House of Hawkes

Scene and heard | Jan 2019

18/01/2019

The team and I started the year by taking some time to evaluate what we want to share on the blog. We discussed posts that are consistently well read on the blog (interestingly, some of the oldest are still the most popular) and looked into the kind of content that we enjoy reading as interior fanatics. It was an exercise that was long overdue and the discussion took us into deep into assessment mode. A valuable exercise all-in-all and one of the resolutions was to revive our Scene and Heard series – a platform for all those little snippets of…

Favourite Finds: Dubai Shopping Festival

14/01/2019

For those of you who are based in Dubai, you no doubt know that the Dubai Shopping Festival is in full swing. The incredible six week annual sale event features some 700+ brands participating across 3,200 outlets and lasts until 2 February. One of the highlights of DSF is the the Market Outside The Box (OTB), a cool outdoor pop-up that plays host to some of Dubai’s smaller, home-grown concept stores. I think it’s in its sixth year already as it returns to Burj Park in Downtown Dubai for nine days from 24 January. The team and I have been sourcing…

Home Tour: Karen Pissarra from DESIGNK

11/01/2019

We haven’t done a home tour on the blog in quite some time, but this feature is coming back with a bang as our first peek inside a beautiful home is one that I am personally crazy about and have been dying to show you for ages. It belongs to fellow South African and Interiors colleague, Karen Pissarro of Design K. And it’s not the first time we’ve featured the living quarters of this talented creative on the blog – her downtown apartment was a very popular post around here almost three years ago to the day. Karen and her…

our living room – a work in progress

29/12/2018

Hello lovelies! I hope you have all had a fabulously festive Christmas. I’ve have been taking some time off from work and the blog and have really been enjoying the down time with no deadlines. I’ve been spring-cleaning the house and getting myself ready to face the new year with a clean(ish) slate. That said, there is one post that is long overdue and that I wanted to publish on here before the year is through. We shot the images when the Christmas tree had just arrived so it’s not going to look relevant beyond the next week or two…

South African Interior Scene : Victoria Verbaan

19/12/2018

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m somewhat obsessed with the work of Durban-based artist and designer, Victoria Verbaan. Since I was introduced to her work by a fellow South African client earlier this year, I have incorporated it in many designs for clients as well as my own home. I used some of my favourites in the master bedroom and bathroom at our new holiday home in South Africa and she’s released many more gorgeous pieces since then. We recently connected with the incredibly talented creative to talk about her life, her inspiration and what’s in store. –…

Christmas table styling | shop the look

09/12/2018

In a recent post, we created a set of printable stationery for your Christmas gifts and table settings and to photograph the items, we set up a festive tablescape in my dining room. We really enjoyed the process and loved the outcome, so we thought it would be nice to share some of images with ideas for decorating the table and dining room for your own Christmas entertaining. We wanted to give the dining room a festive ambiance and have it look a little different than it’s every day style, so we removed all the artwork from the back wall…

True Blue Christmas styling with Marina Home Interiors

05/12/2018

Marina Home Interiors was one of the first interior stores that caught my eye when I moved to Dubai in 2005. I remember wanting to buy everything in the store. And over the years that followed, I worked up quite the collection of their furniture and accessories. Safe to say I’ve been a fan for some time, so when they approached us to style a Christmas shoot last month, we jumped at the opportunity. Marina’s Woodland Dreams collection of festive décor and accessories showcases a mix of earthy materials and shiny surfaces in the form of ornaments, figurines, wreaths and…

Printable Christmas Stationery Set 2018

04/12/2018

Designing a set of free printable Christmas gift tags for you, our lovely readers and social media followers, has become somewhat of a tradition around here. With the exception of last year (and I’m not even sure what happened there), I have put out a set from the very beginning in 2013 through 2014, 2015 and 2016. It’s quite interesting to look back at the style evolution over the years. As any reliable advent calendar will tell you, Christmas is just around the corner. Which means the annual gift wrapping marathon is about to commence and we are due to deliver some printables…