This is not for the faint of heart, people.

Oh my gosh, guys. This place seems to be more of a demolition zone every time I go there. But, believe it or not, we are making progress. Last week was a BIG week. Take a look.

WANT A BARN DOOR? NEED FULL-LENGTH MIRROR? HOW ABOUT A MIRRORED BARN DOOR? 

We needed a sliding door for our new bathroom. And since my full length mirror went away in the remodel, here's what we came up with.

From Blah to Bam!

HOW MY SMALL, BEIGE LINOLEUM BATHROOM BECAME A GEM.

So, I have this little bathroom in my garage. It's sort of a utility bathroom. I call it the "Pool Bathroom" and encourage kids to use it instead of peeing in my pool.

I WENT OVER TO THE HOUSE A FEW DAYS AGO AND JUST ABOUT HAD A HEART ATTACK.

The entire house, with the exception of the 4 exterior corners and a few walls were GONE. I mean, the house is see-through. The roof is see-through. Holy cow. Thank god Lance is a calm and patient man. Otherwise, I might start spinning...

We finally got our permits so there is nothing holding us back, my friends. During the time we have been waiting on the city and making edits to the architectural drawings. And then waiting on the city some more and making even MORE edits to the drawings, we have kept ourselves busy working on the cottage and getting prepped for the General Contractor to come in and do his stuff.

Now that we are a few months into this meaty beast, so I thought it was time to give you another super quick walk-through. Take a look at the video...

"WHY DO YOU LIKE THOSE UGLY THINGS?" 

This is what my mom used to ask me when I was a child oo-ing and aw-ing over these strange, pre-historic plants. They always felt very architectural and sculptural. Cut to a few decades later and now my mom a fellow succulent lover. Just in time, as they now seem to be in the  "popular group", as my middle school children would say. So, I'd love to introduce you to a few of the popular friends.

REMEMBER, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DREW US INTO A COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS HOUSE WERE THE WINDOWS.

Just like love at first sight, we were hooked. Once the initial love-fest was over, we starting looking closer. And this is what we found. Some really f@#%*d up windows!

CONVERTING THE ATTIC INTO A MASTER SUITE

Take a look at the inspiration that is driving the design of the space.

Lance and I had always fantasized into doing a house flip but we sort of thought it was out of our reach. We both had demanding full time jobs. And didn't have a big chunk of cash accessible. So we started looking at financing options and pieces pennies together. Then we...

AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS, IT REALLY DID HAPPEN.

In 2006, my family decided to jump off the crazy hamster wheel for a few years. Based on the rave reviews of some very interesting and eccentric friends, we headed for San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. An interior town 3, built during the Mexican revolution, filled with artists and eccentrics, hours north or Mexico City.

I AGREE, IT LOOKS LIKE HIROSHIMA.

However, we have to look past that and start making decisions about what LIncoln Avenue is actually going to look like on the other side.

As we await building permits, we are doing everything we can do so we stay on schedule! Chop chop!

Above you see Lance with our contractor, Winston Whittaker and general contractor Victor Bringas. We are continuing to make tweaks to our plan. Because we are creating a master bedroom in what is currently the attic, it involves a lot of structural engineering. Each decision can be quite costly. So we are trying to gain as much square footage as possible while staying in our budget (which we are already out of).

Demo Therapy.

First, I need to show you my cute girls doing demo. They think its fun because they can swing a hammer around for 10 minutes and then be done. It’s a good way to get out pent-up middle and elementary school angst.

No, it’s not A METH SHACK NOR HURRICANE KATRINA. It’s Demo Day.

I am not sure who this quote is from. Might be Elizabeth Gilbert. But I thank whomever it was, for it got me to put pen to paper. Rather, fingers to keyboard. This is not my first blog entry. But it’s the first, in earnest, of my desire to share my passion with anyone who is interested enough to read it. I’m not sure exactly when this all started. For 20 years, I worked my way through the ranks of advertising to become a Creative Director. But there’s always been a part of me that yearned for work on physical things.

When I met my partner, Lance, we put our passions together to create uniquely beautiful homes, first as a hobby, then as a business. Sharing that process is my way of helping other people find beauty and soul that brings them to life. I hope you’ll join us along the way.

So, I should start by telling you that Lance is the builder on the team. Together, we come up with a vision. Then he oversees construction. And tells me what to do.

Since I don’t have any real building skills, I get the fun stuff, like light demolition and heavy duty cleaning. Today’s job is pulling up the tack strips that hold the carpet down.