Fresh ideas for makeover magic
Readers share their quick-fix solutions to renovation dilemmas.
Labour of love
When Inus van Heerden of Greenside, Johannesburg lifted the old carpet on his balcony, he discovered a layer of cement mosaic tiles. And that got him thinking...
He cleaned the entire surface, painted it with a grey stoep enamel and then designed an attractive black-and-white mosaic pattern. Inus painted the old tile blocks one at a time, after which he carefully outlined each one with grey stoep enamel to resemble grout. Inus says the hours of back-breaking work were well worth it – this is now his favourite space.
Cushions from @home; lanterns and rug from MRP Home; Build It Stoep Enamel in Grey
and Black; Dulux PearlGlo in White
Slide to the left
Inspired by something similar he’d seen online, Inus transformed a sliding door in his apartment into an eye-catching focal point. Before creating the geometric patterns, he applied an undercoat of Dulux Supergrip and a base coat of white enamel. He then measured the door to determine how many stripes would fit and masked off each one neatly with masking tape. The different colours are from the Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colours range, which Inus diluted with Winsor & Newton Liquin and turpentine so that the grain of the wood still shows through in places. After four days, the door was sealed with Dulux DucoSpray Clear Lacquer. >>
Perfect placement
When Ashleigh and Brett Holmes moved into their home in Richmond Hill, Port Elizabeth they weren’t thrilled with a door that opened from one of their bedrooms onto the main entrance. To save on the immediate cost of bricking it up, they simply positioned the bed across the doorway, and then, to make it less obvious, created a beautiful four-poster that conceals the old door – luckily, this bedroom had two entrances. The four-poster was a DIY job: they had timber posts cut to size, joined them to the original bed base and then draped the bed with soft, flowing fabric. Their new bed is not only a showstopper, it also creates the ultimate romantic look.
Cupboard love
When Jana and Retief Oosthuizen began renovations on their new home in Robertson in the Breede River Valley, they put their heads together to find ways to cut costs. “We wanted to see what the cupboards would look like with a fresh coat of paint before going the ‘brand-new’ route,” says Jana. “They looked so fabulous that we decided it wasn’t necessary to buy new ones!”
This saving meant the Oosthuizens could afford to install oak countertops and shelving that immediately gave their kitchen a luxurious and contemporary look – and they added vinyl tiles to the wall to create a graphic focal point! New air vents were fitted to the cupboard doors; these and the old handles were spray-painted with Plascon Copper to complement the rose-gold taps (see inset). This gives the space a charming old-world feel.
Vinyl tiles from Rob Signs