Homeware - Inspired Living SA

Competitions, Design & Decor, Gift Ideas

Win with Sugar and Vice

Sugar and Vice Mother’s Day Competition ~

This is a competition I wish I could enter! To celebrate Mother’s Day, Sugar and Vice, my new favourite homeware brand, have sponsored one of their amazing salad platters as a prize! YAY!

Sugar and Vice manufactures and sells really cool and original home decor for the house-proud. Each and every product is made from quality material, locally sourced and manufactured, so you can decorate your life with proudly South African products.

Sugar and Vice is a place WHERE vintage meets nouveau, pretty meets practical and tattoos meet teapots. Locally sourced materials and craftsmanship is WHY Sugar and Vice is not only affordable but proudly South African, as well.

Find out more about these and other unique Mother’s Day gift ideas, by visiting the Sugar and Vice website. You will find everything from trendy teapots, to lovely linen or a platter for her growing dinner service.

To enter our Mother’s Day competition and win the Protea Dreams Salad Bowl from Sugar and Vice please follow the simple steps below and use the Rafflecopter form to complete your entry:

Like Sugar and Vice and Inspired Living SA on Facebook.
Tweet: I have entered to win a @sugarandviceSA Protea Dreams Salad Bowl from @Inspired_lifeSA
Leave a comment below telling me what your favourite Sugar and Vice Collection is {i.e. Protea Dreams, Sugar Skulls etc.}
Please ensure you read the *Terms & Conditions below carefully, to ensure you comply with all the entry criteria.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms & Conditions:

By entering this competition you automatically accept all the Terms and Conditions laid out below.

Entries are open from 29th April 2015 until the 9th May 2015 the winner will be announced on the 11th May 2015!
You must complete all the steps as stipulated above: Leave a Comment, Like and/or Share on Facebook and/0r Tweet about the competition.
To ensure that your entry is processed correctly (please use a valid email address). Your details will only be used to validate your entry and inform you, if you are selected as a winner.
This competition is only open to South African residents and to readers who have not won a competition on Inspired Living SA in the past 6 months.
Entries will be considered incomplete and thus disqualified if the entrant does not provide all requested information. Entry information will not be shared with any third party without the entrant’s prior knowledge and consent. The prize, a Sugar and Vice Protea Dreams Salad Bowl worth R620, will go to the first name selected at random after the closing date.
The prize is not transferable and may not be exchanged for cash.
By “Liking” you enter and agree that this promotion is in no way associated with, administered by, or endorsed by Facebook; and acknowledge a complete release of Facebook by your participation.

Design & Decor, Lifestyle

Mr Price Home Online Shopping

Mr Price Home, the most loved homeware retailer in South Africa, recently launched Mr Price Home Online Shopping – much to the delight of many South African shoppers! I was fortunate enough to attend the launch party last week in Durban, which was lots of fun! [Read more…]

Gift Guide, Gift Stores, Proudly South African

Re-fined

As you know I am a bit of a shopaholic and was particularly fascinated when I heard about Re-fined.com! Re-fined is a new-comer to the on-line shopping scene and the brain child of Georgina O’Connell.

Re-fined has just recently launched to the public and offers shoppers a unique, on-line, shopping experience. It is a place where enjoying and acquiring beautiful things is effortless and pleasurable. You will find items for him, her, for little people and your garden and home, giving you far more variety to make your shopping experience that much easier! Re-fined stocks one of my favourite local jewellery brands, Silver Fig, which you may remember me blogging about – I absolutely love their designs!

“We understand that people have limited time and don’t always have access to the physical shops but still want to acquire desirable product and design to express their sense of style, hence the creation of a cyber mall with one check out point” ~ Georgie.

With a background in design, a love of beautiful things and an appreciation of talent, Georgie became acutely aware of the magnificent products and design items, that come out of South Africa. She also saw the need to make these Proudly South African products, more easily accessible to the world. The main purpose of Re-fined is to showcase South African products and designs, both locally and internationally.

What more could you ask for beautiful stylish products all available from one on-line destination and all this at the click of a button!

Please pop over to the Re-fined website and browse their growing, range of gorgeous goodies!

Design & Decor, Lifestyle

We Heart This

I love nothing more than finding beautiful treasures and filling my closet and home with them. I find that a bit of retail therapy is always good for the soul – maybe not the bank balance but c’est la vie! Making retail therapy even more accessible are the amazing on-line shops that are becoming rather popular in South Africa at the moment.

