Q&A with Rachelle

Any cost-cutting tips? Ask around at building material suppliers for old stock they’re planning to discard, such as wood or tiles, and negotiate an affordable price. Any other tips? Break up your project into smaller tasks and set realistic goals – it always takes longer than you think! Where did you get your ideas? Zahn discussed most of the planning with his father, my father (a quantity surveyor), and an uncle who is a project manager. What would you do differently next time? We should have gotten someone to help us with the hard labour such as mixing cement, laying bricks and plastering. What do you like most about your new home? I love the big windows in our bedroom overlooking the Kammanassie Mountains! I think the best part is simply knowing that we did it all ourselves. What’s next? We’d like to build a bedroom for our daughter on the west-facing side of the house (next to our bedroom), as well as an extra bathroom for guests.

If it wasn’t for the help of our

able families, we wouldn’t have been

to pull it off. – Rachelle

The old table (above) was bought at a second-hand shop in Stellenbosch; Rachelle sanded and varnished it. Rachelle’s mom, Ria Ebersöhn, collected bottles and decorated them with lace, ribbons and beads (left) for their wedding; Rachelle displays them...