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Behind the chandelier is Sarah Pratt’s branch artwork Delft Tree Houses. The plate collection is by Margy Malan, and the blue plates and matching cushion are from Chandler House. The blanket is by Michael Chandler for MRP and the Delft Blue Plate rug by Marcel Wanders for Moooi. The wallpaper is by Ruan Hoffman for Anthropologie. -
On the far back wall of the passage are two works by Shany van den Berg, and in the foreground (bottom, left) the colours of a local Olaf Hajek converses with that of the American Mike Perry (top, right). -
In the lounge, Tom Dixon’s chrome Melt pendants dangle above Graham and Green dripping neon vases. The Shakespeare Orchid bust by Jimmie Martin perches next to the book case and a Lionel Smit portrait dominates the back wall. -
On the Pierre Cronje coffee table, a Lionel Smit Morphous Maquette bust keeps company with a few coffee-table books. The wall features a crochet kudu trophy from Weylandts, Ella Cronjé’s bull terrier busts on plaques around the mirror and Frédérique Morrel’s tapestry deer head. -
This corner of the lounge shows Berdine’s love of local art: Haidee Nel’s Urban Masquerade Hare meets a Hennie Christian Niemann (top) and a Sanell Aggenbach work (top, right). The portrait below is a family heirloom. -
Dining at Berdine’s happens on pink and lime chairs with sculptures in white by UK designer Kathy Dalwood. The chairs are by Moorgas & Sons, upholstered in Designers Guild Padua Peony fabric, and the light fitting is from The Gatehouse at Mavromac. -
Berdine’s upstairs bedroom boasts magnificent views of Lion’s Head. Her violet bed is by Moorgas & Sons and the grass-green floor lamp is from the Anglepoise designer lighting collection at Heal’s. -
Berdine’s love of art is reflected everywhere in the house. Focal points on this downstairs bedroom wall are Joseph Klibansky’s blue baby sculptural work Dream Clouds, and Boko Harem by Catherine Ocholla. In the foreground, a hand-made bear from Heartworks perches on a Debenhams UK chair. -
In the main bathroom, a sprinkler system keeps the collection of greenery watered. The bath, from Stills Bathrooms, offsets the quirky lines of the Tord Boontje chair, from AI Unlimited. The abundance of lights are from Hoi P’loy and the tiles by Villa Lagoon Tiles Morocco. -
The library doubles as a bedroom. On the easel is John Wilson’s Master I. The floral chair is by Moorgas & Sons, upholstered in Christian Lacroix Bataille de Fleur Bougainvillier, and the Sergeant Pepper Drum is by Andrew Martin. The chandelier is from One on One Gallery, and the Impressionist-style rug is by ABC Carpet and Home in New York. -
The Karoo-inspired guest bathroom is an ode to Berdine’s childhood. The wallpaper is by Design Kist, the basin is from The Railway House, and the light fittings are from Créma Design. The trinket hares are from Africa Nova. -
Bathe among forest ferns. The special back glass shower panel in the main bathroom was designed by Robin Sprong. The Wishbone coat stand is by Still Bathrooms and the tiles are from Villa Lagoon Tiles Morocco. -
Cool, kitsch and quirky meet Mother Nature on the large veranda. The coffee table is from Weylandts and the foliage candelabra above is by Craig Olckers from Oolong Blue. The giant green apple was found at Equus Cavalli Gallery. -
On the veranda, Berdine used colour to pull together prints and textures. Zoey the Cardigan Corgi snuggles up on the couch, upholstered in Christian Lacroix Soft Jardin Exo’Chic fabric, and her mistress plays footsie with blue tiles from Moroccan Warehouse.
PHOTOS Micky Hoyle PRODUCTION Sumien Brink WORDS Debbie Loots
When Berdine Neethling bought an empty shell of a house in the Cape Town City Bowl, interior designer Alison Reynolds helped her to renovate it and to curate an eclectic collection of art, furniture and collectibles.
It doesn’t make sense. Not in the name of conventional interior design, it doesn’t. This newly renovated and redesigned home of Berdine Neethling.
Styles clash everywhere: Moroccan meets Cape Dutch (maybe not head-on, but close enough). South African’s king of kitsch art, Alex Hamilton, has his Marie Antoinette – donning a ship for a hat – rubbing shoulders with an Irma Stern. A carousel pony dangles from a ceiling, oblivious of the Lionel Smit bust sitting on a dresser underneath. And that’s just for starters. Shocking? No. Rather sensational. You see, there’s method in this seeming madness.
But wait, let’s start at the beginning, back when communications graduate and lifestyle blogger Berdine Neethling bought a house in the City Bowl that was a shell with all-round great views. “My friend, interior designer Alison Reynolds, who owns The Painted Door Design Company, helped me with the renovation,” says Berdine. “We had the kitchen remodelled, rainwater tanks installed, and terraces formed from an ugly retaining wall and planted with shrubs and fruit trees. ”
The upstairs area, consisting of the bedroom, bathroom, office and dressing room, became Berdine’s haven. It has its own roof garden, from where the Hottentots Holland Mountains are seen shimmering beyond the city and the sea.
Bricks and mortar done, it was time for the inside job. Berdine’s favourite. With tonnes of Pinterest boards ready as references for every room, she and Alison set to work.
All good in virtual reality, but the thing is, Berdine is an ardent collector and curator of real things: art, fake trophies, even suede dogs for lamps. And Alison had to find a place for everything.
Local art is Berdine’s passion. “My wish is that more of our local talent can be lifted up onto a global platform,” she says. “I got one of my favourite artists, Paula van Coller Louw, to paint her signature twigs and blossoms on my bedroom wardrobe. I think it was the first time Paula had painted on furniture!”
Also, Berdine adores plants, all sorts sprout from pots all over the place. Inside and outside. So there’s definitely no holding back on the tropical vibe. It’s only in the lounge and dining room where her disposition for all things leafy dissipates slightly, but venture into her upstairs bathroom and you’re in for another sensational jungle-like shocker.
“I am not afraid,” she says with a smile as she switches on the lights. “I let colour and theme hold the things together that don’t seem to belong together. It works like magic.”
And here in her bathroom, underneath twinkling star lights and down lights, amid a real and imagined forest, it all makes marvellous, mad sense.
