We are staying in a farmhouse built many years ago. Everyone uses the back door as the front door, entering through the scullery. The typical problem with such a room is that it’s not part of the original foundation and, therefore, over the course of time, the walls tend to move away from the house, leaving big cracks. The previous owner tiled the walls of the scullery approximately 28 years ago and the tiles started coming loose and then falling off over the years. We’ve learned that the tiles don’t stick, and I needed to do something to improve the appearance of the room. It was embarrassing when visitors entered the scullery. As the farmer’s wife, I had to think of a cost-effective plan.

Financially, things are tight at the moment, so I devised a plan. I took the knotty pine ceiling from an old house that we demolished years ago. I cleaned and painted it and cut it to the length of the area where the tiles have fallen off. I bought a 9mm-thick plywood sheet and cut it in lengths of 5cm each to attach to the knotty pine panels with a nail gun. The panels were made separately so they can be hooked onto the wall with picture hooks and also be removed if necessary. I painted them with two coats of water-based glaze and rounded them off at the top and bottom of the panels.

In the big gaps where tiles have fallen off, I tried to chip the cement off the old tiles but succeeded with only a couple. I found a few extra in store, and for the rest I tried to carefully take off the bottom side of the wall and tiled them back at the top where tiles were missing. I will keep a close eye on them for when they threaten to come down and fix them immediately. For the gap in the ceiling, I found an old lace and it just fitted over the gap. I then painted the ceiling. The project cost just less than R2 500.

The scullery now looks very presentable and certainly not embarrassing anymore.