BEAUTIFUL budget ON A

“Bargain queen” Ramona Afonso and her DIY-savvy husband Nuno worked hard to create this stylish open-plan kitchen.

Ramona Afonso had been dreaming about a new kitchen since she and her husband Nuno bought their family home about four-and-a-half years ago.

“I absolutely love to cook for my family but the old kitchen was so uninspiring,” she recalls. On top of that, it was disconnected from the dining and living rooms, both of which are separate from each other. “I’m Lebanese and my husband is Portuguese, and we tend to host lots of family gatherings at our house, so creating an open-plan space was ideal.”

Ramona owns a small décor business, Ruffles and Rust, and has a background in the fashion industry – so there was no shortage of creativity. However, the kitchen renovation was a long time in coming and, ultimately, it was triggered by a completely unrelated décor issue: an ugly cream-coloured wall-to-wall carpet that featured throughout most of the Afonsos’ home.

A clear vision

“The carpet was just so impractical,” says Ramona. “For years, we wanted to rip it out but we were convinced that there was unfinished screed beneath. Then, to our surprise, when we lifted it, we discovered the same old ugly tiles as in the kitchen – and so the renovation began.

“We employed a professional builder to knock out a curved wall separating the kitchen and dining room, brick up a door in the kitchen and replace the ceiling. We then hired an electrician to rewire new light fixtures and electrical points. The rest we did ourselves with the help of a handyman.”

Ramona, who describes herself as a “bargain queen”, had a clear vision of what she wanted: “I was keen on something modern with an industrial edge – and a touch of country farmhouse added to the mix for good measure.” So she got stuck into her garage where second-hand finds often end up in case they can be put to good use later. “These days, my car is parked outside,” she says with a grin.

“Ramona is actually not a bargain queen; she is a scavenger,” counters Nuno. But thanks to his wife’s keen eye for a bargain, their renovation project is a shining example of how to make a space beautiful on a budget.

Once the builder had knocked down the walls, work began on the kitchen cabinets. “The existing cupboard fronts were PVC Wrap, which means the doors were literally wrapped in PVC. I stripped all of them, using an iron to melt off the PVC, and then rearranged the carcasses and added the new trims to create a farmhouse feel,” Ramona explains. The finishing touch was a fresh coat of paint.

The upper narrow cabinets were removed and repurposed to create one big cupboard in the pantry; Nuno added shelves with plumbing pipes as supports. >>

Nuno lifts the carpet – and discovers more tiles!

On top

The cement countertops are the Afonsos’ pride and joy! Inspired by last year’s Fix it with Flair winners, Andrew and Victoria Zekveld of Pietermaritzburg, Nuno and Ramona decided to cast their own. “We created a frame around the existing laminate countertops with a lip around all the edges,” says Nuno. “We then sealed the mould with silicone to make it watertight and to give the cement mixture a smooth finish once the mould had been removed.

“We painted A.Shak plaster key, a bonding agent, onto the existing tops and laid down brick force mesh before pouring the cement mixture on top to prevent cracking. The cement mixture consisted of one part stone chips, one part sand and one part cement mixed with water; this was poured to a depth of 6.5cm.”

The end result is a triumph, but there was just one snag: thanks to the existing laminate used as a base, the total thickness of the slab once the concrete had been poured amounted to 10cm in total; this meant that the fitting for the pull-down mixer for the basin was too short. “We had to find an engineer who could custom make a fitting long enough to be tightened from below,” Nuno explains. “This was more expensive than the actual tap!”

On the floor

The kitchen floor is a combination of reclaimed parquet and black-and-white cement tiles. “The parquet flooring is my favourite feature by far,” says Ramona. “It also takes the budget prize: it came from a block of flats that was being renovated; they were going to throw the parquet away, so we made the owner an offer – for just R3 000 we bought 200m² which was enough to cover the floors throughout our house!”

A contractor laid the parquet blocks in a herringbone pattern and the Afonsos took on the job of sanding and sealing them to save money. “This was our least favourite part of the project; we had no idea what we were in for. A professional would have cost us half our budget but if I had to do it over again, this is the one thing I would have saved for,” says Ramona.

Both she and Nuno sanded (and re-sanded) the floors for two whole days, working way into the wee hours. “We were covered in red sawdust! The floors are the furthest thing from perfect but, then again, I’m a sucker for the distressed look! One day, they will have to be done professionally.”

After just three weeks, the Afonsos were able to enjoy the fruits of their labour! “At this stage, we could happily move back into our new open-plan kitchen; the finishing touches were completed over following weekends,” says Ramona.

“I don’t do well when it comes to chaos,” Nuno reminisces. “But in this case it really paid off.” >>

The dresser used for the butler sink (below) was a gift from one of Ramona’s cousins. It was modified to house a butler sink and spring mixer.

The 1920s dining room table (above) is a family heirloom and the chairs were bought from second-hand shops over the years. The Afonsos found the chandelier at a scrapyard and all the hinges and handles are from Gelmar.

The pretty tiles used to create a splashback behind the stove are from Portugal; they were a gift from Nuno’s mother. The floor is covered in parquet tiles; the couple laid black-and-white cement tiles around the stove and in front of the butler sink...

The cupboard with the glass doors and curtains (above) is the only new unit in the kitchen. The pendants were bought two years prior to the renovation and kept in storage until the project could begin.