I have been working on renovating my kitchen and lounge for the past six months. The cupboards that I had in my kitchen looked outdated and boring and the walls needed a change. Similarly, the lounge/dining area has been looking the same for a very long time and I decided that I wanted to re-upholster my lounge suite completely. For the kitchen, I used Rust-Oleum’s milk paint (Highland Blue with Navy Blue as a contrast). This was then finally covered with a semi-gloss sealant to maintain and protect the paint. The cupboards are old, but with a bit of TLC and care and the new paint it created a completely different modern look and feel. I finished the kitchen off by painting the walls in an Ash Gray by Excelsior Paints.

I decided I wanted to add some colour and depth in the lounge and dining area and I plunged right into it by going for some heavy colours like azure blue on one wall, a lighter shade of blue on alternate walls and then an acrylic (Kariba Clay – darkish brown) on the opposite wall flowing into a sheen acrylic in a lighter shade (Camel Coat). All the painting involved the typical preparatory work of sanding/scraping/filling etc. I used Flash Harry’s Wonderfil to fill up some areas as the walls in the house were initially plastered and very rugged, and I wanted to reduce this look by smoothing it out slightly.

Once I’d finished the kitchen and all the walls, I moved onto the project of re-upholstering my corner lounge suite. I bought the material (I just couldn’t resist it) before I started with the project. Due to the DIY project in the kitchen and the painting of the walls, the upholstery project had to be put off for some time. I only got started on it in mid-April. I stripped the lounge suite completely to the bare frame (and yes, I did it with my own two hands). Once stripped to the bone, I started to think out of the box and how I could enhance/improve/change it to be more representative of my taste as it currently stands. I did a lot of research and reading on the side when I got the chance and as a result of this, I tackled everything as and when time allowed it (which was over weekends). I completed the set (from stripping to replacing webbing, stuffing and re-upholstery) in the first week of June. Except for some minor things that I still want to add, this is as far as I got. I also did all the artwork (still a work in progress) myself with pictures/art I got off the net and had printed; I framed it myself with scrap pallet wood. I am still working on the art for the brown walls in the lounge.

The next project in my sight is the complete re-do of the tile floors (not replacing the tiles, but rather prepping them for a makeover with the appropriate paint). This will in all likelihood be another 3-4 month project as I do everything myself and only have weekends to do it.

I’d like to mention, lastly, that I did not intend to enter any competition. I wasn’t even aware that there are competitions like this. Photos taken before and during the project are therefore limited as they were never intended to be used, other than for my own use. It was purely by chance that I saw this competition in the Netwerk 24 subscription that I have, and I decided what the heck, why not enter…