Beyond a narrow doorway delicately framed by jasmine, and a sign in a quirky, looping script, is something delightfully unusual. The first thing you'll see after pressing the buzzer and entering Chandler House, on Church Street in Cape Town's CBD, is a life-sized cabinet of curiosities, a hint of what's in store at this shopping and art spot, the work of store owner, gallerist and all-round creative Michael Chandler.There are three interleading rooms - this must once have been a family home - one of which contains the appropriately named Voorkamer Gallery. It is hosting an exuberant showcase of contemporary South African art entitled Pink: A Rosy Summer Group Show."I've found what I want to do here," says Chandler."I can create, curate, play host, do research, visit artists' studios - all in the space of a day."His overriding interest is the decorative arts of the Cape and the stories woven through furniture, decor, art and collectables.Fascinated by "the visual history of the domestic interior of the Cape" since he was a student of art history at the University of Cape Town, Chandler refined his eye for beautiful furniture, objects and art by working at a couple of auction houses.He always made things (think elegant blue-and-white porcelain chargers and sets of plaster books) and sourced items for decorators, and soon decided that he would be able to combine these interests best if he had his own store in which "everything has a story".That's the perfect description of Chandler House, where you can buy distinctive pieces ranging from antique furniture to hand-embroidered table linen, decorative plates and whimsical vases. And art, of course.Like most of the shows Chandler has curated, Pink is a pleasure: lovely to look at, insouciant in its mix of styles and artists, and hung in a fresh, irreverent way.It's also easy to shop from: on the day we were there, the show had been open for less than a week and about half the works sported "sold" stickers.The Voorkamer Gallery has been part of Chandler House since mid-2014. It's a sort of by-product of the first show Chandler curated, In Good Company, which included work inspired by the Company's Garden and "all things Cape fauna and flora".Hung in the Irma Stern Museum in Rosebank, it was a huge success. Chandler simply says: "I hung things the way I wanted to see them and people really responded to that."Voorkamer highlights have included Caution Wet Paint, for which eight artists were each given a blank canvas on the morning of a First Thursdays event. By that evening the show was up in the gallery, still-wet paint and all.Chandler has plans for all sorts of similarly engaging shows for this year, as well as some innovative ideas about expanding the offering at the store.See chandlerhouse.co.za and thevoorkamergallery.com. "Pink: A Rosy Summer Group Show" is on till the end of January..