HOUSE REFURBISHMENT

The ancestral house of my grandparents was built around 1903. Needless to say it is now old and dilapidated having withstood all the typhoons as it proudly stands at the shores of the Pacific Ocean. This year we are planning to give it a massive refurbishment because we just can’t see it decaying each day – we have lots of childhood memories in that house. It saw us grow and witnessed all our childhood expeditions.

From an old Spanish house, plans are already made to turn it into a very modern, not state of the art, just modern piece of art. The galvanized iron roofs will be replaced by slates, the capiz (a type of shell used largely in interior decorating and for decorative purposes and accessories) windows will be reinstated using alloy metal sheets instead of wood. The original plan was to refurbish it without damaging the Spanish aesthetics of the house.

We will maintain the openness of the ground floor because it’s the trademark of most Spanish houses. They are also known for large, open living rooms and dining rooms so we will maintain it probably. A little tweak on the interior design will be done, replacing the buri walls with wooden slabs and replacing the incandescent and fluorescent lights with moderns ones. The kitchen opens onto a patio with space for recreation and family gatherings, pool and beautiful garden. Divider walls will be substituted with glass for more daylight. The windows of the bedrooms will not be touched but the floor needs major replacement.

Back in early 90’s carpets were installed in most rooms in that house but it really isn’t a good idea to install carpet in open windowed houses such as ours as dust creeps in almost every minute. Vacuuming the carpet daily to keep the dust away is a tough job! With this, carpets will be removed and shiny floors will be used again.

In this type of job DIY is not so feasible as this would require lots of planning, organizing and work to maintain the aesthetics of the house and to work within the allotted budget.