A recent, on-line discovery of mine, is newcomer, We Heart This. We Heart This is an online treasure trove of beautifully crafted, handmade & locally designed items, selected personally by owners Megan Kenney & Debbie Reabow. Their unsuccessful search for beautiful products available on the web, led them to start their own on-line store, combing South Africa & surrounding areas for unique items that they would love to own themselves.

We hope to create a store that is easy to use and exciting to shop in. ~ We Heart This

All locally inspired, designed and made, We Heart This stocks items from over 30 talented suppliers – their aim being to showcase the best of South African design and gifting. You will find beautifully hand-crafted jewellery, stunning home-ware items and luxurious body treats to name but a few gems available on their site. Your purchases will be packed with love and shipped direct to your door.

So if you need a bit of retail therapy or are in search of the perfect gift, it is all just a click away! Pop over to We Heart This and discover their amazing array of gorgeous goodies.

Be Inspired, Featured Posts, Gift Ideas, Interviews, Lifestyle, Real Women.Real Life, Websites

Heart and Home Online Gift Shop

This week my Real Women – Real Life feature focuses on Kathryn and Vanessa Rheeder, from Heart and Home. Vanessa gives us a bit of insight into the lives, of two local Cape Town mom’s running an online business.

Tell Us A Bit About Heart and Home?

Heart and Home is an online gift shop that was launched on the 9^th of February this year. I (Vanessa) was working as a finance manager in the corporate field and wanted to do something a little more creative and flexible as I am a mother of 2 boys, Josh and James. Kathryn is going to be a mom in September and our online gift shop provides us with the flexibility, of having a business while still allowing us to spend time with our children.

We both share the love of products that are unique, charming and reasonably priced. Our goal was to source products that aren’t readily available in South Africa, to ensure that we offer something different to our customers. We also want to support local suppliers so we have included some local products, which fit our signature brand and style.

Tell Me About The People Behind Heart and Home?

Kathryn and I both live in Melkbosstrand, Cape Town and are sisters-in-law, business partners and long-time school friends. As mentioned above, I am a mom of 2 boys and Kathryn is expecting her little boy in September. Kathryn is consulting full-time at the moment and I used to work as a financial manager for a listed company.

We found a great deal of inspiration from overseas websites when we were designing and developing our brand and website. We love products from the UK, Scandinavia and South Africa of course. We also love visiting food and craft markets in South Africa.

What Are Your Favourite Products & Why?

We stock both local and imported products. We especially love the local, handmade babushka dolls, owls and tepee tents which you can find in our handmade section.

We have only been trading for a month so our bestsellers change all the time but at the moment, the jumbo shoppers are our bestsellers. They come in 4 designs and are made from recycled plastic bottles so they are eco-friendly too, which makes them a practical and unique gift.

What Would You Say Your Personal Décor Style Is?

My personal style is more contemporary with a touch of classic, while Kathryn’s is more classic with a touch of vintage chic.

What Advice Can You Give to Women Starting Their Own Business?

My advice to women, especially mom’s, starting up their own business is to ensure they have a proper support system in place and a separate office to work in. My eldest son gets dropped at crèche in the mornings and my nanny looks after James. I work upstairs in my office and I’m available to spend the afternoons with the boys.

[quote style=”1″]Ask God for a creative idea – He knows you the best and always gives you something original and helps you along the way![/quote]

Make sure you spend time on research, draw up a formal business plan with financial forecasts. It’s important to know where you are going. Ensure that you implement the proper systems for your business. Use reputable service providers for website design, development and hosting. Use good quality images and descriptions for your products as your customer relies heavily on this.

What Was The Biggest Challenge Setting Up Your Business?

The biggest challenges I faced was not earning a salary for the last 12 months and learning to have patience as it takes time to set up the website and to make it profitable. Kathryn is still working full-time so she has had to juggle the business and her full-time job!

Where Do You See Heart & Home in 5 Years?

We would like to increase our product base in the near future. We have to manage our cash flow so we will only introduce new products as and when we can. We have a 3 year financial forecast which we hope to meet. Our vision is to be one of the leading online gift shops in South Africa.

Thank you to Vanessa from Heart and Home for sharing a few of your business and life insights with us. I wish you every success with your business and hope you achieve your goal of becoming one of SA’s leading online gift shops!

Heart and Home are offering a 15% discount off your initial purchase when you sign up for their newsletter, check their website here for more details. If you like their Facebook page before the 31^st of March 2012 and you could win a R350 Heart and Home gift voucher.

Images: Photography by Leigh-Ann Cooke of Love Life Photography