‘Come inside!’
Anlé Pelster of Magalies Golf Estate & River Club in Hartbeespoort was the winner of our 2021
Tjhoko Champs competition with her delicate stencil work on the tiles in her kitchen. But the kitchen wasn’t the only space she wanted to jazz up...
“Steps leading up to a front door should create an expectation of what – and who – you’ll find inside,” says Anlé. “But the 20 steps to our house were bland and boring.” After seeing a staircase with mosaic detail in a previous issue of Home, the seed was planted for her own steps. Chopping out the tiles would cost too much – so she decided to get stuck in with paint.
To prep the tiles, Anlé first scrubbed the riser of each step thoroughly and cleaned the surface with lacquer thinners to remove all the dirt. She then lightly sanded the tiles, wiped them again with lacquer thinners and painted them with two coats of primer, covered with two coats of Tjhoko Paint Cloud White.
“The Mediterranean design was inspired by pictures of hand-painted tiles,” she explains. “I wanted to create the same effect, so I first drew the design lightly with a pencil on every second step to lead the eye up to the front door.”
Armed with ordinary Pritt to keep her stencil in place – plus tiny brushes and lots of patience – Anlé painted one step at a time.
“My exercise mat came in handy as everything had to be done in the prone position! I sometimes had to put up an umbrella to shield me from the sun.”
To protect her masterpiece, Anlé applied two coats of Tjhoko Paint Clear Glaze on top. “And after two years, it still looks like it was painted yesterday!”
• See Anlé’s stunning kitchen on page 56.