“I design in a way that’s appropriate to the building, its environment and the client’s lifestyle,” says Graham Viney. Long before becoming established as one of South Africa’s leading interior designers, Viney was involved in the restoration of colonial houses in his homeland. In fact, his design career began when he helped redecorate one of the rooms in a residence he was researching for his 1997 book, Historic Houses of South Africa , and has since developed into his own nine-person firm, Graham Viney Design.

He regularly takes on projects around the globe, attending to a broad spectrum of commissions, including a stable block near Cape Town, a bar in Rio de Janeiro and the new Dunhill concept store in London, as well as hotels in the United States and on the island of Madeira. For residential projects, he insists, “interior design can be smart, chic and stylish, but it has to reflect the owner’s personality: That is the basis for character and originality.” Looking at how design has changed in recent years, Viney believes that “we are beginning to see the return of the client as a collector—in terms of art, furniture and objects—even among those who so rigorously embraced Minimalism a decade ago.” If he could, Viney says he would happily reside in a cottage orné or in a New Delhi bungalow designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. “I like the idea of a pared-down form of the grand edition— domesticity and coziness combined with the grand manner.”

Graham Viney

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