Kim also cleverly uses colour to balance strong architectural elements in her home. She chose a dark green finish for the builtin kitchen cabinets—an unusual selection that works to visually offset the charcoal-framed, wood-burning fireplace at the other end of the open-plan living-dining kitchen space.

This open-plan area is the everyday heart of the house, and it is made even more family-friendly by having a colourful kids’ play area situated just off the kitchen space. While prepping a meal, it’s easy for Kim to supervise homework or just keep a quiet eye on what the children are up to.

Beyond the kids’ area is a beautiful indoor-outdoor living space that was added to the house during the renovation. Reminiscent of the extensive patios and terraces that are in widespread use in Durban and Johannesburg—Kim has lived in both of these South African cities as well as in the Cape—but are still relatively new to Cape Town houses, this ‘outdoor room’ can be closed up during more inclement weather or completely opened to the elements during the city’s long, hot summers. With another custom-made terrazzo tiled floor (the tiles, Kim says, are exactly the same as those used at the renowned Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, just outside Durban—she tracked down the original tile press in northern KwaZulu-Natal).

The patio area adjoins the garden and an inviting square swimming pool—as well as a marvellous wooden jungle gym for the kids featuring a slide that runs directly into the pool. The views here are spectacular. An uninterrupted vista of the side of Table Mountain above Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, a typical Bishopscourt view gives the entire property a feeling of expansiveness and freedom.

The garden also reflects Kim’s key style as a designer: it again combines classicism with a quirky touch. She describes the landscaping, both accurately and wittily, as being that of ‘a formal tropical garden’ and explains that it’s inspired in part by the formality of the work of Australian landscaper Paul Bangay, but also by her own childhood, much of which was spent in the tropical climate of Durban. There are exuberant elephant ears contained by a narrow, clipped, formal hedge, and an elegant square of lawn.

Across the front of the dining and living space are French doors that open onto an uncovered, narrow terrace. She originally planned to have a pergola over it, until she substituted that idea for the four huge grey planters, with lime trees, which now adorn the space. It’s a boldly elegant idea that creates a much more modern feel than a pergola would—and the trees provide a great supply of limes to boot.

All these first-floor rooms lead off a hallway that has been furnished as a casual pyjama lounge and features a glorious view across Cape Town towards the distant Durbanville hills. The family’s bedrooms—as well as Kim’s petite home office, which features a fresh green ombre wallpaper by Designers Guild—are all upstairs.

Anna’s bedroom is a breath of fresh air, with bold horizontal pink stripes on the walls that enlarge and open up the space. Jamie’s room, by contrast, is bold and graphic: one wall features Cole & Son’s Frontier Tile wallpaper in black and white while another is painted black. A wooden four-poster bed is complemented by a large, glass-fronted cabinet that displays his toys and books.

The guest suite and guest cloakroom are both on the ground floor, off the entrance hallway and along a passageway adorned with a large Slim Aarons photographic print hung above an emerald green love seat. In the guest cloakroom, the gorgeous, leafy ‘Martinique’ wallpaper is used—Kim insisted on tracking down the original version of this modern classic wallpaper, the same as that famously hanging in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The guest bedroom is decorated in restful, muted shades of oatmeal and sand, with a charming en suite bathroom that has its own little landscaped courtyard—and that Bishopscourt view—as well as custom-made terrazzo floors based on the same design as that used at the V&A Waterfront (a 123-hectare mixed-use development in Cape Town). Here, it’s rendered in smart black and white rather than the V&A’s greens and pinks.

Another characteristic feature of Kim’s home is the fact that there is almost no built-in furniture in the house. She prefers cupboards, storage units, and cabinets that are all individual—and mostly custom-made—pieces. As with other decor elements in the house, this could be read as quite an old-fashioned gesture, but Kim’s take on it feels extremely contemporary. One of the loveliest examples of this custom-built, freestanding furniture is the drinks cabinet in the dining area. Covered with a shagreen-textured vinyl decorated with a circular nailhead pattern, it is filled with beautiful glassware—as well as all the essentials for everything from cocktails to post-dinner digestifs.

Listening to Kim talk about her history as an interior designer and the way she went about creating her own space, and the phrase that comes to mind is “investigator decorator.” Her childhood experience of fabrics—Kim’s mother is Debbie Schuurman of Walnut Interior Fabrics in Durban, so she grew up around textiles of all kinds—obviously plays a part, but her visual style is also the product of meticulous research. She methodically tracked down all sorts of items she had envisioned as perfect for her home, ranging from those old terrazzo-tile presses to wallpapers, and from unique artworks to custom-made furniture. The combination of such a careful, thoughtful approach with an innate sense of colour that reflects so much confidence and brio might be remarkable, but that just adds to the pleasure its end result affords.