NEWS & VIEWS

Decorex is coming to town

Decorex

More than 600 exhibitors. 10 design restaurants. 20 immersive lighting, architecture, and furniture installations. Inspirational bathroom and kitchen features. DIY renovation workshops and interactive live cooking studios. Decorex Africa 2026 – proudly sponsored by Santam and Lexus – is South Africa’ s biggest design showcase.

This year, the brief is living more gently. We asked joint Executive Creative Director of Decorex Cape Town and Johannesburg Garreth van Niekerk to expand on this theme.

“ There’ s a palpable shift happening in South African design right now. Walk into newly designed interior spaces and you’ ll notice it immediately: gentler palettes, tactile materials, layered lighting that changes with the day. This represents a move away from the rigidity that defined so much of the last decade’ s design language and towards spaces that restore rather than demand. liveable and rooted in place, with a growing appreciation for locally made pieces and materials that reflect authentic South African craft traditions.

“ This is showing up through gentler palettes, tactile materials, and a more relaxed approach to styling. We’ re also seeing a stronger connection to craft and pieces that bring warmth and personality into a room,” Van Niekerk concludes.

This perspective is central to Decorex’ s 2026 theme, The Soft Life, which positions wellbeing and clarity as the new markers of contemporary design.

Across the Cape Town and Johannesburg exhibitions, the theme will materialise through immersive installations, designer showcases, and products that prioritise sensory comfort and the beauty of ease. For an industry long focused on what’ s next, Van Niekerk holds that The Soft Life asks a more grounded question:“ What do we actually need?“ The answer, it seems, is already shaping how South Africans are choosing to live.

“ So we’ re seeing a clear shift towards spaces that feel calmer and more restorative. People still want beauty and style, but increasingly they also want homes that support wellbeing, comfort and a sense of ease.”

In a world that’ s still often defined by acceleration and excess, Van Niekerk suggests that this recalibration feels less like a trend and more like a cultural correction.

“ Comfort is no longer a luxury. It’ s becoming the language of how we choose to live, and design plays a critical role in shaping that experience.”

The outcome is an emerging softer, more personal version of contemporary living. So there’ s less interest in spaces that exist to impress and more focus on homes that feel

Visit Decorex and connect with To Build

Visit Decorex to see how The Soft Life is influencing South African design and discover products, materials, and ideas you can bring into your space right now. To Build will be there. Come over to our publisher Media Xpose’ s stand and say hello.

Trade Visitors Pre-registered: Free | On-site: R170 | VIP Trade: R550 Register: decorex. co. za / joburg / en-gb / trade-visitor. html

10 winter 2026 | www. tobuild. co. za

To Build Publication Volume 16 I Issue 2 | Page 12

Decorex is coming to town