The stain on the wood is so dark it is practically black…I hate it, but HE likes it.  I’d rather just paint it white!  The “Cheery” looks good with the “Sahara Desert” baseboards and “Moonrise White” window trim. 

We painted the entire bathroom “Sahara Desert” and I made Hawaiian-style curtains for it.

Skeeter had three new fans put into each of the bedrooms.  Ariel rehung all the curtains.  I made new curtains for the kitchen/dinette window…you guessed it…Hawaiian-style.

Skeeter proceeded to tear out the nasty, ugly, smelly, yucky carpet, and the whole place looked 10x better.  We discussed, animately, the reasons why we needed to leave the tack boards down and just cover them up.  I found molding at the Habit for Humanity store, for very cheap.  We nailed the molding on top of it.  It doesn’t look that bad.  Skeeter decided to use the same molding on the ceiling.  I was skeptical, but it turned out rather cute.

The real nightmare was the kitchen cupboards.  We painted them white, and they looked bad.  So we painted them to match the walls, they looked even worse.  Then we decided we would take the doors off and go with either the no door look or the curtain look…all of which I have seen in the latest remodeling magazines and remodeling shows.  But with the doors off, the paint left on the frame looked really bad.  Of course, we tried to peel this off…yeah right, like that worked.  We then had new doors made out of, I think birch, but I really don’t know.  Now they really looked bad…new doors, messed up frame.  Skeeter ended up finding a guy who does vineer…he ended up doing the frame for us.  I was going to do it myself, but Skeeter told me no way. They are a little two-toned, but actually look pretty good.

We carried the tile through from the studio into the kitchen.  It looks a lot better.  It looked a lot better after Skeeter ripped the carpet out.  Heck, I would have lived with the kitchen floor like that, it looked so much better. 

We’re at the little things now and hopeful we get a responsible person to live in it.

Stay tuned for updates and be sure to check out the yard section…that will have updates really soon.

Skeeter and I decided that we could tile the whole studio ourselves.  No need for an expert, we’ll just consult the book (or the Internet).  So off we go to buy everything we need, which we are both clueless about.  After several days and several stores later, we manage to have just about everything we need.  I read the book and it says to make a plus sign, which will be your centering lines.  Sure, that sounds easy enough, I remember math, how hard can it be.  Let me tell you, it took us 2+ hours to place the tiles in the “plus sign”.  We measured and remeasured, and moved tiles back and forth, and side-to-side, and everything else imaginable.  We finally got them just so…the conversation went something like this…”No you do it, no you do it, I’m not doing it, you do it….”  Neither of us wanted to put the adhesive down for fear we might mess everything up.  We sat there for what seemed like hours trying to decided who was going to do it and how to start, or where to start, or what to do, etc.  We went with the book’s suggestion, which is start at the end of one of the center lines, and do one tile at a time.  In hindsight, DON’T DO IT THIS WAY!  After three tiles, we decided that was the stupid way and would take us the next month to finish it.  We moved to doing 2 tiles at a time, then three.  We got to the point where we were doing as many as could be reached at one time.  Skeeter laid the adhesive and I laid the tile (using the spacers even though Skeeter did not want to use them).  I thought we made a pretty good team.  Oh, by the way, remember the first three individual tiles, yeah, well we had to move them a bunch of times to get them lined up right.  After a few days we got most the tile down except for a few by the back door.  Skeeter decided to do these himself…yes, you can tell! 

We moved on to do the small room off the studio.  This created a bit of a tiff between us.  Skeeter wanted to do it this total jacked up way and I wanted to follow the book.  After (Skeeter’s) huffing and puffing, and grumbling, I finally got my way.  Plus, I kept telling him to call his son.  At every corner he’d get on the phone and ask what about this or that or can we do this or that.  It was kind of funny, in a way. 

The next several days were trying to do the “cuts”.  We had some done by the store, some we tried ourselves, which we did not use, and other we marked for cutting.  When we got as far as we could, Skeeter took the carpet out of the kitchen of the Main House and we decided to tile that too.  Finally we were ready to grout, but I think Skeeter thought we were too far in over our heads so he called his son again.  This time he made a deal that he would pay for a 14-day trip with 7 working days and 6 vacation days, if his son and his wife came over and finished the tiling and did a few other jobs. 

Through the past few days the “family” has been working on the house.  The tile is done and even sealed.  I did not go today but am hopeful it looks good.  I do know we have to go back in and repaint the mess made from the tiling, but hopefully it will not be too bad.

I have learned a valuable lesson…never do a job you can pay someone else to do for you!

