Irwin Weiner - In a recent trip back to my hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, I stopped in at 109 Hatfield Street near the National Gallery to visit Okha Design & Interiors. Okha exemplifies the fresh, contemporary, bold, handcrafted African design look that naturally goes with beach-scene homes and lots of sunshine. The bold sun - South Africa boasts the largest hole in the ozone layer, so it's a hot place in many ways - brings out the need for strong, elemental art, sculpture, and clean furnishings that are bold and comfortable. Cape Town has a resort feel that Okha's designs pick up on.

As the planet celebrates the World Cup in South Africa, we wanted to celebrate Okha and all South African design. If you want to take a page from this interior design style for your home, here are a few suggestions:

Congratulations to AD 100 interior designer Penny Drue Baird on her "New Rustic" feature in the just-out-on-newsstands June 2010 Architectural Digest. One of her clients wanted to turn a derelict barn on their property into a place to entertain and house guests, and she added beautiful interiors in a rustic eclectic mix of pieces she sourced in France, the Hamptons, and beyond.

Baird worked with her old friend and collaborator, Design2Share's Irwin Weiner. As the AD article notes, Irwin "has a lot of experience working with country structures," and he worked with the interior designer and her clients to create the architectural elements of a new open barn that functions beautifully as a residence, with all the modern amenities.

Everyone loves a good house tour. "Snooping" is in our natures, right? We had fun this week visiting Irwin Weiner ASID, Manhattan interior designer, and seeing how he's decorated with four pillows from Sylvie Guieysse, the Brooklyn pillowmaker. "This apartment has been published in the New York Times," commented Irwin, "and one's tendency would be to leave well enough alone and keep things just as they were photographed. But a home is not a museum or a shrine to the past. It should keep changing and evolving. Bringing in Sylvie's pillows added a fresh kick to my living room and bedroom, injecting a fresh color jolt we can all use once in awhile in our interiors."

In the photo above, Irwin is sitting in a great chair. Its leather-inlaid arms and seat are bent wood in an Art Noveau style with intricate spindles, studded all over with antique brass nailheads. Irwin has an antique black-and-maroon paisley shaw from the late 1800s draped over its back, and he popped the chair with Sylvie's acid green, lemon, and cream pillow from her Fairy Tales collection (see photo below).

Irwin Weiner ASID - When it came to Oscar Night, we cheered for the Art Direction award nominees. This particular Academy Award goes to all the worlds that are built by hand to make a movie come to life, including the beautiful interiors we have grown to love on celluloid.

Movies strongly influence homeowners. The lush interiors of The Bonfire of the Vanities influenced the 1990s be-tassled style of traditional decorating. Down With Love reinforced the popularity and eye-candy pop of 1960s and mid-century modern interiors. Something's Gotta Give gave us a Hampton's beach house to love and emulate for its clean, windswept style.

This year we have another crop of great-looking movies with interiors that help ground their stories as well as influence audiences and home style trends. Here are a few of my favorites:

Dorothy Draper was one of America's most famous and influential interior designers. She pioneered the industry in this country, created a brand name for herself long before Martha Stewart came on the scene, influenced home decorating with her "you can decorate" best-selling books, and produced an impressive body of decorating work, from chic hotels and private homes to important commercial commissions like the interiors for jet airplanes.

Here are some Draper tips that we can all benefit from in our home decorating (and pick up a copy of her Decorating Is Fun! book for some great ideas):