Pool
The guys used a bobcat to take out the big trees from the front yard to make way of our pool and leveled the majority of the grounds. They dug the whole deep enough for a 20 cm concrete slab 6X4.5 metres wide that our 5X3.5 metre pool would sit on. Then went in the rebar and posts. Adrian designed an excellent leveling system to ensure a perfect pour that also reinforces the structure. Theoretically anyways, next week we will see how the concrete pour goes. After the concrete dries, the assembly of the cedar siding pool will be next, and the extra dirt will be placed around the pool, and where eventually a deck will go, completing the project.
Tiles
Tiling took a few days, and Zoe took on this task. She did a fabulous job, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the over all look of the bathroom. Very modern fixtures pared with Italian ceramic tiles give a spa like feel, in soothing tones that will appeal to the masses. Zoe even did a quick fix to our en-suite in the spare room, bringing it up to snuff for our guests.
Kitchen
The kitchenette is a Brico-Depot off the shelf jobby, which looks like an IKEA kitchen for a fraction of the dough! Alfonz selectively chose the units for the sink and cook top, and purchased a countertop long enough to hide the fridge under it. He even custom designed a cabinet for the ventilation unit required by law, with an upward swinging door. Looks great- nice job!
Drywall
Alfonz put up new drywall over the wall where the kitchen once was, as the wall was a disaster after ripping out the cabinets and the wall came with it. He patched, mud and taped it, followed by a coarse sanding on all the walls to create texture for the paint to stick.
Painting
I was in charge of the daunting task of painting. Back home I recognized the supplies and knew exactly which to buy for the best results. Here, however, we purchased a highly recommended paint that the professional’s use in France, thinking it would be the best.
I primed the wall twice and the paint would slip off the canary yellow old paint. The worst spots needed an extra sanding and an additional prime. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen in all my painting experience. It was like the Bermuda triangle of painting, where the paint would either disappeared into the wall to never be seen again, or it would slide off in streaks around the area it did not want to cover. Crazy! It took 4 buckets of paint after the 3 coats of primer to final cover the yellow and all the years of grease stuck to the wall of the old summer kitchen.
Colour
We tried to colour match Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware a calming cool colour that reminds me of home, which compliments brown or white furnishings, but over the canary yellow old paint it sadly turned to a grey/blue, but pretty never the less. C’est la Vie! Anyways I have had my fix for now, no more painting unless I am getting paid for it.
Doors
Alfonz and Adrian tidied up the trim and painted them white, and also built a box to cover the pipes from the new kitchen to the bathroom. They also placed trim around the bathroom door and gave it a fresh coat of paint. Originally we wanted the concept of a barn door, where the top opens separately from the bottom, turns out to be an expensive feature we decided against. Instead we cleaned up the existing doors and will put up a curtain to keep the mosquitoes out in between the shutters and the glass door. .
Furniture
The last instillation will be the fold out wall table with fold up stools, the freestanding closet, and lastly the bed.
The boys will have the fun of putting these items together today.
Decor
From plate to bedding, colour choices to garbage can, the decoration are a reflection of my taste.
My favourite colour is red, splashed throughout with an accent pillow, a throw and a poppy decal for the wall.
We picked clean lines, modern features and fixtures, and used stainless wherever possible pared with natural elements.
The bathroom reminds me of Aru Spa in White Rock, with Italian ceramic tile to the ceiling, and a beautiful jet shower perfect for a weekend of relaxation.
We used quality products in the small space giving a hotel room feel, in the heart of an active French village.
Well laid out, designed for efficiency, I am pleased with the end result.
Pictures to follow!
That’s Hamori!
Truth be told, it doesn’t really matter what colour a wall ends up, as long as it’s clean. My ‘Grecian Green’ phase, was a moment of post head injury, although I cannot remember ever being hit in the head, only after such an event would anyone truly love such a bright vivid green colour. I had it everywhere! Amnesia and head injury, LOL!!
Doing overseas home improvement is definitely an adventure and I feel your pain in regards to painting. I live in Mexico and have had to deal with the local brand of paint- Comex. There is no/none/zero relation between the color of paint on the sample in the store and the color in the five liter jar you end up with at home. So, I’m learning to be more flexible about what I want…
Thanks Jeremy! We have a professional photographer coming to take shots for an online listing site, and last time we used them for the Walnut Apartment in Budapest we were very pleased at the end result. I will post those photos once the rest of the renovation is up to snuff. The boys (my hubby Alfonz and his BFF Adrian) fixed the stairs yesterday. The whole house is covered in dust, the front yard has giants mounds of dirt from the pool hole, but we are about a week away from completion. Then we put in the deck around the pool, should be another week or so. A fun summer ahead! 🙂
Everything looks pretty good! Will have to check out the final photos. Definitely a change from what I saw on TV! 🙂
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