Brak Furniture

If you are (like me) a HUGE fan of all things:

Then  you may very well experience the same feelings of EXTREME excitement that I did upon the discovery of:

Brak is a local design duo made up of Wolfgang Muller and Zoe Laband.

 
BRAK lovingly upcycles old furniture and makes new furniture.

They have a delightful range of once-off pieces and then also furniture items that are made to order and thus can be custom designed, especially in terms of colour.

They showcase their furniture at Arts on Main most Sundays.

Dont you just love the surprising use of colour on the inside of the units?

And the BEST part of all (naturally)... they are unbelievably affordable! Seriously.

Neighbourhood Goods Market

Furthering our quest to 'rediscover Jozi', a few weeks ago we decided to go and check out the Neighbourhood Goods Market at 73 Juta St in Braamfontein.

The original Neighbourhood Goods Market was started a few years ago at the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town. It's been a roaring success and since Winter 2011 us 'Vaalies' have had a market of our own!

The market is on the upper 2 floors of an old parking lot in Braamfontein and we managed to find parking easily on the side of the street.

We were really not prepared for how cold it is in the city. The tall buildings block out all the sun so make sure you dress warmly.

The market itself was very similar to the Market on Main, just about 3 times bigger!

They have lots of benches to sit at and such a mouth wateringly large selection of goodies to taste...huge pans of paella, organic chocolate, Ethiopian cuisine, champagne and oyster stands, smoothie bars.......wow!!

The only thing we found is that it's not the best place to take your kids. The market is busy and bustling and there is just so much to see and experience that trying to keep an eye on energetic kids at the same time is almost an impossibility!

It's best to go in a small group so you can relax, wander around and take it all in.

Upstairs is smaller. They have a really nice mezzanine outside balcony where you can sit and eat (it looks miserable in my photos, but promise it's pretty in real life!)

Then on the upper level they have a funky big bar (had an AMAZING Bloody Mary there!) and some more tables to eat at.

They also have a small space where some vintage clothing is for sale as well as some jewellery and crockery by local designers. Nice for a bit of a browse for something different...

After we'd stuffed ourselves, we took a stroll along Juta Street.

There are some gorgeous little coffee shops and designer furniture stores as well as a few 'pop-up' informal art galleries.

On the corner street, opposite the market, is one of the oldest pubs in Jo'burg.

It is an absolute must see! Such a blast from the past...am so sad I didnt take any photo's.

There is so much happening in Jozi at the moment, it feels good that we are claiming back our city!

It wont be long before Jo'burg City Centre will the only place to be at the weekends.

I'll definitely be going back for a fun 'date day' with my hubby. See you there!

Lab Light

This gorgeous little lamp has been a SERIOUS covet of mine for ages now...
Unfortunately I may need to save a while before I can become the proud owner of one 
*sniff*.

This is the Lab Light:

Designed my local designer, Andrea Kleinloog, from Anatomy Design, it won the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa at the 2010 Design Indaba.

I love the combination of the brass shade, the black stand and the ceramic base. It's a really simple design that's just so stylish and timeless.
No wonder there has been so much hype about this lamp?!

It also comes in a few powder coated colours, love the white one!

Andrea runs her design studio and has a small shop at 44 Stanley Avenue in Milpark.



She stocks some really great 'laboratory' inspired glassware....nice to add a bit of a quirky twist to your dining room table! :)

Andrea also writes a funky little blog about her day to day life as a designer. It's not just about buying pretty things unfortunately :(

The new Tasha's restaurant that's just opened in Hyde Park is proudly displaying a few of these beauties...maybe one day soon my bed side table will have one of its own too! *wink*