We are in the middle of a massive remodel of a beautiful condo.
This three-bedroom, water-view home was built and furnished in 2008. Our goal is to bring everything in on time and on budget so that the owners can list the condo for sale by Jan. 1.
We have come a long way in the last seven days. The big, dark chocolate painted wood furniture has been removed from the unit and transported over to our carpentry shop. To brighten up the condo and make it look and feel much more spacious, we are having all the pieces repainted a soft cream. This means a lot of sanding and priming, but it will be worth it.
To get a manufacturers’ quality of paint finish, our carpenter is using a spray gun instead of a brush. To ensure we are all aligned on the quality we need, before working on all the furniture, our top-of-the-line carpenter showed us a sample. He took one of the shelves from the entertainment cabinetry and did a test on the underside. It is perfect! He has our go-ahead for the rest of the pieces.
With a lot of the furniture out of the condo, it was time to do the interior painting. This unit has three bedrooms on two floors, a stunning TV room with a 20-foot ceiling, and two large outdoor terraces, in addition to living room, dining room and bathrooms. This team had their work cut out for them.
There are a lot of folks who will offer to do interior and exterior painting here. Everyone seems to know someone who paints. The trick is to find the right painters who do a quality job, so you get the job done the first time correctly. We need this to be top-notch so that the owner can command the highest resale price. All lines must be razor-edge straight and no visible brush lines. Luckily, we have a great crew with a great foreman who inspects the work daily to ensure any questions are answered correctly, and any issues are addressed right away.
Just as we take a deep breath thinking that everything is going to plan, we get hit with a big challenge.
We plan to update the kitchen cabinetry by taking out two of the three upper cabinets and replace them with open shelving as well as repaint the cupboards and shelves white. Our carpenter has discovered that the boxes are made from MDF and plastic, meaning we may not be able to paint them.
Are we facing a reno dilemma that will cause us to alter the plans or will we be able to solve it?
This is the fourth part of a series. Read Part Three here.
Sheryl Novak is an expat from Canada who has owned a home in Mexico for over 10 years. She is the owner of SOLutions Mexico, an online furniture store and an expert on sourcing all styles of furniture, for all budgets, in Mexico.
