Well I had this great idea to put 2 photos side by side so that you could see our before and after photos of our new place, but after excessive research learned that I can no longer do that without upgrading to premium. Sorry, but you will just have to do twice as much scrolling. I love the top pic because I took it shortly after we bought the house and loved how it looked at night with all the lighting done by the former owners. It was sad to take away the planter box and the front door, but the doors have a new home and I am planning plenty of new planter boxes in other places. We are so happy to have the pool. Perfect for sitting and sipping (cocktail pool) or doing laps. I did 40 laps last night but you have to take breaks once in a while because it sets up a tidal wave. As I’m typing this just realized it has now been painted a different color. It is hard to stay up to date here!
The banana tree has been moved as it seemed unwise to live next to a cactus.
Poco a poco, we lost several parking spaces but gained a pool! Notice how the original owners built the driveway and house around that cactus. And so glad there is a big rock in front for backing up purposes.Not much room for a living room……hmmmm…what to do?Easy! just swap places with a window and a door and add a door to make access to upstairs easier. Not a DIY project—but the contractor did not balk at our idea. In fact, he chuckled.Tried to take this photo from same spot…. we love this little spot under the trees… before and after. I needed bit more storage so Brant added shelves, actually there is another now, works perfectly.I might be hearing from Sarah about use of this pic, but could not find another before pic and it shows our struggle to figure out to use the space. We finally figured it out. Steps to the pool with perfect wet bathing suit chairs. Added some AC (mini split. And found a bit of wall for the TV. We are so happy to have teamed up with Mark and Al to get some furniture down here. My dad made that table for us when we lived in Memphis. Fits perfectly here in it’s sixth new home. I feel a bit guilty about this reno but felt the tile didn’t go with the rest. So we painted and replaced with wood with glass shelves. Once again Jesus did some beautiful carpentry. To everyones’s relief, there is plenty of room to store the tequila now. My dad would have been very impressed!Notice the new door below, note the raised threshold to keep rainwater out during storms. Before it felt like our 2 casitas were not connected.Jesus also made a corner desk that gives us a small, but just enough space for our “home office.” Beautiful wood which I think is berota or is it parota–whatever it is, the termites don’t like. My favorite is still the 3 legged stool. He also made the bookcase. Brant was so happy that we stumbled on this recliner at Tienda 17. (A store with used furniture in Cabo.)One of our “favorite” furniture stores is Segunda Larry or Harry’s (who knows as they have no sign). We found these zirconium in the rough chairs there, and 7 bottles of spray paint later…..3 stores later and with Al’s shopping help as well…wallah. (Hard to find multiple colors). Can’t believe that 6 months later the paint is still perfect.Upstairs we just painted and replaced the curtains. Not sure what we did with that TV set? And sadly the grill just got replaced last week, but we put it outside.…upstairs is perfect for guests, or as a studio or when we like to look at sunrise from bed. I learned that this futon was bought from Ikea about 20 years ago. I guess thats why the new Ikea futon cover (which I am sure cost 5 x more that the cost of the original futon) fits it so well. We were able to sketch out the gate then they just scaled my drawing. I am sad that I did not get a picture of our friends German Shepherd puppy sticking his head through the lower fish cut out a couple nights ago. For not entirely clear reasons, a switch clearly labeled pump and light was installed on the fountain. Brant teamed up with an electrician to change it to a caseta switch and alas switch plate no more! (The electronics are hid behind this plate which I painted cobalts blue).Fish was found in Guadalajara. Much better than a labeled switch plate!We added the spiral staircase to the roof top (left) and these beautiful screen doors. Of course now all that bright blue trim is teal. Amazing to watch the guys install them. Hmm guess I better get them varnished……Here is Brant replacing brilliant orange curtains (which were great blackout curtains) with roll down shades. He has worked tirelessly (actually I think he is a bit tired) on carpentry, lighting, plumbing, irrigation, painting, and most recently hurricane shutter installation…. you name it! He is a pretty amazing guy. Recently the “builder”, stopped by to see house (first time in 17 years,). She told me the wood work was cherry and mahogany that they trucked down from Oregon. At that time the whole Baja was dirt roads).A fresh coat of roof paint and a wall around the roof is all we needed for sunset viewing. (Well, actually we didn’t need either but it’s nice to prevent leaks and keep your friends from breaking their legs).Beautiful sunsets from our Mexican vinyl rocker…..…and sunrises too.I really wanted a potting bench….so I drew this for Juan. (Love that table runner, Genie)….and in just a week I had a potting bench. Okay maybe 10 days….Now for the fun part….. (Juan also built our roof top walls). Juan and I are poquito Spanish/English speakers but he still does an amazing job of understanding what I want and getting it done. When it cools off it will be time to tile.I am sorry I don’t have the before picture, which would have shown stuff from 6 people (3 couples) packed into this garage which had perfectly fine stucco and gray cement floors, but somehow we could not resist the urge to move every single item out of that garage and onto the driveway (and our downstairs) while we cleaned every inch of it, applied a primer (to every inch) then painted (every inch.) Did I mention the dump runs? It took about 8-9 days of working about 7-10 hours a day. Oh my! We moved over to Mar Y Sol to get away from it at night. Thank goodness for audio books.Do I look happy?Never again we said!…multiple times.Even if it looks this good!But at least we can go here “after work”.
Believe it or not there are several more projects, but as I am tired of trying to find these pics I am sure you are more tired of waiting for your computer to download them. Part of the reason we bought this house is that we thought it would be fun to figure out how to do these projects in another country. Yes, fun at times, frustrating at other times. (Not sure we could do without google translate). Has been interesting to put this blog together (more interesting for us then you I am sure). For the most part, we have met some great people who work hard, have great ideas and best of all have a terrific sense of humor (which is appreciated most of the time). Well, the birds are pecking at the window to be fed and I have a fig tree and flame vine to plant so I better go…..
So the exterior painting has begun, but the painter/gardener has covid again (though recovering). I am starting on the painting the cactuses tomorrow. Note the kevlar shutter that Brant drilled into the wall. Poco a poco…..
Such fun to see the transformation in photos, even though we were there for alot of it. You both have done wonders and created an incredible place. Love your creativity
Awesome blog Wendy. I love seeing the changes and your hard work has been very fruitful. Your home is beautiful, creative and I love the colors. Good job to both of you!
Wow – these pics were fun to see and loved your humorous commentary (as usual)!. You and Brant bought a beautiful place and enhanced it even more to make it a gorgeous place now! All your hard work has really paid off. Still having so many fond memories of our short visit this Spring, which was packed with lots of fun and adventure. Thanks again for all the good times!! You two rock!!
Life's Been Good To Us So Far! 
Wow! So much accomplished! You two are energizer bunnies!
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Such fun to see the transformation in photos, even though we were there for alot of it. You both have done wonders and created an incredible place. Love your creativity
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Awesome blog Wendy. I love seeing the changes and your hard work has been very fruitful. Your home is beautiful, creative and I love the colors. Good job to both of you!
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Wow – these pics were fun to see and loved your humorous commentary (as usual)!. You and Brant bought a beautiful place and enhanced it even more to make it a gorgeous place now! All your hard work has really paid off. Still having so many fond memories of our short visit this Spring, which was packed with lots of fun and adventure. Thanks again for all the good times!! You two rock!!
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