Text: Natalie Boruvka. Photography: Christoph Hoffmann. Article from the Garden and Home Magazine November 2014.
With their shared passion for wallpapers and fabrics, the new owners of this vintage gem have given it a fresh, contemporary style
Who lives here
Marc Shotland, marketing and group PR executive for Home Fabrics and Fabric Library, and Quique Sanchez, sales director of the same company, who hails from Valencia, Spain.
The house
A recently renovated two-bedroom 1930’s farmhouse in a tree-lined street in Parktown North, Johannesburg.
When house-hunting in Johannesburg Marc Shotland and Quique Sanchez were looking for a home on which they could stamp their personal style and express their creativity. “As we’re both in the fabric industry, we share an obsession with colour and pattern and wanted a house where we could go to town.”
When they came across an almost 90-year-old Parktown North farmhouse that had recently been revamped, they knew it was ideal. The extensive remodelling undertaken by the previous owners had included replacing the thatch with a corrugated iron roof, laying screed floors throughout and replacing the original small windows with generous ones with shutters. The result was clean, uncluttered and above all filled with light.
“The most dramatic change was the layout, designed by Belinda Gordon,” remarks Marc, pointing to the ceiling joins that give an indication of the many walls that were removed to create the open-plan spaces. What remained were the structure’s unique 3,5m-high hexagonal rooms which provided the ideal opportunity for the couple to try out some bold ideas.
“Our first three months in the house were spent planning what wallpapers to use and what fabrics to upholster the furniture in,” says Marc. Fortunately the couple has similar tastes so the challenge was finding what would suit the house and their lifestyle. What they wanted was a casual look with some quirkiness that would be timeless and fresh at the same time.
A big feature of the interiors is their bold selection of wallpapers. In the living area a graphic grey chevron pattern was used on all five walls. “We never imagined that the angled walls would enhance the effect of the wallpaper to such an extent,” says Marc. The guest bedroom features a fanciful hummingbird design and the main bedroom a two-tone leaf motif.
Their talent for combining pattern is evident in the living room where black and white fabrics in a variety of designs are accented with splashes of yellow. The main bedroom also features a subtle and unusual layering of pattern. The couple went for what appealed to them and created harmony with the colour scheme. In this way the traditional plaid on the armchairs successfully pairs with the tropical leaf wallpaper. What helped them make these courageous choices was to keep in mind what they wanted the space to look like overall. As Marc and Quique are surrounded by exquisite fabrics and wallpapers every day there’s always the temptation to change the decor and add just one more scatter. “It’s a daily struggle to hold ourselves back,” laughs Marc.
One of the home’s biggest drawcards was its open-plan kitchen and living area created by combining the original living room, kitchen, entrance and pantry. In summer the double doors on all sides are thrown wide open and the shutters adjusted at just the right angle to flood the space with a comfortable wash of light. “Our schedules are hectic so coming home to this informal, uncomplicated space is so relaxing,” says Marc.
On weekends they take full advantage of the spacious environment to entertain family and friends, often serving Quique’s signature paella. “I’m a bit of a neat freak so it took a while to get used to cooking in a space which is completely exposed but now I love the fact that we can socialise with our guests and even get them involved in the preparations,” laughs Marc.
Get the look
Key to creating the mod look of the living room is a combo of black, white and yellow
Sources
@home home.co.za Amatuli amatuli.co.za Belinda Gordon bbgee@mweb.co.za
Eclipse eclipsegroup.co.za Fabric Library fabriclibrary.co.za
Fine Living davidmuirhead.com Heath Nash heathnash.com
Home Fabrics homefabrics.co.za Kitchen Passion kitchenpassion.co.za
Le Creuset lecreuset.co.za Malawi Chairs malawichairs.co.za
Mezzanine mezzanineinteriors.co.za Mr Price Home mrphome.com
The Lighting Warehouse lightingwarehouse.co.za
Weylandts weylandts.co.za Wunders wunders.co.za
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