Renovators’ notes

Try bartering with others for materials for your project – in this case, tree felling for sandstone rocks!

‘It has always been one of our favourite weekend pastimes to stroll in our garden in the afternoon and then enjoy a glass of wine on a garden bench or on the stoep,” says Elmerí.

It was on one such afternoon that she came up with the bright idea to build a boma in the furthermost ‘messy corner’ of their garden.

“At first, Bernard wasn’t keen because he wanted to know what would happen to all the bits and bobs that always landed up there!” she recalls. However, the seed was planted and a week later the couple grabbed a notebook and started making their plans.

They initially set up a temporary corner with a circular fire pit encircled by river sand, a bench and thick logs for seating as well as gravel for the boma floor. But with two dogs that tend to run around and play quite roughly, this arrangement wasn’t ideal.

“In 2014, we finally decided to establish a more permanent entertainment area with low sandstone walls and a concrete and pebble floor,” says Elmerí.

Winter, when Bernard’s tree felling business is less busy, was the perfect time to tackle the project. Elmerí, Bernard and one of his workers got stuck in on a full-time basis and completed the renovation within 20 days, including the garden! Elmerí didn’t want to deprive Bernard of his ‘hoarding corner’ so they decided to install a Wendy house next to the braai for storage space. Her only conditions were that the Wendy house had to have a pitched roof to match the style of their home and that she could paint it to look like a typical English doll’s house.