Fresh ideas with wood

Glasses and tray from MRP Home; plant pot cover from Woolworths

Cook’s corner

Home’s resident handyman DIY Deon is also an avid cook who loves entertaining. An under-utilised area next to the fire pit in his back garden was begging for a creative transformation. “It used to be an unattractive storage area with a vibracrete wall we could see from our bedroom window,” says his wife Debbie. “I could no longer bear to look at it!” This unused space was perfect for an outdoor kitchen, and Deon soon came up with a plan that suited them both.

Now the vibracrete wall is hidden by an exposed brick wall against which the braai wood has been stacked, while a built-in cupboard unit with a cement slab and basin provides a work surface next to the braai.

The pièce de résistance is the wooden cladding above the countertop. This was done by laminating Shutterply (usually used for forming concrete) to create a striped pattern. A solid Shutterply ceiling completes the picture.

Here’s how...

1 Saw 18 mm-thick plywood into 50mm-wide strips; the length will depend on the height of the area you wish to clad. (The wood comes in lengths of 2.4 m.)

2 Start cladding in one corner: screw the first plank in with its broad side flat against the side wall. Continue attaching the planks, one by one, to the previous plank with screws – always with the broad sides flat against each other so the lines of Shutterply are viewed edge on.

Bright idea! Deon concealed an awkward corner next to the braai with a door painted the same colour as the walls – voila, secret storage!

The mantelpiece in the Craddocks’ home rests on wrought-iron brackets. The franking stamp on some of the planks was applied with a stencil and paint. Stencil from Chisel & Chalk

A luxurious chandelier contrasts with the earthy look in the rest of the space. Chandelier and floral cushions from Plan B Vintage

Put your stamp on it

DIY duo Amanda and Bobby Craddock have shown that they have serious renovation skills – we featured their kitchen project in Paint It 2015. The couple has since moved and after just four months in their new home, they decided to give their braai stoep a fresh look – onatight budget.

“The stoep was hot and lacked personality,” says Amanda. To counteract the heat, they installed Isoboard panels under the transparent roof sheeting and invested in roller blinds to block out the harsh midday sun.

Then they tackled the built-in braai: Bobby cut pieces of affordable wood with a rough texture to the right lengths and after a little sanding, clad the surfaces around the braai. To give the cladding a more ‘lived-in’ look, Bobby cut off the heads of real railway bolts and glued them on with No More Nails. For the finishing touch, Amanda used a stencil and black paint to apply a ‘franking stamp’ to the timber. Now it looks as if it has an interesting back story!