Apt Kitchen & Closet Installations Pty Ltd

This evening, I received something genuinely exciting in my Google News feed: a fresh product release from PG Bison. To say I’m eager to get my hands on some of these new boards and introduce them to my clientele would be an understatement. If you love thoughtful design, quality finishes, and interiors that feel alive, there’s a lot to look forward to. PG Bison has just unveiled Gallery 5 – a carefully curated collection of new colours, textures, and material innovations that promise to transform how we think about cabinetry, countertops, and interior spaces. I’ve combed through the announcement, and I want to share a few highlights that matter most to homeowners, renovators, and anyone planning a kitchen or built-in cupboard project. --- The Heart of Gallery 5: Four Design Chapters Rather than just releasing a random assortment of new boards, PG Bison has organised Gallery 5 around four distinct emotional themes. These aren’t just marketing labels; they reflect real shifts in how we w...

I thought it would be useful to follow up on my earlier blog about rising damp repairs, because there is often a fundamental misunderstanding about the precise methodology that must be followed to ensure a good and lasting solution. Recently, I was in touch with a long-time home improvement client also in Ekurhuleni, with a rising damp problem and, who believed that simply installing waterproofing rods would be enough to fix the problem. Despite my efforts to explain the full scope of what needed to be done, she remained fixated on the notion that the rods alone would resolve the issue. That, however, is simply not the case. In this blog, I will walk through the exact steps that must be taken to ensure any damp treatment process is truly effective. We will cover the critical aspects I discussed in the earlier blog and then drill down into the precise methodology for removing contaminated plaster and the correct replastering process – including what additives should be mixed into the mo...

Those of us working in the trades who take pride in offering genuine, old‑fashioned service sometimes forget that fly‑by‑night operators still circulate in the same circles. I was sharply reminded of this reality earlier this week while speaking with a potential client named Stan from Bedfordview, Johannesburg. We were discussing possible renovations on a project he was managing. During our conversation, he struggled to decide whether to let me handle the tiling portion of the job. His reason? He no longer trusted "tilers" because of repeated bad experiences. I reminded him that even when you ask for past project references, you are still placing a certain amount of faith in any artisan you hire. The critical difference is that this faith should never be blind – it should be grounded in evidence. That means looking at the references a service provider can offer and verifying them. That exchange also prompted me to reflect on the many projects I have completed over the years a...

The thing with a kitchen or bathroom space is that it is almost always easy to categorise it as small, medium, or large. That, however, was not the case with the Marowa kitchen in Edleen, Kempton Park. From the very first site visit, I realised that this was not a space defined by its dimensions. It was something rarer: a space with no constraints – a blank canvas that favoured creativity and innovation over mere square metres. The layout and the integration of the kitchen with the rest of the apartment (which is itself quite spacious) left no visual doubt that we were not battling against tight corners or awkward pillars. We were, instead, being invited to imagine freely. Now, just to keep things in perspective: the Marowas – Francis and Moreblessing – were not merely clients. They were also my spiritual siblings by virtue of our shared faith. And the kitchen was not the only transformation I was involved with in their apartment. Perhaps you might recall the bathroom replacement fo...

Every now and then, I feel like departing from the steady rhythm of home improvement blogging and simply looking at the fascinating phenomena that is life. Because life, unlike a kitchen or a bathroom, does not come with a blueprint. There is no work triangle to optimise, no wall chasing to reroute the pipes, no quartz countertop to crown the finished product. Life is messy, unpredictable, and sometimes – downright cruel. But it is also, if we pay attention, full of quiet teachers. I once visited the Mtambisi apartment – yes, the same Mtambisi family whose kitchen makeover I wrote about years ago. While there, I noticed something strange, fascinating, and deeply instructive. There was a potted plant. Nothing exotic – just an ordinary, succulent houseplant sitting in a pot filled with soil. The leaves were green, the stem was sturdy, and everything seemed perfectly normal. But then I looked closer. There were roots that had germinated above the soil. For some peculiar, almost rebellious...

November 2021 – the year was almost gone. In the middle of that month, I received yet another business lead – this time for a bathroom makeover in Halfway Gardens, Midrand. I put through a call almost immediately, and on the other end of the line, a lady answered. Yes, she confirmed, they were planning a bathroom makeover for the early part of the following year – 2022 – and were currently in the planning and budgeting phase.    We scheduled a site visit, and the next morning I was meeting Ntombi Faultien at Murati Place, Halfway Gardens.  COVID-19 was still in the air, and working from home was the preferred option for most organisations. Ntombi was working from home that day, which gave us more than ample time to discuss the proposed makeover. The visit ended with her promising to forward me images of their preferred bathroom fixtures, finishes, and fittings.    The Faultiens – Sivu and Ntombi – were desirous of a black‑themed bathroom . And, boy, did they g...

I have just finished tackling a persistent rising damp problem for a client – William – in Fairleads, Benoni. This part of Ekurhuleni is notorious for its wetlands, meaning the water table often sits perilously close to the surface. The problem was so severe that every ground‑level room in his property was affected. In fact, as we chipped off the old plaster from the affected walls, the bricks and mortar were visibly saturated, still actively sucking moisture from the soil below. That sight alone told us exactly which remediation method was needed. One the affected interior walls And just to show how prevalent this issue is across Ekurhuleni: a few weeks after fixing William’s damp problem, I met another client – Nothando – to effect some key alterations on her kitchen cabinet units in order to accommodate a new dishwasher. However, during our conversation, she raised a similar issue with her own property, this time in Pomona. Her home, like William’s in Fairleads, sits on the same vas...