A boutique owner’s exotic but monochromatic home reflects her eclectic multicultural tastes and passion for travel.
Yolanda de Villiers leans against one of the numerous ornate antique Indian doors in her home.
The sparsely furnished living room offers insight into Yolanda’s love of uncluttered spaces and exotic places.
Creatives are seldom single-disciplinary creatures—their artistry spilling into other areas of their lives. Boutique owner Yolanda de Villiers proves this in her Paarl home, an amalgamation of cultures and eras she shares with her children Daniel (18) and Camille (15); an Anatolian shepherd, Aslan; and Coco the Labrador puppy. As a fashion-lover, it’s no surprise she understands how to dress a room. What surprises, however, is just how well her home’s divergent influences mix.
An antique Chinese cedarwood server and Renaissance-style print below picture-frame windows form a rich still life against a wall in the kitchen.
Like the wooden strip flooring in the same room, Yolanda stained the French oak fireplace surround ebony to keep the palette consistent.
As a lover of fashion, it comes as no surprise that she understands how to dress and accessorise a room. What is surprising however is just how well the divergent global influences in her home mix.
It follows when you discover Yolanda’s other passions include travel. Much of the store’s stock is sourced abroad, enabling her customers to experience the places themselves in some small way. “And it gives me another excuse to travel,” she adds.
This cherry-picking approach is not limited to her store or own wardrobe, having drawn on her experiences to create a globally inspired home that feels like stepping into another world. Now an oasis of cool colours and exotic references, it wasn’t always so accomplished: “The house was initially a bland 1980s box, devoid of personality.” Cue a full makeover. From the Arabic arch doorways—a shape she discovered in southern Spain—to a Moroccan-inspired courtyard, the house has elements of cultures that resonate with her. This applies to the furniture too—carefully selected one-offs, auction finds and antiques with roots all over the world. “I have always had a fascination with China,” comments Yolanda on the numerous references. Much of Asia is well-represented thanks to pieces such as an Indian daybed with damask cushions and a Chinoiserie cabinet adorned with two Balinese birdcages. The fashion parallel is unmissable. Yolanda knows that a classic palette will hold the disparate references together.
“I love dark colours but black was too extreme. I thought my children might find it morbid, so I chose a bovine colour—cocooning and calming.”
Ancient Greek clay urns, a Moroccan lantern from Hadeda and an Indonesian bamboo ladder all in neutral shades work together despite their varied origins.
Indeed, the dark wood floors, and white and grey walls have a serenity about them that’s almost Zen.
Ebony-stained wood-strip floors and marble continue the monochromatic thread. The dark wood floors, and white and grey walls offer a Zen-like serenity.
The warmth and exoticism of the Middle East counters the Eastern-inspired sense of restraint. The world tour heads west with an elegant courtyard where cane chairs sit under a decorative lantern, echoing a French countryside—as does the generous raw oak refectory table in the dining room.
The house is ideal for entertaining and outdoor living. Open-plan spaces smoothly flow into each other, but the courtyards are the true jewels. One, a Moroccan-inspired walled room with a star-shaped water feature centrepiece that’s so evocative, you can almost hear the noise of the souks. In addition to grounding the many visual references to the Moorish star motif, it has the added benefit of cooling the space during summer: “It gets incredibly hot in town and even just the sound of the water helps.”
With all these concurrent influences, the interior has clearly been thought through—despite the pieces having been collected over time—but the spaces aren’t stiff, feeling styled rather than planned. Loose arrangements of incongruous objects hint at Yolanda’s day job. Styling clothes is always a less permanent affair than furniture, and it shows here with plants hooked casually on a ladder, or an artwork leaning against a wall.
“The way I decorate is instinctual, without rules. I never quite know where I’m going to end up.” Said like a true traveller.
Yolanda’s boutique is Wild Orchid Boutique / 021 863 4482
Click here to check out September issues other Beautiful Home – Casey van Embden’s Contemporary Home
Words — Alice Bennett
Pictures — Warren Heath
