Enchanting Ballito furniture business born from a financial crisis

What was made as a Christmas present in desperate times has now become a trending business that won Best Stand at the recent ECR House and Garden Show.

Paul’s Beach House Furniture stand was a crowd magnet with the gorgeous warm colours, a boho chic vibe and of course their unique furniture pieces oozing

character. It is no wonder they won a Gold Medal Award from the show’s judges and were voted as Best Stand by the visitors.

The humble couple behind the stand, Paul and Dale Chaplin were thrilled with the warm response and award scoop for their business that happened by accident in 2014.

“A few years ago Dale and I experienced a very difficult time financially.

“Things got so bad that I was forced to sell our furniture to put food on the table,” said Paul.

For Dale’s Christmas present that year, he made her a dining table from whatever he could find to replace the one he had pawned off.

“I scrounged some old scaffold planks from a building site and designed and put together a table for her.”

While offloading the table, a decorator spotted it and ordered two for her shop in Ballito.

“A week later she asked me to deliver one of the tables to a client of hers in Zimbali. I realised then that this style of furniture had incredible potential.

“Six months later the business was doing well enough to support us.”

Now, the fully-fledged furniture company has a team of skilled craftsmen who are driven to always try something new while they work in the outdoors under a litchi tree – so poetic!

The magical element is that this furniture is not just tables and benches made to suite the latest trends and last a season or two. They are once-off, individually-made pieces with history.

“I believe furniture should have a story and should tell it through the generations like a favourite painting passed down from family to family.”

This story is built from the previous life of the wood that is used in the furniture.

“Our unique rustic look comes from using 100 percent recycled timber that is then hand made into furniture. Our aim is to see each creation as an object of beauty – beautiful to look at and silky smooth to the touch. When this goal is achieved, each piece is signed with my name.”

Pop over for a visit at the old Day Star Chickens farm off the R102 near the kennels in Leafy Lane and enjoy watching old school craftsmanship at work.

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Points for creativity!