Hello, Gardens- Huys

Welcome to our very first project - the Gardens-Huys!

Before

After

Before and after.

This one will forever be etched into our hearts because this is the project that says:

We are officially IN business!

The Gardens-Huys cemented my belief that you don’t necessarily need to buy new things to have a new space. You can use what you have to create your home and write your story.

The brief from the client was that she has all these pieces she just doesn’t know how to “piece” them together. We took note of her style and the pieces and tied them all together for them to tell a collective story. The story we wanted to tell was fun, M A X I M A L I S T, eclectic, and unique.

How we wrote the story:

-From the get-go we knew we wanted to paint and we wanted to paint pink! And from there we chose our colour palette.

-There was a need from the beginning to give the space more functionality by giving it more meaning. With a big open-plan space, like this room, it helps to divide the space into various sections to add interest and give it more meaning by making it serve more than one purpose. Dividing an open plan space also informs design decisions like space planning. We divided this space into a Living and Dining area.

The dining table and couch were all nested on one side of the space, so we moved the dining table to the end of the room. With this shift, we not only create interest but we also utilize the space more. I decided to move the dining table to the end of the room because when you enter the space I wanted to evoke the feeling of “at home”. Being greeted by a beautiful big red sofa is much more inviting than being blocked by the obstacle of a dining table.

-We removed the one big rug and swapped it out for two smaller area rugs. This also helps to divide the space into two different areas. When you use two different rugs in one space make sure that they are not too similar. For eg. Choose a plain rug in one area and add a rug with a pattern in the other area. Although you don’t want rugs that are too similar they still have to complement each other. So choose wisely.

The rug we used in the living area is the perfect colour combination - it draws in all the colours of our palette. But according to all interior “rules”, this rug is too small.

Usually, the rule of thumb with a rug is - bigger is better. You want all the front legs of the chairs in your living room to touch the rug.

With a maximalist eclectic style things can quickly feel cluttered and chaotic, and to get balance, you use positive and negative space.

Positive Space refers to the objects placed within the space, whereas negative space is the “empty” space around the objects.

The negative space around the rug, reveals more of this beautiful hardwood floor, and because it reveals more floor it brings more lightness to the room. This brings balance to the walls that are mostly covered with artwork (positive space) and do not have too much negative space. Therefore the rug works!

-The other task was to group and place the artwork in the room. Here we had two “dilemmas”:

1. This is a rental - so we did not want to drill too many holes into the wall.

2. The client has so many beautiful pieces - the objective was to find a way to arrange them together so that they work and complement each other, but also in a way that creates variation and isn’t repetitive.

We used a shelf above the couch to place multiple artworks and used picture hooks with fishing lines to hang the art without drilling too many holes. We played with the height and colour of the paintings to find groupings that were exciting yet balanced.

-Lastly, we added curtains in a darker shade of pink than the wall. We wanted to surround the room in a monochromatic moment because all the pieces within the space were so different in colour. The key to maximalism is to not introduce too many colours, but to use the colours that you do choose, to it’s maximum.

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What you can take away from this story for yours is first to look at what you currently have, and what you can still use before you decide to throw it all out and start over.

These purple and orange dining chairs - did not work with our primary (pink) and secondary (turquoise) colours. Still, because she had them and they were in good condition we added pops of purple and orange to the scatter cushions for them to fit within her story.

This maximalist eclectic style is fun and energetic - a story worth telling.

Let me know in the comments what you think and if you have any questions - drop them here too.

Love&Light,

Ansu

My Local Lovers!

Valentine’s day is around the corner and you're probably starting to think about how you can incorporate red into your home decor or looking for ideas to color in your table for this romantic occasion.

Red has main character energy in the color-story. It’s dramatic and bold and does not subtly ask you to pay attention to it, it’s the color that takes you by your face and forces you to look at it.

Because it’s such a bold colour it’s easier to get it wrong than to get it right. However, once it’s done right, what a lovely character it is to add to your space.

I found four local suppliers that do red right that you can add to your home or Valentine’s table.

1.That Skinny Bitch

I AM IN LOVE! These candles are on my wish list. I love the Salt and Nude candle, but I would definitely add the cherry red for Valentine’s or even Christmas time. These candles are stylish and simplistically dramatic. Each box set contains 20 candles, 10 reusable marble bases (either white or black marble), and a steel picker to clean the bases. They also have gold candle holders that you can buy. For Valentine’s Day I would use the gold candle holders to elevate your romantic setting.

They also have a Valentine’s Day special!

Where to find it: ALWAYS WELCOME & YUPPIECHEF

Pictures: Instagram

2. Sweet LionHeart

Something sweet for your sweetheart (the only cringey thing I’ll say to describe this cake). This is the perfect red to end off a lovely evening either spent with the love of your life, love of the month, or with your ultimate lover - yourself. They also have a Valentine’s Day cake range with the sweetest designs (pun intended).

