Phase 1 Renovations +Extra’s!

The sole purpose of the ‘Phase 1’ renovations was to make our home liveable, as always Geoff & I wanted to go ‘one step further’ so we decided to make a few extra additions, just to make life more comfortable.

The first one was the large water tank (8,000 ltr) we had installed, as part of the borehole supply, which became a bit of an eyesore and also required a cover from the summer heat & ultraviolet rays. So our trusted friend, Antonio (Pine Tree Constructions) was consulted and a plan was hatched that we would have a temporary corrugated metal structure constructed. Temporary because when we build the Agricultural building (very large garage) in the near future we will move the water tank to a permanent position.

The second addition was the 4th bedroom only had three walls, which meant it couldn’t really be used as a bedroom. Simple solution, build a wall & put a doorway in. But Geoff & I wanted the room to have a dual purpose, which meant double sliding doors with windows above. Now, I hear you say ‘SLIDING DOORS’! Well here in Portugal, the sliding door concept is somewhat different, because the door(s) actually slides into the cavity of the wall. Antonio consulted, measurements and drawings completed.

The third addition concerned a hallway situated between the kitchen/utility & WC. It felt like the Architect who originally designed the house had got the proportions wrong which resulted in an oversized hallway. Geoff always states “you can never have too much storage space”. Which seems odd as he is a man who never hordes anything and rejoices in the minimal style. Still, he had a point, as our home enjoys the luxury of a fixed pipe vacuum system, which simply put means you can plug your vacuum hose into numerous points around the house. The drawback being is I need somewhere to store a 12m vacuum hose! Perfect solution, commission a new base & top cabinet to be fitted into the corner of the hallway.

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The fourth & fifth additions were our own ‘hard labour’ the main entrance driveway was looking decidedly unkempt & unloved and the orchard (½ acre) was overgrown with ten years worth of weeds, brambles & grass, which was 3ft tall! Well, three good hard weeks of labour was all it took & a load of blisters!

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This ‘retirement larky’ is blinking hard work, at times, but absolutely LOVING it!