Kenya Safari

Well, this holiday has definitely been life-changing and undeniably the BEST trip I’ve ever been on. Considering I’ve travelled to many places abroad over the years, including multiple city destinations in Europe, that is saying something!

Let’s start with some African interior design inspo, and what I especially loved about the 2 places we’ve stayed at so far: There has been no gray.

The decor has stayed true to the African culture with natural wood tones, organic materials and plenty of vibrant colours. Reds, oranges, greens and yellows are especially prevalent.

Hotel Accommodation

Our first Kenyan accommodation was at the Ole-Sereni Hotel in Nairobi. Below you can see the carpet stair runner in warm yellows and deep oranges with a runner rod made of golden arrows.

Here’s a red feature wall with animal prints in black frames.

As an interior design professional, I would rearrange these photos to have the lion in the middle, the elephant on the far right and the rhino on the left. This way, the two images of side profiles would both be looking at the lion and that arrangement would also provide a nice symmetry.

Okay, so the blue-gray wall colour is the only gray paint I’ve seen so far.

Next to the Ole Sereni hotel is the Emara. We were able to relax at the 10th-floor swimming pool here and enjoy a buffet dinner on our first official night with everyone on this safari.

The grand entrance and lobby of this hotel was nothing short of spectacular!

I love how they repeated the circle shape of the round walnut ceiling feature on the black and gold design of the floor directly below.

The accent wall in red is brighter than the Farrow & Ball paint colour we used on my basement bar cabinetry seen here in my portfolio and does a great job of livening up this sophisticated neutral space.

This beautifully organic wall decor shown in the image below is the first thing you see as you exit the elevator on the 3rd floor of the Emara. The white wall colour and pretty tree design is similar to White Dove by Benjamin Moore.

In the dining area, there were these striking metal branch inserts on the windows between the restaurant and the hallway.

Below is a photo of a feature wall in the dining area that was very well designed. There are a variety of interest points in these built-ins that keep the eye moving, such as the multi-coloured backdrops in bright tones, mixed with mirrors that reflect light, as well as expand the look of the space.

Nairobi National Park

As you saw from the earlier photos in this post of the outdoor pool, we were staying right next to the Nairobi National Park. This is Chris and I with our new best friends, David & Kim, on our first game drive of the African Safari.

I was given the task of keeping track of all the different animals and how many we saw of each, which became more difficult with each game drive because we saw so many!

On our first day alone I noted that we saw: 12 Southern White Rhinos, 3 Black Rhinos, 22 Massai Giraffes, 3 female lions, 1 Ostrich, 21 Zebras and many Impalas. 

The colours captured in each of these photos could be used to create a gorgeous paint colour palette for your next decorating project!

Have you ever wondered why the white crane birds like to sit on a rhino’s back? I was told by our wonderful guide that they feed off the ticks and other insects on the rhino’s skin.

Giraffe Centre

At the Giraffe Centre, we were able to get up close and personal with the Rothschild Giraffes.

Points of Interest 

We stopped a this lookout in the remarkable Rift Valley as we left Nairobi to head to our first camp in Lake Nakuru.

Have you ever seen a Facebook toilet? Do you even know what it is? Neither do I – and I never went in to find out. LOL

I am thrilled with this original piece of art we bought from one of the local markets. I look forward to custom framing it for my living room.

We going to replace our 3 dated pieces of artwork to the left of the TV with our new colourful and authentic African Pumba art piece. The colours in the painting work perfectly with the colour palette of my main floor which you can see more of here.

Finally, here’s something I never considered in my design business…I could start selling sofas as additional passenger seating for motorbikes.

Do you think this would fly here in North America? Nah, I don’t think so either, but we got a good chuckle out of it!

Have you ever been to Africa? Is a Safari on your bucket list? Comment below and let me know.

Stay tuned, as I plan to share more stories and glorious photos from our incredible adventure in unforgettable Kenya.

Check out some of my Perfect Colour Palettes below with similar colours to the ones I mentioned before.