They made our wedding cake and I can honestly say - it’s amazing. I’m not a big cake person (don’t judge), but I would eat this up!

Shop it here.

Pictures: Sweet Lionheart Website

3. The Little Haus

Don’t ask me why, but there is something about English cottage style that forever has my heart. If someone had to ask me where I would move to if I ever had to move overseas, it’s always England. Even though I HATE winter with my whole soul.

The Little Haus is another local love that I stumbled upon. They have the loveliest lampshades and bases that you can mix and match to create your personalized design to fit your space. Their lamps are full of character and interest, you won’t see this “sommer” everywhere.

Pictures: Instagram

4. ByJohn

It wouldn’t be right if I did not include ByJohn - not only do they have products to match this theme, but their whole brand identity screams fun-red! This is how you do red-right - with a mix of bright pink and bright red- I love this color combination. But let me not get too carried away by her branding, and let’s rather freak out about her products.

ByJohn offers eclectic homeware that includes napkins, scatter cushions, wall hooks, cupboard knobs, coasters, and tea towels. I love these red lobster wall hooks and door knobs - they are cute, fun and unique.

Pictures: Instagram

See this as the bonus track on a CD. It’s not a local supplier because anyone can make this, but it is a cute decor inspo for Valentine’s that I think is perfect for your table.

*Bows

Bows were big at Christmas, but I think it’s going to continue into the year. It’s cute, dainty, and romantic: the perfect combination for Valentine’s.

Just visit your closest fabric store, buy some ribbons, and look at this video and this video on how to tie your Pinterest-perfect Bow.

Pictures: Pinterest

Do you have a local lover? Share it in the comments.

I hope you have a lovely Valentines Day or Galentines Day - remember you are always worthy of love.

Light&Love,

Ansu

Hello, 2024 - my word for the year!

I don’t know what it is about this year, but for some reason, I feel like breathing a sigh of relief and saying: we made it!

Maybe it’s not so much about this year, 2024, but more an indication of how last year felt.
2023 was a really good year for me, but it was also a very very busy year. A lot happened: we had seven weddings (after just getting married ourselves); we had to move through the intricacies of being husband and wife: dancing with the joys and leaning towards grace in the not-so-musically happy moments, I quit my job, built a business, started studying, launched the business, and am now full-blown into focus mode on how we will make. this. work.

But I have to say - even though I have zero answers and no clues, I feel peaceful about it.

I think it’s because I’m leaning towards grace to figure it out, and also knowing that God already has the plan - I can just relax, rest next to the waters, and trust. This usually does not come easy for me, but for the first time in my life, it does because I have zero plans on how to figure this out. So the only option I have is to trust God, and not myself, because “myself”- doesn’t know how I’m going to bring in the clients or how I’m going to make this sustainable.

*Even if I make the plans it does not work, because this was supposed to be a blog post about the Interior Trends for 2024, but now I’m busy spilling my guts and unveiling my heart, going deep-deep.
Oh well - let’s dive.

I stopped making New Year's resolutions probably five years ago. It’s just a false sense of security you create for yourself to make you believe that you’ve got it all figured out, to make you feel like you have a plan and that you will succeed… But the minute you fail, that false sense of security goes and the resolutions soon follow after.

The last three years I decided that instead of making a list of resolutions, I’d rather choose one word for the year. It’s only one word that you focus on and keep at the forefront of your mind. It’s a better way to keep you on track than a list of things you have to do: it’s more a flow from within that dictates your moves and ways. It’s softer and way less aggressive than a list of things that you don’t keep and kill yourself for not doing so.

This year my word is: surrender.

It’s like I said: I know what I want this business to be, what this brand should be, but I’m not exactly sure what I need to do to make it happen.

Last year was also an interesting year spiritually. I felt at times lost and alone, almost abandoned in a time when I thought it was going to be my most sacred season with the Lord. There’s a Johannesburg-Ansu who was an actress; writer; and single; living in her rental apartment that she made home. And then there’s this new-Ansu that appeared in a year: living in Paarl; married; not acting; still writing a bit; studying Interior Design and has her own business as a designer. A lot of things about what “made me”: profession, marital status, location, etc, changed. I was trying to use Joburg-single-Ansu’s ways to find Paarl-married-Ansu.

I shared my experience with my dearest friend and she said that she felt the Lord saying that I am not only in a new season, I’m a new person and that I will not find God using my old ways, but I should seek Him in new ways and I will find Him in more ways than I could’ve ever imagined.

So now I have a business that I have dreams for but no clue on how to make them happen, and I’m also feeling a little bit lost in myself and don’t know how I’m supposed to find myself.

