Durban - Gecko Culinary Adventurers owner Megan Harker understands that the secret to good food is great company, so she’s gone to great lengths to remodel her home into a space fit for social soirées.
Columns in her living area distracted her to the point that she took the roof resting on them off the house and replaced it with a new one. An expansive open-plan living area emerged, so on went glass doors and a balcony that let in the fabulous Berea view of the city and sea.
The costly renovation was a calculated move – allowing in light and creating an open-plan living space that made the house feel like a new space. Harker spent her money where it mattered.
When it came the interiors she was determined to use what she had.
“We live in a throwaway culture despite the fact that much of our old furniture is far superior to what’s being sold at double the price today.I learnt how to do paint techniques and gave new life to many of the pieces I inherited or bought years ago.”
Harker also used wood from her old roof to make furniture, such as a kitchen island.
She used all her old doors and windows, some of them for kitchen cupboards, one to make a table for the entrance hall. Another hangs above the bath tub.
In her bedroom a decorative old gate has become a headboard.
Harker’s resourcefulness has given her décor her signature rather than that of a particular store.
She says there are simple, cost-effective ways to replicate beautiful interiors, and believes beautiful things need not be new. - The Mercury