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Reading: Designer Apartment Tour | Urban Sophistication

Designer Apartment Tour | Urban Sophistication

12/02/2024
4 min read
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As the official winners of the 2018 Win a Home design reality show, Rekopile Belebesi and Koketso Marole are not only turning heads but they’re sprinting down the path to interior design success. This duo is responsible for one of the three apartments that were totally flipped in the reality show, and we can’t get enough of the alternative aesthetic. We spoke to them to find out more about how they achieved the perfect blend of urban sophistication, and of course Caesarstone

If we had to describe the finished look of the apartment it would be glamorous and sophisticated. We brought forth a clean design with a subtle industrial look to our space, while maintaining a warm African feel.

Caesarstone, played an impressive and vital role in elevating our design of the apartment. We incorporated Caesarstone in various places, not just the kitchen, with out-of-the-box thinking. Our feature shelves for example added a sense of play and elegance while maintaining a practical livability, and these were found in various rooms, which highlights the versatility of the material.

ABOVE: The kitchen is adorned with 6003 Coastal Grey Caesarstone, mixed with natural timber and grey finishes.

Our favorite room in the apartment has to be our Kitchen! The balance we managed to create between an aesthetically appealing space and functionality was just perfect. We bravely pushed the envelope with the use of slates to appreciate the double volume in space, and it paid off with the Win a Home judges celebrating our choices and concept – that was the cherry on top.

Holistically, every element of the apartment ties in perfectly together, which creates an impressive flow and design narrative. It is a carefully constructed design that tells a unique story.

As the ultimate winners of the competition, there have been so many highlights of designing within the boundaries of a reality show. Having never designed a kitchen before, that was definitely a daunting task, so winning that challenge has given us so much confidence and we’re ready to explore more kitchen design in the future. The whole process has been such a humbling experience! 

ABOVE: The bathrooms rose gold palette brings out the metallic elements of the Excava vanity.

As designers, our biggest challenge renovating the apartment was keeping our design narrative throughout the entire space. We seriously learned about the importance of being consistent and having a language when designing an entire house. That you cant have disconnected ideas and choices in every space. A house has to have a design narrative and there has to be a flow. We also learnt to trust God more, ourselves and the creativity we possess.

Our favourite trends we are seeing at the moment in:

Bathrooms: Black is the new grey! Contrary to the use of color, and the textured materials.
Kitchens: Banquette seating in the kitchen, the use of more refreshed and refined materials adding to the details in the designs, unlike the simple designs used in the 80s and 90s
Bedrooms: Aesthetically pleasing but airy designs. Less is more, letting the bedrooms breath.

ABOVE: The custom-made shower caddy is fabricated using Vanilla Noir Caesarstone – they’ve added luxurious touches in every corner.

If we could give homeowners some advice when renovating their home, it would be to dream big and narrow it down realistically to suit the various influences such as budget and space constraints. It is all a big process, so stay calm and take it one room at a time.

We are so excited about what 2019 holds. After this incredible journey from reality TV and designing an incredible apartment, we have decided to go into business together! We’ve realized that individually we are awesome but together we are powerful and we gravitate towards the latter! We want to continue to design various spaces both in South Africa and greater Africa but we are also keen to facilitate conversations around making design more inclusive in SA and to encourage the opportunities for young and upcoming designers in the industry to share knowledge and create together.

Want to get your hands on your very own Caesarstone? Contact us for a quote from a Caesarstone Accredited Fabricator. You can also get inspiration from our social media platforms on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook. If you want to show off your Caesarstone tag us at #CaesarstoneSA – we’d love to see your creations. Read more from our design dialogues and kitchen inspiration