Safari Style
As Western lavishness collided with striking native elements in the vast reaches of the East African savanna, the Safari style was born. Blending ethnic African with colonial European, the look emphasizes relaxed yet luxurious living, drawing on an elemental approach to texture, color, and pattern, and on indigenous materials and design. Exploring 21 spectacular homes in glorious color,Safari Styletakes us on an expedition through a fantastic Moorish residence in Kenya, a hotel in Zanzibar masquerading as a Persian palace, an Italianate villa on a former coffee plantation in Nairobi, a tree house hideaway perched in the Ngong hills, and a host of other extraordinary dwellings. Though most of us will never live anywhere so unique, we can certainly find countless great ideas here to incorporate into our own more humble abodes. This is about a lot more than a few animal-print pillows and some swags of mosquito netting; it's about Old World elegance and evocations of the pleasures of exotic travel, even if we only get to enjoy it from the comforts of a cushy mudcloth-covered armchair.--Amy Handy