A deep green sitting room: ochre velvet armchair beside a white fireplace, brass mirror above.

Where a house
learns to be home.

Interior design studio · South Africa

ikhaya /ee-kah-yah/ — Zulu, noun. Home; the place that holds you.

We design interiors that hold light, material and memory — rooms you return to, not just live in. Timber, clay, stone and linen; nothing that shouts, everything that stays.

umsebenzi

— our work

Camps Bay villa living room: soft plaster walls, deep seating, mountain light.

Camps Bay Villa

Cape Town — 2025 · A holiday house calmed down: plaster, oak and sea air.

Karoo guesthouse lounge: warm timber-slat walls and low designer seating.

Karoo Guesthouse

Prince Albert — 2024 · Twelve rooms wrapped in timber against the desert cold.

House Melville dining room: solid wooden table, hand-woven chairs, morning sun.

House Melville

Johannesburg — 2024 · A family dining room built around one long table.

The Linen Room, Franschhoek: unmade linen bed in amber afternoon light.

The Linen Room

Franschhoek — 2023 · A guest suite that smells of sun-dried cotton.

Braamfontein loft kitchen: simple joinery, open shelves, city light.

Braamfontein Loft

Johannesburg — 2023 · A hard industrial shell given a soft centre.

indlela

— how we work

  1. Draped fabric catching dappled afternoon light.

    ukulalela — we listen

    Before a single drawing, we sit in your rooms. How the light moves, how you make tea, where the children land. The brief is written by the way you already live.

  2. A hand-thrown clay vessel, bumpy and honest, on a plain table.

    ukwakha — we shape

    Material first, always. We choose timber, clay, stone and cloth you can touch before you commit — sampled from South African makers wherever the brief allows.

  3. Layered plaster textures turning a stair into sculpture.

    ukuhlala — we settle

    We stay past handover. A home is finished the first time you stop noticing it — we return at one month and at one year to make sure it settles well.

abantu

— the people

Bonniee, founder and creative director, in a camel coat.
Bonniee — founder & creative director

A small studio, on purpose.

ikhaya studio was founded in Johannesburg in 2019. We take on eight projects a year — houses, guesthouses and the occasional restaurant — so that the founder who meets you first is the designer who hands you the keys.

We believe the most luxurious thing a room can be is yours. Not a look. Not a trend. A place that already knows you when you walk in.

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