your space
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WINNING LETTER Hard at work
Jenny-Lee Panayiotou of Midrand writes I work from home and my partner Sean had the clever idea to transform the stoep off our lounge into an office for me. The challenge was to turn this underutilised 3.5m² space into an area that could accommodate two desks and other office goodies.
We have a facebrick house, so the stoep had to be plastered and Sean replaced the French doors with an aluminium-framed sliding door. Then he started building the desks and shelving. I love floating shelves and Sean designed interesting configurations that would service the needs of an office and also look good. Then it was time to paint: we used Granny B’s chalk paint in Strawberry Cupcake for accents and Mushroom for the shelving.
The smaller desk has a custom-built shelf for a computer screen.Smaller shelves were installed under the desk to maximise on space. On the bigger desk, a shelf was built to house the printer and hide cables.
All in all it was a very successful project and after three weeks of leave were up, the office was complete.
Pot luck!
Sandra Channell of Hillcrest, KZN writes A monkey knocked one of my small potted plants off an outdoor shelf recently; the contents tipped out and as luck would have it, the terracotta pot cracked and broke.
My husband stuck it together but it looked a tad unsightly, so I got crafty and took inspiration from an idea I spotted in a magazine many years ago. I used tile cement to stick on bits of broken china I’d kept from much loved cups and saucers.
The end result is a delightful pot that’s been given a new lease on life! It has since been planted up and looks rather attractive on our outdoor table.
An inspiration
Meena Malshe writes I’m from India and regularly visit my son who has been working in Cape Town for the past 15 years. I always look forward to my visits as I get a chance to peruse your magazine, cover to cover, when he is busy in the office. I recently read your article on edible flowers (September 2018 issue) and I was so excited to experience the pleasure of using the information. It’s so satisfying to go back home charged with energy... only because of my son and your magazine. I often share ideas from the issues with my friends back in India. Thanks a lot for such interesting reading!