Transformation of 2833

One of the attributes we like the most are the magenta French doors that open into the loft. They are the same color as the blooms of the Cholla cactus native to this region.

Bathroom

The bathroom was just this flat gray and white paint with an old gnarly well-stained 40’s era sink in the corner. We replaced the old sink with vessel sink mounted countertop attached to a converted dresser. We installed an apartment-sized washer as well. It took a little creative plumbing, but it came out really cool. We painted the walls and ceiling with gloss and semi-gloss paint throughout. There were paint drops and splatter all over the bathroom floor (from previous owners). So I went through it all a scraped it all off revealing the beautiful slate floor. We replaced the recessed can lights with modern surface mount lights and added a dimmer. There was a hallway between the bathroom and the master bedroom that I converted to a two-sided closet. Madrid properties are notoriously short on closet space.

Living Room

One of the cool features of the loft is the 12’ high vaulted ceilings. The ceilings are wood paneled and originally had strips of wood that mended the joints painted a gnarly shade of gray. “Gnarly” being an operative word here. The walls were a light-sucking flat gray and white paint. We painted everything, including those pesky gray strips on the ceiling. Sarah did some research and learned about a reflectancy index that all paints are measured by. So we chose colors and sheens that would reflect the most light, thereby brightening the room and adding dimension and color. We removed the gnarly track lights and replaced them with beautiful brushed nickel hanging fixtures. All lights are on dimmers (we like dimmers). And of course, high-quality window coverings were added.

Kitchen

This was so easy and so rewarding. We simply moved the middle cabinet over the sink over to the right, added open shelving and under counter lighting. Now we could wash dishes without banging our heads into the cupboard! We wallpapered behind the shelving, and Sarah did a two-toned paint job that really makes the textured floral pattern stand out. The tracking light in the kitchen was replaced with a brushed nickel hanging fixture.

Bedroom

The bedroom is a charming room. The high ceilings and east facing windows make it a particularly lovely place to be in the morning. We painted the room with high reflectancy colors and painted those pesky gray strips on the ceiling. The sliding glass door opens out to the balcony where we created a mini-greenhouse for Sarah’s plants. We also installed a 10-pane glass door between the bedroom and living room.

Balcony Greenhouse

The side of the property faces south, which would generally mean lots of light would be coming in. However, the overhang was installed in such a way that zero light was coming through the windows. Zero! So we replaced sections of the overhanging metal roof panels with clear greenhouse panels, allowing for light, especially during winter, spring, and fall, to come pouring into the loft, and allowing for illumination of the mini-greenhouse we installed right outside the sliding doors in the bedroom.

Lower Apartment and Gallery

The lower Apartment and Gallery are in excellent condition. There have been just three major projects and then some minor maintenance work.

Lower Apartment Shower Stall

The shower stall was initially done in plaster, which was just decaying. It was horrible. The plaster was just coming off the wall. So we had the shower stall tiled. I didn’t do this one myself. I hired Jose’.

Lower Apartment Insulation Blow-In

The joists between the two apartments were hollow, which amplified every one of our footsteps and toenail clicking of our dogs. So I blew in insulation between the lower Apartment and the loft for soundproofing. You can see the access holes I cut in for each bay then blew the insulation into each bay.

Gallery Crawlspace Insulation

In the gallery crawlspace, I insulated the floor, which helped with acoustics, eliminated drafts, and improved temperature control. Sorry, no pics of that.

The Exterior

The most notable changes are that we painted the building, repaired the decks, and installed gardens with a mix of native plants and NM-friendly heat-loving, drought tolerant plants.

Painting

The painting was the biggest project. I started it in March and finished it in June. It was terrible. You can see in the picture below the cracks and flakes on the second story wall. When I took a scraper to it just peeled off … well, most it that is. I scraped, washed, caulked, primed, and painted each exterior wall one at a time making repairs to the face boards and wall boards as needed. Here’s another situation where I wish I would have taken some progress pictures, so you see how bad it really was. But it looks fantastic now!

Flaking Paint Before and After

Let’s take a look at the front. You can see the beautiful green gables, walls, and white trim.

Front of Building Before and After

From the back, you can see the green walls, balcony, the magenta doors.

Back of Building Before and After

Gutter and rain barrels

Gutters have been added plus two 200 gallon rain barrels. I didn’t do this job. 200 Gallons isn’t that much but its enough to water the gardens with and the plants really like the rainwater.

Decking

North side of the Gallery

Most of the decking damage was caused by a lack of gutters and proper drainage. Right along the drip line and outward away from the building is where most of the decay was. The wood behind the drip line and closer to the building was okay.

The old posts were just supported on the deck. So I removed the old posts one at a time and replaced them with ones supported on concrete post supports on the ground below the decking. Then I attached the deck joists to the posts. For other beams, I mended them with new boards that extended in toward the building. Then I finished with new boards on top.

North side of lower Apartment

This decking was just 4×8 sheets of plywood. Many of which were loose. Walking on the deck had a soft feel and a hollow sound. The substructure is in good condition, so I resurfaced it with some 1×12 rough cut decking.

Loft landing deck at the bottom of stairs

This is one of those elusive obvious things. The stairs ended in kind of a pit that you would have to step up and out of. Rainwater and melt off collected there, making it messy and dangerous after rain or snowfall. So I built a landing that connected the steps to the existing flagstone walkway. I say it’s the elusive because everyone in the neighborhood was marveling at the obvious solution.

Gardens

The flagstone patio at the bottom of the loft stairs was just this overly cemented mess. So I took my pickax and sledgehammer to it and dug out layers of flagstone, cement, and pavers. After adding some excellent soil, Sarah planted it with natives and other xeric plants, seeded in some poppies and catmint, and mulched with the free horse manure from Broken Saddle stables in Cerrillos. Chamisa, Catmint, Mallows, Poppies, native Penstemon, Saponaria, and Clary Sage will eventually fill in to make a hedgerow of flowering plants for local and native pollinators.

Along the side of the north facing rock wall, we added more gardens. It’s actually quite sunny there, and both the native plants and the other hardy perennials are doing really well. Sacred Datura, Little Bluestem grass, Lavender, Clary Sage, Agastache, Salvia, Penstemon palmeri, and a few kinds of grass all seem quite happy.

In the back of the lower Apartment is a patio and a raised garden area that started out as a weed patch. You can see the condition it was in before we started. Now it has a beautiful pathway and lots of easy, durable drought tolerant plants which are starting to thrive – sunflowers, catmint, mallow, Blue Mist Spirea, Red Valerian and sulfur buckwheat. The large, 4’ tall native Globe Mallow and several of the beautiful native Nightshades were left in place. Native sunflower, Helianthus maximiliani, and native penstemon, Wild Pink Snapdragon, Penstemon palmeri, were added. This garden and all of the others should reseed and become self-sustaining as time goes on.

At the very front corner of the rock wall that borders the edge of the building and driveway, we added some of those beautiful Prickly Pear and Cholla cactus. These cactus were collected from the plants in front of the bodacious garden in front of The General Store further north on Main Street….Bett pruned them back, and Sarah collected a bucket of them and stuck them into the ground. The pieces that had buds actually bloomed!

Other changes.

There are a lot of other changes we made. Most of which don’t make good pictures. Electrical issues, re-hung the patio gate, fixed several deck boards, added handrails to areas where there were steps, and many other things.

It’s been a great year. We’ve learned a lot about New Mexico! We’re heading for the hills to pursue our dreams, and hope this building will help someone else fulfill theirs!

See the listing on Zillow.