Ouray Yoga™

Repurposed sink going into modified school desk, See previous blog Well, I have had a wonderful response to people enjoying my blog. I usually update when I visit, but things are getting down to the wire, so I probably won't go down again until I move, so I thought I'd share some of the progress via John' experience. And for those asking me why? My simple answer is:  Lifestyle. We purchased the house in October 2014 and yet the reno goes on... Family Room, just loving the wood tones.  Cleaned up kitchen with countertops in! Waiting for backsplash Yes, it's an old home, historic even, but the bigger portion of the pie went into renovating the 1970's updates and not the bones of the 1880's home. Our biggest complaint is most of the labor force is overpriced for skill set and/or they don't deliver on service. It is our experience that we are getting charged Boulder prices for labor; which is okay for Boulder because there is a good chance the person coming into...

Future Masterbath Countertop - yes - Go Buffs !  We really can't complain about our working spring break, considering that only a few weekends before we had a 3-day break at the Broadmoor. So, I will temper my weary wining and callous complaints; and by callous, I mean literal callouses on my hands. Oops! Couldn't find the floor tile before purchase of paint. Went too dark with the gray kid's bath wall had to re-paint the entire room. Lost another 1/2 day. From my drive over the Continental Divide, I arrived to a cleaned-up work site with giddy contractors. They were excited to see my response to all that has been accomplished. It's good to have power. The work crew consists of my husband, a good ol' friend who is both giving and gifted and a very petite day-laborer, who normally works local kitchens during the high season in Ouray. We are so thankful to have Dave and Emilio, and Emilio's wife who also washes my guy's laundry and makes some pretty incredible...

Unfortunately, we had to fire our main carpenter. Now, I am not going to call him our General, our GC or even our contractor because he was never The Lead however much he thought he was. And there-in lays the problem. He was planning on charging us, not only for his hourly rate but also an 8% oversight rate on his own work. And not only his but that of all other contractors including the ones we brought in. Now, we get that most home construction projects need a head honcho and we even agree that some of the subs need organization and timing. We even agreed to his 8% on the subs he contracted in; however, he wanted to see our budget from the loan and he was working so slow that he was taking twice as long as many repairs should have taken. Bummer for him, we have over 30 years combined experience in apartment management and sub-contractor maintenance, and we have a pretty good idea of how long things should take. We gave him the heave-ho. So where does that leave us? Scrambling a littl...

 Phase one: Tear-out carpets, curtains and dated cabinets; move some walls and create the ever desired "Open Concept." We have learned that Dave and Mary Wood enjoyed entertaining and were a huge asset to the community. We hope to follow in there footsteps. View from the Family Room into the kitchen, we are down to the studs! The Kitchen was very dark, nestled between two load bearing walls. On the right, through the studs, is a sunroom with a nice large window. On the left (green wall) is the formal living room, with a nice bay window. We have decided to open up both walls and insert beams. Let there be LIGHT!  I am guessing this is ArtDeco 1920s wall paper. Discovered behind drywall in the guest bath. We had open this wall due to a suspicious bulge in the wall, we found a black mold condensation problem from steam pipes from the coal/steam radiator system. Once this is all replaced and repaired, I plan to either have the wall paper recreated or handpainted.  The masterb...

I decided to create a new travel blog which may eventually become a website for our Bell Haus building located in Ouray, Colorado and home of K J Wood Distillers. However, my first post was placed on my ZogaWellness.com blog on health and wellness. Please click the following link for the first story. Coming soon - our adventures in NYC over 9/11/14! In the beginning there was a Colonial Home.  (Update: I was able to attached to this post, scroll down!) Yes! It's true! Me hubs, my kids and I are going to move to a little mountain town in SW Colorado, 45 minutes from Telluride. Ouray is a gorgeous mining town with it's own hot springs. We have wanted to live in Ouray since before moving to Loveland but it's a small town with little opportunities for vibrant income. Most people have their hands in many jobs. Nonetheless, we are at a position in our lives where we are able to move here. This is a total leap of faith but we have encountered so many signs that point to YES that w...