kloof and Bree Streets, where the interiors shops are sandwiched between chic boutiques and cafés. On Kloof, LIM sets the tone with its sleek, clean lines and Scandi-meets-Africa vibe, while Pezula Interiors (Buiten Street) is all about layered, elegant living with a modern edge. For something different, head up the hill to Chandler House in Bo-Kaap, Michael Chandler’s jewel-box of a shop, and shop the hand-painted ceramics and heritage-inspired prints that spill from the shelves.
From Bo-Kaap, follow the hill back down to Houtlander in Heritage House. Once a collective space, it’s now entirely dedicated to Houtlander’s award-winning wooden furniture, crafted to last and always with a little design twist (their spindle bench is particularly iconic). The showroom is cleverly staged like a living space, so you can imagine each piece in your own home. And just around the corner is Mungo’s (relatively) new home in the CBD that showcases their stunning – and proudly South African – textiles. Shop everything from handwoven throws to towels and linens, all made on their restored antique looms in Plettenberg Bay.
De Waterkant
This colourful, cobbled quarter isn’t just about pretty houses and coffee stops (although it has an excellent line in those, too) – it’s also home to some of Cape Town’s most stylish interiors stores. Pedersen + Lennard have their showroom on Napier Street, tucked inside a beautifully restored heritage building where the high ceilings, raw brick walls and shards of sunlight show off the drool-worthy pieces to perfection. Alongside the contemporary furniture, the space also hosts rotating art pieces curated by Source Artistry, so you might find yourself picking up anything from a striking canvas to a new dining table.
A few doors away, Anatomy Design brings a little Joburg cool to Cape Town with a space that’s all about clean lines and craftsmanship – and if you’ve still got some energy, pop into Weylandts. This South African interiors giant does scale like no one else – think vast sofas, oversized tables and statement lighting (for the beach house in Camps Bay, of course…).
Atlantic Seaboard
Down by the coast, Sea Point and Green Point have plenty to tempt. First up is The Strangers Club, a café-boutique hybrid founded and stocked by two brothers who source their treasures from around the world. Today, you’ll find a cleverly-curated mix of globally inspired décor, fashion, and homeware in a shaded and very pretty garden setting. Grab a coffee, peruse the shelves, and maybe linger for some brunch afterwards.
Then, brave the traffic on Main Road and make your way to The Blink Shop for colour, character and fun in ceramic form (it’s the Sea Point stockist of Wonki Ware), whilst next door, Nosso is straight from the beaches of Brazil and unapologetically bold, bright and brilliant. Rounds things off with a visit to Mash Boutique and cleanse your design palette amid the sleek ceramics and muted furniture and lifestyle goods.
Constantia & Wynberg
A short drive south will take you into leafy Constantia and Wynberg, home to some of the grande dames of the South African interiors scene. First up, and perhaps the biggest name of all, Cécile & Boyd is a must. They are the design firm behind some of the country’s most incredible safari lodges and the Constantia store is full of the same magic: think stunning objets and sumptuous fabrics, furniture and pieces.
Nearby, the sprawling Block & Chisel flagship store is furniture nirvana: antiques, modern pieces, chandeliers the size of small cars, and every accessory you never knew you needed (or wanted!). For textiles, St Leger & Viney is a temple of high-end fabrics and wallpapers, while Hertex offers a slightly more accessible but equally irresistible edit with rows and rows of textiles in every texture and shade, plus a fab homeware range to peruse, too.
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