24/09/2026
For more than 50 years, these old louvres have opened and closed with the changing light.
They’ve kept rooms cool through long summers, softened the afternoon sun and stood quietly in the background while life carried on around them. We may never know everything they’ve seen, but after half a century in a home, they’ve earned their place in its story.
By the time they arrived at my workshop, the timber was extremely dry and several sections were cracked or broken. Replacing them would probably have been easier, but it would also have meant losing something that had belonged to the home for decades.
My job was to use what remained to create one working pair, extend them by approximately 500mm and restore them as closely as possible to their original condition. After eight full days of repairing, rebuilding and carefully matching new sections to the old timber, they were finally ready to return home.
Now they’re hanging where they belong again, still carrying the signs of their age but ready for many more years of changing light, summer afternoons and life unfolding around them.
For me, heritage isn’t only found in grand buildings or objects behind glass. Sometimes it’s found in the familiar parts of a home that someone cared enough to save.
If you have an old timber piece with a story you’re not quite ready to lose, get in touch. It may still have another chapter in it.
https://saltandsawdust.co.za/