We have created a section on this Blog so you can get updates on the progress of the remodeling on our Wilipohaku property.  Click on the Wilipohaku link, which will open that section.  Look for the topic you would like to read about, and click on the title.  This will open up the description and the actual Blog for that topic.  If you would like to write a comment, please do so and we will post them in this section as well.  Thanks for checking out our remodeling section!

This one has so many issues.  Every time we turn around we find something else we need to do.  How bout we start with the basic first!

We painted all the main walls, except the kitchen, Cheery.  It is kind of like a watermellon color.  It doesn’t sound that great, but it is really pretty.  The wood panels were stained a deep cherry color.  The kitchen and dinette walls were painted Cinnamon Cocoa, which coordinates with the Cheery.  All the trim is the same Moonrise White.  The bathroom we painted Arabian Sands..

We have painted the baseboards three different colors now, all look terrible.  We have now decided to paint them the same color as the bathroom. 

The kitchen cabinets are a complete mess.  We have painted them two different colors and they both look bad.  They just need to be replaced, bottom line.  That will have to be done down the line though.  The carpet is being ripped out and replaced with some other carpet we received (for free).  We decided not to put in good flooring since we will be tearing the kitchen apart and redoing it top to bottom eventually.  Why spend the money on a good floor just to tear it out again?! 

Skeeter ripped out all the carpeting in the main house so we are down to the tile underneath, which actually looks new.  We will buff it out and finish the edges and go from there.  Makes the whole place look much better.

  We’ll rehang the curtains since they are in good shape.  I made tab curtains, yes, the same pattern as everywhere else…the only kind I know how to make!  They have the three colors from the main house’s main walls, bathroom, and kitchen/dinette.  Again, Hawaiian-style. 

We are very close to getting it livable so we’ll post more as we complete more.

Well, the studio is taking a lot longer than we expected.  We put two coats of Honeydew (a lime greenish color) on all the walls and the same Moonrise White on all the trim.  The wood is going to be covered with a clear coat only. 

We ripped everything out of the “wash room”, except the toilet.  It is pretty barren looking.  At least it will be ready to put in a real bathroom.  Afterwards we painted it the same combination as the rest of the Studio.

I made more tab curtains out of a Hawaiian-style print with the Honeydew color and other greens with white.  It will be very cute looking once it is all put together.

We ripped the carpet out and are planning on tiling it ourselves, so that should be interesting. 

Right now it is sitting waiting for more supplies and our time to do the work.  More updates to come.

The Ohana is virtually complete.  There are a few minor items that need to be completed, but they will have to wait until the other projects are done first.  The paneling was painted Moon Rise white, a very bright white; the cement blocks were painted Instant Delight, close to a marigold-type color; the trim was painted Mango Madness; the tab curtains have those three colors mixed together-Hawaiian-style.  It all turned out very well.  Looks very bright and cheery.  Very cute for a 393 square foot Ohana. 

Main House/Studio  Here are the ideas:

1. Split the house to make the studio out of the enclosed garage, which has a small room/large walk-in closet that will be used for the kitchen, and a bathroom with a separate door for the toilet.  To split it we need to put in a double-sided locking door, and cover the windowless window with possibly plywood (or whatever).
2. Studio needs curtains, 9-10 panels, which I will make like the Ohana’s; replace the cement sink with a regular sink; remove washing machine; put in a shower stall using the existing plumbing/drain with the addition of plumbing for the shower head-we have ideas on how to build it already; and purchase a small fridge and stove/oven.
3. Both the main house and the studio need painting on all walls and possibly on the wood paneling; all ceilings need to be redone with paint and “crown modeling”; tear out all carpet and clean the linoleum; fix/repair broken window mechanisms; replace water heater; and other misc.
4. Main house will need the bathroom repainted (for now), will need to replace some counter tops/mirror, etc. later down the road; kitchen cabinets need repairs and eventually all will need to be replaced as well as the counter tops-Skeeter thinks we need to open it up a little more and put an island in, but that won’t be until much later; existing curtains need cleaning @ $40.00/panel minimum, plus I will need to make one for the dinette area; all fans will need to be replaced eventually; and other minor repairs.
5. Power wash and exterior painting.  (Roof is new and in good condition). 

Dairy Garage:

1. Roof needs to be replaced as soon as possible as it is condemned; pour cement for flooring; replace all windows and window frames; replace all doors; put in a front garage door; go through the historical restoration process to get it grandfathered in for the permits; plumb and electrical all need replacing; plus whatever else needs to be done once we decide what we want to do with it.
2. Power wash and exterior painting.

