Corporate interiors speak volumes about a company's ethos and management style. Is your company drab, dull and just a little frayed at the corners? Or does your interior reflect a vibrant, challenging face to your employees and customers? Elize Labuschagne Interiors has transformed the offices of steel merchants, lawyers and accountants, among others.

Witness the transformation of Safair's head office in Kempton Park, where simple elements - such as the hot air balloon motif on the wingback chairs - raise the corporate profile ... as well as a smile.

And just when she was beginning to think that her doctorate in cultural history was going to waste, Elize was given the opportunity to design an old-fashioned interior for a firm of attorneys about to celebrate 100 years of doing business. Solomon, Nicolson, Rein & Verster, wanted a classic, timeless interior to take the company into its next century. Elize opted for reproduction mahogany furniture designed along classical lines, adding a sense of old-worldliness, while framed pictures of former partners in the firm cemented the aura of permanence.

The Ghost House, or Erasmus Castle, a landmark historic house with excellent Art Nouveau features, marks Elize's transition from cultural historian doing formal restoration work, to a decorator doing interior furnishings in an historical way. All colours used in this project were faithfully researched by spending hours on the site scratching for specks of original paint. Wallpapers were hand-printed to match scraps of originals found on site. All furnishings, light fittings and accessories were sourced through antique shops, and fabrics were chosen to be historically correct. The "ghost house" now serves as a place where Armscor, its owner, can entertain VIPs in a totally unique style.

A hospitality area at Loftus Stadium for Baldwins Steel makes extensive use of steel, the company's product, and marries it quite comfortably with cherry wood cabinets and panelling. Wall treatment and reproduction antique prints of rugby matches complete the picture. The finished product is a space which reflects the core business of the company in a stylish, yet comfortable way.