When I decided that it was time to scale down, I found the perfect two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit in a retirement village (50-plussers can actually stay there!).
It was love at first sight. The double volume and open, yet compact unit lent itself to a great minimalistic living space. And the surrounding peace and quiet was a dream come true.

However, there was a problem with a few things.

For the giant mirror above the bath, I couldn’t think of many retirement village inhabitants who would appreciate such a kind gesture from the developer.
The shower doors were a tight fit to squeeze in and since I was scaling down, I wasn’t looking forward to cleaning the glass doors.
The kitchen counter took up a lot of space and I imagined that sitting on a high counter stool would become tricky as one ages.
Finally, the style of the unit was quite dated even though it was newly built.

I thus embarked on an exciting project to address these matters.
The existing kitchen cupboards were removed, sold and replaced, the two bathrooms were renovated, floor tiles were replaced with a durable and easy-to-clean vinyl floor, doors and skirtings were painted black and all light switches and plugs were replaced with modern black ones. Extra lights were also added. I was very pleased with the end result.

The days and months passed, and I enjoyed my renovated space and becoming part of the wonderful surrounding ‘older’ community. Tannie Vasti often brought over some freshly baked cookies and Oom Eric watered my plants when I was away. I became friends with Lida, who was involved in the making of Wielie Walie, and met Flip, a former State Attorney who reminded me of my dad.

It was during one of Tannie Vasti’s visits that I decided that the open patio also needed a renovation as it was a real problem to keep it clean. I decided that it would be worth my while to enclose it, lift the floor to extend the living area and simultaneously create a working space.
After all, I had to earn some income to pay for all the renovations…