This may sound depressing and confusing, but to me, I’m so happy I’m here.

For the first time in my life, I’m not projecting who I want to be or what I want because I’m seeing what other people have or the way other people are and thinking I want to be like that… For the first time, I want to come back to my authentic true self. One that is not clothed in the things of this world that I have dressed myself with and accepted as part of my skin.

It might be weird to write this on my Interior business page, but I read the Taylor Swift article in Time magazine (of course I did, BIG SWIFTIE) and the journalist ended the article by using this sentence: “Our Interior Lives Matter”.

And that just *clicked* for me.

He referred to Interior Lives being our emotions - and of course, I agree. But I strongly feel the connection between my emotional interior life: my feelings; and my physical interior life: my home. I say our outside affects our inside, and our inside-outside. And I think that’s why I’m writing this: I don’t just want to help others create the home of their dreams and leave it at that. I want the interior of their home to affect their interior - to say that their Interior Lives Matter.

I feel for me to have a successful business I very much have to operate out of my most authentic true self because I don’t want to create this business out of a mould that others have used before me. I have something different to offer and the only way I will know what I have to offer is if I allow my true self to live and lead the decisions.

I’ve always been a lead-from-the-heart kind of girl, but at the same time, I’m also a crazy over-thinker. Sometimes the brain takes over my heart and I don’t operate so authentically. So this year the word is surrender - surrender who I am, surrender my plans and purpose; surrender Hello, Huys so that there is authentic flow from the inside to the outside. Because in the end our interior lives: our home and our hearts - both matter.

So here’s to 2024: the year we make space for ourselves (physically and emotionally).

Let’s go.

Love and Light,

Ansu

Hello, Hermanus Huys

It’s December time which means: spending time with family, presents, cheer, and chilling by the seaside.

My parents are in Pretoria and my husband’s parents have a house in Hermanus. So we are first visiting my parents, and then we are driving back to Hermanus to spend time with Wilhelm’s family.

Since we’ll be spending time in Hermanus I thought it fitting to show you Hello, Huys’ first project when Hello, Huys was still being built.

Like I said Wilhelm’s parents have a house in Hermanus which means we have a room there and when we got married I wanted to redo the room.

The room before was set up for Wilhelm when he was still single. We had two three-quarter beds pushed next to each other with a little gap in the middle (not ideal if you are newlyweds). On my side of the bed, there was no bedside table because technically the two beds pushed together was a king-size bed, and therefore there was no space for one.

Yes, there were practical reasons for giving this room a little refresh, but the biggest reason for it was because of me.

Que taytay — yes I am the problem indeed.

When I say my surroundings are very important to me (which I’ve repeatedly done) and wherever I get to call home (even if it is only for the holidays or long weekends) I want to make it home. I am not lying. And, so I made our vacation room, a home.

This is the Hermanus Huys story.

I tackled this room as if it was a rental. This means, there were some restrictions as to what I could and couldn’t do as well as having fixed features that couldn’t be changed.

Sometimes people think restrictions are a bad thing, but I find it very helpful in a design process.

The best way to start with a design is to first find a place to start. For example, a rug that you love or a specific couch. It can be anything from a furniture piece to a paint color.

For me, a restriction can also be a very good starting point because it’s the one thing that is going to be in your space and the one thing you can’t change so it has to be incorporated into your design.

Luckily for me, our fixed features like the paint and all other finishings like the curtains are so neutral they can work with anything.

So my starting point for this room was this bed from Coricraft.

Earlier last year me and my husband furnished our new home, and we saw this bed at Coricraft which we both loved, but it didn’t work in our home, so we couldn’t use it. But when we started planning this space, I immediately thought of this bed. This then informed the style of our room which is Modern Farmhouse. However, I very much wanted the feeling of a beach house — light, airy, and chill.

Whenever you want to achieve a certain feeling within your space: look at the color scheme! It is the biggest element that influences the feeling or the vibe. Color informs a mood and helps to achieve balance in a room.

I use the golden ratio rule: 60% dominant color; 30% secondary color and 10% accent color.

Since the bed already had a black frame I knew the dominant color in this room should be a mix of neutral colors like creams, whites, and wood tones. The feeling of this room was very important to me, so I focused my dominant color on shades that would evoke the beach chill vibe.

If I added any more items with black as their primary color this room was quickly going to lose the beach chill vibe and would soon feel too heavy. I still included black but in smaller portions like the scatter cushion on the bed or the plant basket in the corner to carry that color through the room and make it intentional.

So to give the interior math of this room: 60% neutral; 30% black and 10% red and navy.

You might think black is the primary color because the biggest item in this room is black, but it’s not about that it’s about the color used most in the room. And that is neutral.

