After finding a charming cottage to renovate and ‘flip’, interiors maven Charlotte Collins fell in love with the space and made it her own.
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This gorgeous cottage in the charming Overberg town of Greyton epitomises gently worn sophistication. It’s a perfect combination of found and collected furniture and decorative details from yesteryear, while savvy renovations and various additions blend seamlessly with the original look of the home.
The owner – seasoned renovator and decorator Charlotte Collins – has created an idyllic country escape where log fires after long walks in the fresh air are part of everyday life.
“I went to Greyton to help a friend with the interior of her home and had never spent a night there before,” says Charlotte.
“Originally, my intention was to ‘flip’ the house (my friend is a transferring attorney and convinced me to buy it) but when I got further into the project and had spent time in the village, I decided to keep it as a getaway.” >>
Substance and authenticity
Greyton, just two hours from Cape Town, is the quintessential country village. “Everyone is very friendly and knows your name,” says Charlotte, who spent a year breathing life into what was once a rather nondescript space.
The house now boasts two storeys, complete with three en-suite bedrooms and a cottage in the garden. “When I first saw it, it was literally a box with one room for the bedroom, a tiny room off the side, one bathroom and a living area – and there was nothing in the roof. It took me just under a year to get it to where it is now.”
Previously, Charlotte worked on big advertising production sets where she learnt to be super resourceful when creating a look and feel that fits a client’s brief. Here, she could put this experience into practice for herself.
“I wanted the staircase to look as though it had been there for 100 years, so I bought new scaffolding planks on Gumtree and traded them with builders across Cape Town in exchange for their old worn planks. My amazing carpenter then used these to build a staircase that connects the new rooms in the roof with the downstairs part of the house”.
Moments of ingenuity such as this have helped Charlotte to design a country cottage that has an enormous sense of substance and authenticity. “I love how it reflects my passion for all things salvaged. I really feel that items with history can conjure up such a wonderful mood,” she says. >>
HOMEOWNER
Charlotte Collins WHERE Greyton, Overberg
SIZE 165m2
By Vicki Sleet
Production Sven Alberding Photographs Greg Cox/Bureaux
An elegant dining table made by contemporary South African designer Gregor Jenkin contrasts beautifully with the historical details that surround it – from the exposed wooden beams and reed ceiling to the restored wooden sash window and handcrafted staircase built from salvaged scaffolding planks. Mismatched slasto completes the eclectic look.
Charlotte knows just how to create a sense of history and the panelled back wall in the living area is a case in point; while it looks like it’s been there for years, it’s actually a brand-new element painted in a heritage green. “I tried 10 tester pots and struck gold with the last one! It looked totally wrong in the pot but I was so sick of the process that I thought ‘let me give it a go anyway’ and, lo and behold, it was the colour I had been searching for. Everyone is now obsessed with it,” she says with a laugh.
The nook in the kitchen where the stove is located may well have housed a hearth back in the day. “There was no stove in the house when I bought it,” says Charlotte.
Splashback tiles from Hadeda
The time-worn server is from salvage and vintage specialists Koöperasie Stories in Simondium near Paarl.
One of Charlotte’s favourite elements on this property is its garden. “It was totally overrun but it’s a great shape,” she explains.
The shutters are also painted in Plascon Time and Again, the same colour as the panelling behind the fireplace (see opposite).
The split stable door (below) is a typical feature of period Greyton homes, and the original slasto floor is an unpretentious no-fuss option. Original slasto tiles were also left as is on the fireplace surround.
“If you’d suggested slasto tiles to me 20 years ago, I would have said you were crazy – but they’re perfect for the house,” says Charlotte.
The original reed ceiling and supporting gum poles are typical of heritage homes all over the Cape. Originally covered in an unattractive glossy varnish, they were stripped and restored to their natural timber hue.
The coffee table (left) is an upcycled piece that Charlotte created in collaboration with one of her favourite suppliers, On Site Gallery. “It’s made from an old wheelbarrow, which they topped with glass. I love it!” The little love seat was reupholstered in a simple linen fabric that shows off its elegant lines. “The original horse-hair stuffing freaked me out, so I pulled it all out.”
Charlotte is an avid collector of vintage portraits and the stairwell and staircase felt like the perfect place to create a gallery wall, she says. Thanks to the old and worn scaffolding planks she used to build the staircase, it looks as if it has been around for years.