Some of us at WildWeb would like to think of ourselves as pretty Feng Shui. Some even take it to the next level, spending hours flipping through magazines or hitting up Google for our next ‘great’ remodeling project. Taking it from there is a little difficult, though. If you serious about turning your back balcony into a styling sunning room you going to need some but kicking inspiration as well as serious planning. And if you want it to be hassle free, you might even need to invest in some professional help.
Cue, Paul Ten-Bokum, a good friend of PrintWild. Paul is the founder of designbook.co.za. Paul has spent many moons compiling some inspiring concepts just for you. Paul’s brainchild is basically a one-stop interior décor website what sources and shares the best interior concepts with you.
Designbook was launched on Valentines day, showcasing tens of thousands of professionally photographed interiors and exteriors of beautiful South African homes. Everything is painstakingly categorised and keyword tagged to make it easy for interior design and decor enthusiasts to search for inspiration, be it a styling kitchen, Jamie Oliver will be stoked to mince around in, or a slamming teen pad.
Designbook is not just about providing inspiration; it has solid, practical information too. For example, if you are serious about remodeling your home, but are either too busy to take on the project, or if you do not have the confidence to do DIY décor yourself, you’re in luck. Here, Designbook helps by showcasing the work of top interior designers, offering routes to contact them directly or find out more about them and their work. It also allows you to log in and create your own “designbooks”, workspaces by collecting photos and products that you like, for future projects.
Another great aspect of what Paul has done with Designbook is to target in on those great must have home accessories, like a funky couch, unique oriental rug, or that perfect wood tone shutter. All the accessories are linked to suppliers and installers, providing everything you want under one digital roof.
Designbook.co.za is not socially except either. It comes with Facebook-like photo tagging technology that links the items in the photos to a product catalogue, allowing you to share products and services, online, with your friends. In its short life it has proved to be a hit. “It is a really fun and intuitive way to discover new products, and early indications are that people are loving the content,” says Paul. In the first month after the launch the site has been visited over 6 000 times by South African users, viewing over 80 000 pages over that period.
What does the future hold for Designbook? Dave Nemeth, leading South African trend forecaster and furniture retail specialist is excited about these latest movements in the online space: “If we look at trends and the rate at which technology is moving, it is no wonder we would want to find products and inspiration all in one place. Designbook has addressed this, with this really exciting online application. I am really looking forward to Designbook’s growth and continued innovation.”
Paul says ultimately he would like to see Designbook as a catalyst for the South African interiors industry, supporting a culture of local design, local manufacturing and sustainable practices.
We reckon it is well on its way there…
Check it all out here: designbook.co.za