Stix and Brix Projects

It's hard to believe it has been over four years since we purchased our condo in the Lexington Lakes Community in Stuart, Florida. When we bought, our plan was to live here in the winter and travel in Opus four or five months a year. We did that in 2019 and it was great. But like in so many things, 2020 and Covid changed our plans. While we have been cruising, going to all inclusive resorts and returning to WashPA the last two years we have had more time to do projects in our new home. 

When we moved in the sellers left all the furniture and much more. We have replaced some things but the dining area and counter gets a lot of use. That is where I'm starting this post. Because it gets so much use the wall under the counter was getting marked up and needed to be covered. After much thought we decided to make it into a wine corner.

The first step was putting together a wine rack to install in the corner. It took a while but I finally got it assembled.

We decided to buy old wooden wine boxes to cover the wall. We first laid them out on the bedroom floor. It was like working on a jigsaw puzzle without knowing what it would look like when finished.

Once I started gluing the pieces to the wall there was no turning back. Some had to be trimmed but it slowly came together.

Nothing says job well done like a smiling wife. Nanc can now buy a few bottles at a time and have a place to store it.

You can see how different it looks now compared to the first picture. There are a couple of symbolic things on the wall, a wine cork with 2019, the year we bought the condo, printed on the top. Another thing is a box from Opus winery, we called our RV Opus, and another with an archer, Sagittarius is our Zodiac sign.  

After we moved in we realized the kitchen storage space was not as good as what we had in Opus. The pantry had a bi-fold door so the 18 inch opening was only 14 inches wide....

....and the four wire shelves were not very deep. Almost half the pantry was wasted space.

We bought five slide out drawers to replace three of the wire racks. The drawers were cut to order but had to be assembled.

After removing the three lowest wire shelves and patching the holes I needed to use 2X4's and wedges to narrow the space where the drawer sliders would be attached. 

Next I attached the sliders to one of the shelves to make sure they would fit. Surprise, surprise! Even though the condo is relatively new, the pantry was not perfectly square meaning each corner was a bit different.

After painting everything I installed the five sets of guides for the slides.

We left the top wire shelve in place and installed the five new roll out shelves. The old bi-fold door did not have trim which I needed to glue and screw in place as the new door was attached to the new trim board.  

The new door was the next step. It had to be where it would open all the way to the wall to clear the shelves when they were rolled out.

The last step was a new spice rack that fit nicely inside the door frame. The pantry now holds double what it held before and everything is much easier to get to.

Another project for Nanc. She took a class and made a neat patio stone out of glass. She did a heron, her favorite bird. 

This is a project we had done. The concrete at our entrance was very discolored and it was not something that could be scrubbed out.

The same thing on the patio. The concrete also holds dust and dirt and there is no water spigot in the back so it was difficult to keep clean.

Along with two of our neighbors we got permission from the HOA manager to have an epoxy finish put on. First the old material was sanded and vacuumed.

Then they painted.....

....and spread flakes on the paint.

After letting that dry for a couple hours they top it off with epoxy.

The finished entrance. 

The finished patio. They both look much better and will be easier to keep clean.

This was the living room when we moved in. Everything here came with the condo when we moved in. It was okay, but it did not feel like our home.

The living room has slowly been changed by Nanc with our own pictures, a new rug, sofa and recliner. We are very happy with our home in Stuart and it now has the feeling of the way we want it to be. As in most homes the projects are always ongoing but our place is finally feeling like home.