AS MANY COUPLES DID DURING THE PANDEMIC,

Lauren Shantall and her husband Derek Eyden re-evaluated their lifestyle. To beat the claustrophobia of their new work-from-home regimen, Lauren, who runs her own PR company, and musician Derek would regularly pile into the car with their 13-year-old son Daniel, and make the trek from Rosebank in the heart of Cape Town’s suburbia to the Deep South – the colloquial name used for the slack-paced string of suburbs that hug the Cape Peninsula’s coastline.“We were waking up three, four times a week to go for sunrise swims,” says Lauren. “Covid meant that I suddenly lost 40% of my business – but it also meant that I could work from anywhere. We realised we could minimise our petrol bill and just move to live next to the ocean!”

The Mid-century Prairie-style house the couple ended up buying in Fish Hoek wasn’t exactly their architectural dream, but its lofty location against the mountain, with a view of both the Atlantic and Indian oceans, was. “It was one of those 1960s box houses, where you open the front door and walk into a rectangle,” says Lauren. “Derek and I knew roughly what we wanted to do. We measured the space, made little scale drawings and cut out pieces of furniture that we’d move around,trying endless configurations.”

Architect Ian Macduff and interior architect Charisse Johnston of StudioSALT helped the couple crystallise their vision. The previously closed-off lounge, kitchen and sunroom became one sprawling living space that spills out onto a large balcony, and another storey – with an impressive custom-designed steel staircase to match – was added to accommodate a small study and an en suite master bedroom with its own balcony.

As far as possible, Lauren and Derek repurposed the house’s fixtures or went to great lengths to source reclaimed fittings and furnishings that wouldn’t look out of place. The sunroom’s slasto stones and sliding door, for example, were redirected to the guest loo and scullery respectively, while the parquet flooring was one of those Facebook Marketplace finds that DIY home renovators’ dreams are made of. “The sellers were getting rid of it because they were putting down vinyl!” says Lauren. Another score was the retro teak kitchen unit that had been gathering dust in someone’s garage. And then there was the pink-and-black Zulu Mama Café chair by Haldane Martin that now lives in Lauren’s study, because the original owners wanted to redo their home interior entirely in black and white, as one does…

Lauren – whose career spans decades working in the design and art realm, and who is also an artist in her own right – and Derek worked together to create a tailor-made colour story for the home. It plays out from the paint palette she chose for the walls and joinery to the artworks and curios from the couple’s enviable collection – much of which is still in storage after the move. “Many of the colours reflect the fynbos around us, like this protea,” she says, gesturing to a large Leucadendron gandogeri growing in the indigenous garden below the balcony, its gradients of green, yellow and orange-pinks echoed in the open-plan living area. “My husband is a musician, and while I don’t pretend to understand music very well, I’d like to think what I’ve done here is like colour music. The colours are notes that form a melody through the house.”

The new milieu undeniably fosters creativity – not only for Derek, who now composes and records music in a plant-filled studio bathed in serene shades of green, but also for Lauren, who has a dedicated art room bathed in natural light. “I’m working on an exhibition called ‘Plant Babies’, which will open this year,” she says. Three guesses where she gets her inspiration from… studiosalt.co.za

“I’D LIKE TO THINK WHAT I’VE DONE HERE IS LIKE COLOUR MUSIC.

THE COLOURS ARE NOTES THAT FORM A MELODY THROUGH THE HOUSE.” LAUREN SHANTALL, CO-OWNER

OPPOSITE The entrance hallway sets the tone for the rest of the home’s interior with a Rorke’s Drift rug from the KZNSA Gallery, an antique jonkmanskas topped with traditional Ndebele and Sesotho pots, Murano glass chandeliers, a puppy sculpture by Magis and a mosaic artwork by Galia Gluckman.

The living area showcases the owners’ collection of original Mid-century designer furniture, fittings and artworks. To echo the colours found in the indigenous fynbos garden that the lounge overlooks, the couple chose shades from Plascon’s 2022 and 2023 Colour Forecasts for the walls and select pieces of furniture.

AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, THE OWNERS REPURPOSED THE HOUSE’S FIXTURES OR WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO SOURCE RECLAIMED FITTINGS AND FURNISHINGS THAT WOULDN’T LOOK OUT OF PLACE.

THIS PAGE The post-reno kitchen is adorned with mossy green shaker-style cabinetry with handles to match those of the Mid-century server, vintage Le Creuset pots, a painting by Marion Smallbones, and hand-painted ceramic tiles from the KZNSA Gallery. OPPOSITE Repainted in custom colours, the vintage solid-teak kitchen unit houses the couple’s collection of Zulu pots, and crockery by Portmeirion, Mervyn Gers and Sibusiso Duma.

THIS PAGE Toby surveys his domain from the deck, furnished with a hanging chair bought from one of Noordhoek’s roadside weavers, a second-hand table painted in custom colours, owner Derek Eyden’s collection of potted plants and a ceramic candelabra by Home Bakes. OPPOSITE A cosy corner in the lounge is decorated with a vintage swinging wall pendant from Maximalist, a Mid-century nesting table painted in custom colours, and artworks by Lauren and Gillian Chase.

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Lauren’s study, starring Austin the Labradane, a Zulu Mama chair by Haldane Martin, and art by Michael Taylor, Jo O’Connor and Adolf Tega; a Ndebele pot cosies up to a Cecil Skotnes print; Derek’s studio-slash-greenhouse, with Bon Bon ottomans by Ergoform and an Art Deco mirror that’s a family heirloom; a stacked assemblage of Zulu baskets and clay pots stands on a Mid-century marble side table. OPPOSITE The monochrome bathroom was inspired by the tiled facade of a Midcentury building in Miami. The sink was built into a vintage server and is complemented by one of Lauren’s black feather artworks.

THIS PAGE A focal wall in a sensuous shade of mulled wine adds drama to the otherwise airy main bedroom, starring a bed and bedside lamps by Ikea; an American Mid-century wool rug, turned upside down; an old Philips radiogram, resprayed in blue; and two vintage plane propeller blades. OPPOSITE The line of the window in the upstairs en suite bathroom follows that of the roof, so anyone seated in the tub sees only trees. A Mid-century server has been painted and repurposed as a vanity stand, the safari chair was bought at auction, and the blinds are made from vintage Coral Stephens fabric.