Main Backyard:

1. Remove all cement, tar, brick, blocks, etc. from yard.
2. Do something with the bath-house…no decision on that one yet.
3. Take down all the old drying lines and poles.
4. Trim all trees, bushes, etc. plus cut down a few of the orange trees (5 have grown from the original one in a big heap!)
5. Put up fencing.
6. Talk to the Maui Land and Trust people to take care of the plants on the back fence line-it is their responsibility to keep them trimmed and off our property.
7. Eventually landscape, etc.

Side Yard:

1. Cement walkway needs to be removed along with 2 banana trees as their roots are growing through the cement.
2. Cement slabs, etc. removed.
3. General clean-up and landscaping eventually.

2-Car Garage:     1.  Power wash and exterior painting.  (Roof is new and in good condition).     2.  Possibly put a garage door on it down the line.     3.  Electrical needs replacing.General:

1. Outside electrical box needs to be replaced.
2. Cesspool replaced with Septic Tank (approx. $10,000.00-$15,000.00).
3. Connecting the Ohana to the Main House and possibly the Dairy Garage for permitting reasons.
4. Do something with the “quad” area between the Ohana, the Main House, and the 2-car garage.
5. General landscaping throughout and in the front.
6. Possibly adding on a little lanai in the front; off the Ohana; off the Main House; or in-between the structures.
7. Repaving the driveway.
8. Whatever other things come up, ideas, concepts, etc.

The order in which we are doing things:

1. Complete the Ohana for rental.  ($1000.00/month includes utilities, etc.)
2. Prepare the Main House for rental.  ($1875.00+/month includes utilities ,etc.)
3. Divide the Main House and the Studio.
4. Complete the work on the Studio so it can be rented.  ($800.00-$1200.00/month includes utilities, etc.)
5. Remove all cement etc. from entire property.
6. Replace the cesspool.
7. Reassess where we are, make further decisions, etc.
8. Complete yards.
9. Do something with the Dairy Garage…who knows what at this point in time…to me that is the last thing we are going to do.
10. Work on historical landmark stuff and all permits throughout.
11. Once we get closer to the 2-year mark, we will go back into the rentals and “dress them up” to prepare for resale. 

The Ohana is almost done.  I’m finishing the curtains tonight and we’ll hang them tomorrow.  Tomorrow we will just do little touch-ups and the floor and it will be ready for the tenant to move in.  It actually looks pretty good especially if you compare it to what it looked like before!  We’re taking pictures, so we’ll send them when we are done.  The front door won’t get put on until later this week when Otto comes (Skeeter’s youngest son).  Oh yeah, we need to replace the counter top and the splash guards.  The splash guards we will do pretty soon, the counter top will wait.  Water heater needs to be replaced eventually but can wait.  Power wash and exterior painting.  (Roof is new and in good condition). 

House…OMG…way more work than expected in the Ohana. Took 4 coats of paint on the blocks and we are not that happy with it, but too bad, that’s how it is going to be for now. It took three of us 6 hours just to clean it well enough to paint!

The yellow walls are done (ish), the white walls need one more coat. Trim today-oh yeah-plus kitchen cabinets! Bathroom needs a little touch-up, and trim. Once that is done, Skeeter is going to finish the bathroom. Painted shelves and closet doors too.

We took the shower door off, it was really gross, shower curtains work well! Skeeter has to clean the tile, very grotty. I bought him a special machine so that he doesn’t have to use so much elbow grease. Then he’ll replace the fixtures.

I’ll be sewing, yes you heard that correctly, sewing the Ohana’s curtains. What? What was that you asked? Have I ever sewn something like that before? No, never. I don’t sew, but I bought a book, hopefully it turns out OK!

Windows will need some repair. We ripped the wall from the back of the sink off…very disgusting. We’ll put some of this really cool golden-toned, mixed colored tile on that, around the stovetop, and possibly the counter too. Need to check if we can put that stone/tile on top of the countertop (Formica?) or if we have to totally replace it…do you know?

3 walls, each room, are this really cool bright yellow, kind of like a cross between sunflower yellow, and buttercup. 4th wall is white…finally talked Skeeter into painting over that awful, fake wood crap. There is a 1′ edge on the top of the 3 yellow walls, which we will trim white. The window frames, door frames, and cupboard doors will be a soft mango. The front door, kitchen pantry door, closet door, and bathroom linen closet doors are white.

I have the vision of how it will turn out. I think it is going to look good once it is all done. Skeeter is doubtful. He now says everything in the main house, studio and any other thing to be painted is going to be white. No other color, white everything. We’ll see about that one! I have some visions and I WILL get what I want! SSSHHH, don’t tell him that!

Enough for now…pictures when it is further along…don’t want to scare you now!