A cabin built by convicts - #84

This edition is photo heavy, so it may not load completely in your browser. Click the title to be transported over to Substack. Also, final reminder: Shangrilogs is now on hiatus until May. I remain astounded at this community’s kindness. Thanks for making this project possible.

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By the time this is in your inbox, I will be in a different country. Well, that’s not true, technically I’ll be at the Denver airport, but I’ll be on my way to a different country for two weeks of actual vacation. And a good thing, because when this newsletter returns the first week in May, we will begin the summer/fall marathon of house projects we want to complete before the next winter. I wanted to give you a little preview of what those will be, or really what the options are. We have too many projects and too little time and money to complete all of them this year, but we’re going to try what we can. 

Anyway, welcome to my house. This video takes you on a tour of what needs doing, and I will take creative suggestions for some of the smaller jobs! Below the video I’m including some of the before and afters we’ve already accomplished, plus some ideation for projects you’ll see in the video.

This house was built by convicts, and you’ll see they have a taste for grandeur but were lacking in finesse. Which is great. Gives us something to do, you know?

So, clearly there’s a lot ahead. Everything we’ve done so far, we’ve done ourselves, and that will continue to be the way. The first two years were really focused on insulating, sanding, staining, turning the open patio into a catio, setting up the woodshop, and making the place feel like home. Here are two of the rooms we’ve already overhauled:

Kitchen Transformation

The kitchen cabinets were still in great shape — we just sanded and stained them. We installed a new sink, stove, fridge, plus a hood vent, and we tiled the back wall. We also sanded the floors, replaced the blinds, and changed the lighting fixture. Ben built a pantry which you can see in the photo below on the right. We love the kitchen.

Bar update

I also spent a weekend redoing the main bathroom. I wallpapered, and did a lot of painting: the vanity, the countertop, and the tub. The countertop still blows my mind. Just paint and epoxy. Plus, I changed all the hardware. I love this bathroom now.

Bathroom transformation

Finally, all we really did in the main room is sand, clean, and redecorate.

Can't wait for Ben to build our dining room table.

Alright, let’s get into some of the ideation. So as described in the video, we’d like to transform one of these windows into a door and create an outdoor patio with a raised bed.

Would only be a useable door in the winter if we built a wind break.

That’s the exterior of the “guest suite” and here’s the interior transformation we’re going for. The wood slatting over the cinderblock is already complete.

These plants would absolutely die in this dungeon room.

This has to happen this year, because we need a place for our parents to stay once we convert the second bedroom into a nursery. Here’s the plan for that.

Thanks Spoak for allowing me to make my vision board.

And then, for the office, we really need to figure out walls. I wanted industrial steel windows, but they’re so expensive so we’re looking at alternatives like black steel shower encasements. Or, to make things really easy, thrifted windows, which I pointed out in the video. Here are two very rudimentary mockups.

Don't blame me for how these look. Ben did it.

I hate the multi-color look, but… you get the idea.

And that’s it! If we’re being real, this is the actual order of priority:

1. Insulate, drywall, heat, and install flooring in the guest suite

2. Create walls for the upstairs office

3. Fix the upstairs sink

4. Dining room table

5. Renovate the downstairs bathroom/laundry

6. Finish the catio

Future priorities:

• redo the deck

• create private entry for guest suite

• gut renovate the main bathroom to create an ensuite + powder room

• whatever else I already forgot about

No matter what we get to or don’t, this is our dream house. We can’t believe we live here, and if I get to work on this house for the rest of my life, what a gift it will be. Thirty years ago, a real yahoo with a long list of you-owe-me’s called in his debts, and his ragtag team of convicts built this house by hand. As an ex-felon myself, I can’t imagine a better landing spot.

Thanks for being on the journey. Now, if you have any DIY hacks or channels or ideas or whatever, make sure you share with the class. Have a great off-season, Shangriloggers, and I’ll see you in May!