Upstairs in the Studio
The studio renovation continues upstairs, with new colors and motorized blinds for the high windows.
Category: Projects
The Clouds and the Pool (video)
A time-lapse of the pool draining for the 2017 resurfacing, with lovely clouds.
Finishing the Kitchen Chairs
New cushions, new glides and fresh paint for the metal kitchen chairs.
Studio Windows In and Stucco Done!
New windows for the studio, and stucco over the hole left by the previous owners’ RV shower.
Purgatory Printing
Finishing the guest bedroom, and the north hall, with prints of photos taken here at the ranch.
More Kitchen Chairs
Slipcovers for the refinished wooden kitchen chairs, and taking apart my great aunt’s 1969 metal chairs to refinish them properly.
Finishing Touches in the North Hallway
New drapes to screen off the boys’ space at night, so we can sleep past 7:30.
Painted Hallway and Bath
The hallways and the bath, painted at last.
Impromptu Painting
Professional painters tackle the north and linen hallways and a half-bath.
Patching and Studio Speaker Removal
Patching the studio’s many holes and pulling out its speakers, while we wait for the new windows.
Studio Window and Door Kvetching
Why the studio had four doors, and taking out the one with 15 panes of glass.
Studio With New Flooring
New tile downstairs and laminate in the loft for the studio.
Studio Flooring Prep
The old tile and carpet tiles come out of the studio, and the floor prep begins.
Studio Prep
Clearing out the studio to repair the flood damage and renovate the space.
Summer Clean Up, Part 2
Summer cleanup: digging out the buried asphalt, old mattresses and other garbage behind the stables.
Summer Clean Up, Part 1
Summer cleanup: collecting the old fence rails and debris the previous owners left in the south pasture.
Steeling Ourselves, Part 3 of 3
The new steel ladders are painted, and before and after shots.
Steeling Ourselves, Part 2 of 3
F&F Steel installs the new roof ladders and cages.
Steeling Ourselves, Part 1 of 3
Safety first: new steel ladders for the great room and studio roofs.
How do you get a flood on a mountain?
A tap left slightly open and a half-assed fix by the previous owners led to an inch of water in the studio.
Spoils of Purgatory
Agent Smith builds a sifter to sort the asphalt spoils from the old driveway.
Our New Pad!
The old dog kennel pad is broken up and replaced with a sturdy new pad for a generator.
Finishing Pool Touches
Filling the resurfaced pool with trucked-in water, and the finishing touches.
Pool Revamp: Plumbing and Prep
Pool revamp: something poured down the pipe blocked the drain, and fixing it gets complicated.
Pool Revamp: Drain and Strip
Pool revamp: we chose Adams Pools, and the old surface comes off.
Purgatory Contest: And the Winner Is…
Our first contest has a winner, and it was kind of a trick question.
Interior Walls (The Bird Space): Finishing Touches
Finishing touches for the boys’ space, including two painted trees framing the archway.
Interior Walls: Painting
Painting the boys’ space a soft, vibrant yellow.
Interior Walls: Prep Work
Prepping the boys’ space for paint: pulling up the chewed vinyl and patching four jacks’ worth of holes.
The Tale of the Driveway Repaving, Part 3 of 3
The driveway, courtyard and easement are finally paved.
The Tale of the Driveway Repaving, Part 2 of 3
Without water and with a dirt driveway: replacing the main water line to the house.
The Tale of the Driveway Repaving, Part 1 of 3
After the wall, the driveway was trashed, so we started repaving it, and hit a water line that wasn’t buried deep enough.