Fine Tuned

Saying we’re excited about Fine Living, David Muirhead’s retail outlet and events venue in Parkmore, would be the understatement of the century. Seriously, it’s totally swoon-worthy!

In David Muirhead’s home you’ll always find champagne. Moët, to be exact. And if there was ever a time to pop the cork, now would be it. David, together with his brother-in-law, Ian Groves, has finally realised his life-long dream of opening a retail outlet and events venue, Fine Living.

As a three-year-old David had a scrap book where he’d co-ordinate different interiors. It didn’t stop there. Not too long afterwards he was drawing plans for houses and playing shopkeeper at a little store his parents built for him at the entrance to their Drakensberg farm. ‘I was the kid who’d rearrange our home on a weekly basis and pay my brother to swop bedrooms, again and again, so I could redecorate.’

Just over a year ago, this was a bar… no wait, a Portuguese restaurant… hell, who remembers, now that the Fine Living showroom has opened its doors. Create an impression it most certainly does. We’d even go so far as to say it has a stellar impact. It’s no wonder David has the look of someone with his nose to the grindstone… getting a major project like this off the ground is no mean feat and we suspect there was quite a bit of midnight oil burnt in the process. ‘Luckily I live just down the road… in the same street, actually. Once, I walked here at two in the morning because I couldn’t remember if I’d put the alarm on.’

Brace yourself, because when you enter the showroom you’re gonna be sorely tempted to spend. Your eyes will light up and you’re going to get a serious case of the wants. The bad news is, there’s no cure, the good news is, that you don’t have to practice any form of self-restraint (sheesh, we’re horrible at that). Even if you make an impulsive buy here and there, woosah… David has personally chosen every single piece of furniture and accessory so you can bet it’s gonna be downright fabulous. In any case, life is way too short not to invest in pretty things. A collection like this is not achieved with a tick list. ‘Everything is personally hand-picked because it’s bespoke, beautiful and interesting.’

If your taste is somewhat questionable when it comes to mixing and matching, we’re gonna hook you up, baby. The David Muirhead & Associates design studio (that he runs with his sister, Mandy Groves) is on the premises too. Shhh … no one has to know your secret.

Did someone say something about a party? Uh, we did. Fine Living is also a boutique function space that can cater to your every whim. You like the sound of that, don’t you? From a 50th birthday bash with up to 60 of your pals, to a more intimate cocktail party in the open air courtyard for you and 15 friends to celebrate that promotion … we’re picturing a moonlit, Highveld evening. Yes, please! It also includes the use of the Westwood lounge and bar area which gets its name from the covetable Vivienne Westwood wallpaper. As for the suits, David has thought of you too … the boardroom is the kind of place even Donald Trump would feel at home in. And if there’s one thing we know about David, nothing is set in stone and the space is likely to evolve. He sure knows how to keep us on our toes … and we love it.

‘I also want to use this space to uplift new artists and give them a platform to showcase their work, although I do love William Kentridge and Deborah Bell. I think if I hadn’t done interior design I would have been a photographer. All forms of art come back to the same principles of proportion and composition.’

Now, we don’t like to blow our own trumpet (well, maybe just a little) but perhaps we deserve a toast too … for letting you in on this find. But the real hero of the hour? David! All together now, ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow…’ Way to go David! No. 10 Parkmore Square, OlympiaAvenue, Parkmore, Sandton. Details: 011-784-5555.