Getting There

Over the past couple of months, a lot has been done, but you could not see much progress until recently. Suddenly it is coming together. We are still miles from the finish line but feel we are getting there.

Our terrazas on both sides of the house are almost completed and have surpassed my expectations.

Over the past couple of months, the inside resembled a war zone. Now, after new plumbing and wiring was completed, walls are being refinished. Finally, we are seeing something livable. They have painted two bedrooms on the far side of our house. And they’ve laid new tile in these bedrooms and the kitchen. These photos show what we began with and the current state…

laundry room repurposed to a bedroom or den.

Opening the windows made a big difference

Adding three meters to what was a tiny maid's room made a huge difference, as did opening the windows.

Some counters have appeared in the kitchens of both homes. The new kitchen on our side was originally a bedroom. It has a long way to, go but is looking brighter and airier after expanding the window to make a walk out to our new side terraza.

The Living room/Dining room on our side has seen big changes. We didn’t like the two original arches. These had French doors in the center that opened. On either side of the doors, the curve continued into a wider arch. This seemed to pull your eye down, making the ceiling appear lower.

My original plan was to make the opening narrower, just keeping the two French doors in a classical roman arch. But we would lose a lot of natural light. Plan B was squaring the arches to allow rectangular windows on either side.

However, once they completed the new openings, we liked the simplicity and decided to leave them as sliding glass doors without the decorative iron.

I have a similar opening between the dining room and the kitchen, and again from the kitchen out to the terraza. This repetition creates unity. I may repurpose the wrought iron elsewhere.

It is good to have a plan but is important to keep an open mind. We feel fortunate that our builder is flexible with my modifications.