The Last Project

 We have lived in our little Hacienda for almost 1 1/2 years. 

In that time we took on a number of projects: 

• the bathrooms and the kitchen were renovated,
• an RV 'port' was built,
• the RV 'port' was enclosed (didn't think of doing that originally),
• a workshop was framed in inside the building,
• solar panels were installed, 
• a well was drilled for irrigation,
• the existing attached garage was converted into my sewing studio,
• a free standing two-car garage with extra space for lawn equipment, etc was completed

....and our 'final' project is nearing completion! Phew! Hooray! It's about time! 

This week landscapers worked around the garage building. They prepared the ground for the garage apron, a walk between the garage and the house, and a small patio between the garage, running along the back of the house to the pool area. They brought in fill and compacted it, and then covered the area in pavers. It was amazing to watch the speed with which the workers placed the pavers. 

Tearing out existing plantings where the patio will be going

The existing fill was dug out and leveled

Sandy, limestone fill was brought in and leveled.

The sand was compacted, over and over again.

The men placed the pavers. I was in awe of their speed,

and worried about how much their backs must hurt.

Blocks were cut to fit into small spaces along the building and the edges of the area.

Next week rock will be placed in some areas around the building, and between the fence and the newly paved areas. And finally, some shrubs will be planted in various areas within the newly improved grounds. 

Then we will be finished....

Do you believe it?!

This was Thursday

7:03 AM

7:33 AM

7:44 AM

7:45 AM

7:46 AM

10:55 AM

2:00 PM

2:00 PM

We still need to fill holes, caulk and paint the baseboards. But, we also need to paint the walls - so that might wait! 

The dresser is on skids to make it easier to move it for this task.

 Oh, and the sheer curtain stylin'??

Pay no attention to the dog behind the curtain!

It's so much more fun to bite at each other through the fabric!

 

Making it Ours - the Guest Bath

 Like our kitchen and master bath, the guest bath in our new/old home is serviceable, but dated. Since we were renovating the other rooms, we decided to bundle the guest bath into the project to get some discounts for services from the contractors. 

Before, during, and after pictures of this project:

 

Making it Ours - The Kitchen

The kitchen in our new/old house is beautiful. It has three large picture windows looking out to the back yard, pasture and the barn. There is another window that opens onto the lanai so it can be used to pass food/drinks back and forth. The windows were great, but that meant there was only one wall for upper kitchen cabinets. The existing cabinets. including the two wall cabinets, were functional. The granite was dark, and there were work areas with little light from the 2 existing florescent fixtures. The refrigerator was large, and had only one door, which made it awkward to open and put food in or out with the opposing island in the way. 

Fast forward (well, maybe not so fast) to our new kitchen. Here are some before and after photos:

The window pass through to the lanai

Our great view into the back of our property

Our only wall cabinets

The "minimalist kitchen"

New cabinets, new countertop and new appliances. 

The window for the pass-through was removed so more wall cabinets could be added. 

 My previous kitchen had far more cabinets and a walk-in pantry. It has been a challenge to organize and store my food, cookware, dishes and glassware, but I think I have it. I have a new double oven and a double-drawer dishwasher. I'm loving them both. Now all that is left is to decide what color to paint the walls in the kitchen. Any suggestions?

Making it Ours - The Master Bath

So, we bought the house....but then we began to say, "what if we did this…. or that?" We couldn't leave well enough alone. We had to make it our own. 

First to go was the master bath. When it was originally designed and built, almost 30 years ago, it was quite ahead of its time. At that time it was one large room with the vanity, toilet and shower along one wall, and a huge, black Jacuzzi tub on the other side. Apparently the owner tired of having g water from the shower spray and splash everywhere and a glass block wall was installed. The bath was very usable, but we have grown accustomed to our own vanity space, and we knew we would NEVER use the black, jacuzzi tub. It was questionable whether we’d have enough hot water to fill it, and then there was the question as to whether we could actually get in or out of it! So, we began to reimagine the space: remove the tub, move a wall to expand the small walk-in closet, move the shower and toilet and expand the vanity … I felt like I was living in an HGTV show, only in those shows all of the planning, demolition, and rebuilding all happen within 45 minutes!

Our plumber, who also took on the job of keeping all of the other contractors in the queue, began at the end of February. He pulled out some sheetrock, soffits, and the fixtures. He then began jackhammering a lot of concrete to reroute some of the plumbing. 

The carpenter built a new wall to extend our closet a smidge, and changed the door from entering the closet from the bathroom to entering from the bedroom. 

The electrician wired for a few new light fixtures and relocated the fan. 

Our tile guy patched the concrete when the plumber was finished installing the new pipes, smoothed it all, installed underfloor heating and tiled the floor and walls. 

The cabinet guy put in the cabinets and the granite/quartz guy put in the counter and sinks. 

Plumbing fixtures went in, a piece of glass was installed, light fixtures were installed, a coat of paint and new mirrors went up and our transformation was complete, 

WOW! What a transformation!!

And finally....our new bath evolved: