Oupa George se Kas

Photograph by George Angus

Photograph by George Angus

Next on our renovation list is the small scullery. That will be done through upcycling and the use of appliances that became redundant when friends renovated their homes.

To borrow from Ernest Rutherford: “We don’t have money, so we have to think.”  In other words, be creative.

To install the upcycled sink, I’ll have to reroute the plumbing. But in order to do that I must remove the old dilapidated cupboard that’s currently doing service in the scullery (It was previously in the bathroom, but we moved it when we created two new bathrooms). But in order to do that, we must find storage space for the linen we keep in there. And in order to do that I had to build a new cupboard for the kitchen. 

It’s like operating on tonsils by pulling toe nails. There’s method in madness.

That’s where “Oupa George se kas” (Grandpa George’s cupboard)  comes in. It must be at least 65 years old, built in the early to mid 1950’s. When my father was in his late teens, my grandfather, Oupa George, commissioned a carpenter to build this kitchen cupboard. Even though very humble material was used – it has a light pine frame covered with thin hardboard – I’ve always admired the excellent craftsmanship and elegant end result.

If I wanted to impress people I would have said that it resembles a Hoosier cabinet with a slight touch of Art Deco. Third generation cleverness can come over as stylish. It’s all in the wording. But in all fairness, I don’t think I’m too far off.

After the death of his parents the cupboard was passed on to my father. I grew up with it in our kitchen where it was used until we got built-in kitchen cupboards early in the 1980’s. Oupa George se kas moved out to the workshop where it remained for the next 30 years, a storage space for small car parts, spray nozzles, different types of manuals and what have you. A forgotten piece of furniture.

When we moved into the old stone house here at Barrowfield, we got a kitchen that was waiting for that exact piece of furniture. It showed the signs of its age with its base or feet especially in need of repair, but there were so many other things higher up on the priority list during those early stages of settling in that we used it just as it was.

Then, in 2017, we renovated the kitchen. Oupa George se kas received a facelift as well and ended up being the focus of attention in the new kitchen. We love it.

Back to the work on the scullery and the need for a new kitchen linen cupboard. I decided to build it in the exact same style as Oupa George se kas, using the same material and the same techniques. 

Photographs by George Angus

Now we have George en Matilda se kas. Through resemblance you can see that she is the great granddaughter of the old stalwart.

It was so rewarding to use such cheap material to create something so beautiful. 

Being a mere “plankieskas” (a cupboard made from planks nailed together), will it stand the test of time though? 

Now that’s a silly question.

George