Before…
These small, neglected apartments were ideally situated on a hill overlooking the St Helena Bay coastline. The location was no doubt the biggest drawing card for the new owner. Each of the 4 units has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and an open-plan living and dining area. A small patio makes the most of the view. There is also a small 1-bedroom unit next to the pool area. But apart from the aluminium windows and doors, the finishes were terrible. What started as a facelift, quickly turned into a full-scale renovation. We basically gutted the units and started from scratch!
After the units were cleared out, the face brick walls were plastered and everything got a fresh coat of paint to create a clean canvas to work from.
Because of the small footprint, the furniture had to be carefully sourced to fit the available space. The finishes and furniture also had to be highly durable because the apartments would be rented to holiday guests.
The Design
I drew inspiration from the area, traditionally a fishing village, without being too obvious about the seaside influence. The result is a warm, comfortable and stylish apartment with interesting artwork, quality finishes and curated amenities.
Apart from having to spec compact furniture throughout, the kitchen was especially challenging because it had to include an oven, stove, microwave and fridge/freezer, coffee machine, all the cupboards and the DB, all in just under 3 running metres! It is very tight, but it works!
For the bedrooms, we used custom furniture by Ode. The headboards and nightstands have integrated plug and charging points, and the gorgeous oak veneer adds character and a touch of luxury to an otherwise laid-back room.
For the small dressing table, also from Ode, we went with a white lacquer finish, a rattan chair for texture and an oak-framed porthole mirror.
All the artwork in the apartments are photographs from the area that I manipulated in Photoshop. The result is almost impressionist sunsets and seascapes 🙂
The floating TV stand with an oak veneer wall panel has cleverly concealed storage for board games and integrated plug and data points. The bright blue wall references to the overwhelmingly blue West Coast sky. All the windows in the apartments have sheer curtains to optimize the views and combine with block-out blinds in the bedrooms.
This was a great project to work on, and I am pleased to say that the units are as liveable as they are beautiful. Our entire family spent a weekend there earlier this year and it was lovely!
For bookings, visit Holiday Portfolio.