So look at the colors you are using in your space and make sure the main color evokes the feeling you want the space to have. Look at your secondary and accent colors - they are there to add interest and support the main theme of the room which is the vibe you’ve chosen. Secondly, check that the colors in the room fall into the golden ratio — this balances a room and makes all the elements work together in harmony.

The main vibe for this room was airy, cool, light, and relaxing which the dominant color supports. The black, red and navy add interest to the very neutral dominant color.

Now that we had our starting point, style and color scheme it was time to go shopping!

Once you have established these three foundations it’s very easy to shop because you know what you want so it’s easy to spot it when you see it.

I love the way this room came out and I’m so glad that we took the time and effort to enhance this space. Whenever we visit Hermanus, our room is a break-away. I’m not on vacation until I walk into this room.

So invest in creating a space that you would love to walk into — it truly has the power to change your overall well-being.

I hope you have a blessed time with your family during the holiday season and that you rest and recharge!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions — I’m here to help you write your story as best you can!

This is the start of a new story!

Hello, Huys is finally here and I’m so excited to share it with you!

After a year of dreaming, working hard, hoping, and planning - it is finally here! I’m so excited for this new chapter in my life - to build this business, to inspire you, and to help you create your space to tell the story of who you are.

If you’ve been spending some time on my website you’ve probably noticed how everything interior relates to storytelling. This is not random or to be cute. I want to live an authentic, true-to-self, life which means everything I do flows from my heart. And at my heart, I’m a storyteller.

Since we’ll be spending some time together, I think it’s good that you and I start to get to know each other.

My name is Ansu, I’m thirty-one and I moved to Paarl last year July to marry the man of my heart and the love of my whole life.

It might be interesting to know that I’m actually a South African actress, writer, and editor. For the past ten years, I have crafted a successful career in the South African entertainment industry in front and behind the camera.

After I got married last year November, I started to ask myself: What do I want my life to look like in five years? I realized to be the wife and the mom (hopefully one day) I want to be, I need to make a shift in my career. I prayed a lot about my next move and that is when the interior-lover came knocking. Not only am I starting this business for future-Ansu, but also for present-Ansu.

Present-Ansu, when dreaming about this new business, realized that she is quite a scared-little-Ansu. The fear of failure and what others might think have been holding me back and dimming my light and that is all my own doing because I allow it! I realized that a life ruled by fear is not only one that I don’t want but also one that will only lead to regrets.  I didn’t want to come to age fifty and say “Oh, I still wanted to start my own interior design business”. I wanted to be able to say “Oh I wanted to and I did”!  So I decided to say screw it - let’s do it!

I’m currently studying Interior Design whilst starting this new business. I want to expand my knowledge and skillset even more so that we can write you a best-selling story!

My love for interior started at a young age.  As a child, every other Sunday, my parents, I, and my two sisters would get ice cream (bubblegum flavor is my favorite) and go for a Sunday drive around the neighborhood. I would look at the houses and always imagine the world inside; the family that lived there and how their interior space complimented their daily life. 

When it was time to apply to varsity I actually applied to study Drama and Interior Design. When I got accepted to both I had to make a choice. At that time in my life, Drama was what my heart desired so I decided to trust my gut and follow my heart. I’ve loved creating and growing in the entertainment industry and I don’t think because Ansu at thirty-one wants to move into interiors, that Ansu at eighteen made a mistake. I’m very grateful for the opportunities that came my way and I’m not giving up on that part of who I am at all. I am just expanding on who I am. We only get one life, we have to live it!

In 2018 I moved into my first apartment in Linden, Johannesburg. Being the little interior-lover that I am, I immediately wanted to make my space home! Transforming my first flat (let me just say it was rented - so here’s your proof that you can own your space and make it yours, even if it isn’t legitly so). Anyhoo - transforming my first flat made me realize that I do not have to wait until one day when I’m old enough, rich enough, or married-enough to have a space that I love. Life’s too short for your home not to feel homey. So over the course of three years, slowly but surely, room by room, I made my flat my own little first home.  

I’m glad I did not waste four years of my life in my Jo’burg home, just accepting it as is. Your environment affects you - just like wearing a great fit can make you feel more accomplished and productive, I believe our surroundings have that same power. If we are surrounded by a space that reflects our true selves, it empowers us.

Transform your space, transform your life.

That’s why I am so passionate about creating Interior spaces for other people because I know how it can change your life for the better. This might seem like a luxury to some, but I believe it is a necessity for all.

To live a truly beautiful, authentic life you have to color in every inch of it.

I truly believe anyone can and should have the space they want and it should not break your brain or your bank. 

Don’t believe the lie that only future-you can have the house present-you deserves.

I’m looking forward to writing the story of Hello, Huys with you. This is only page one!

Welcome to Hello, Huys!