It’s All About the View

I love the process of remodeling and I know I would like it even more if I didn’t constantly worry about making the right decisions.

What will this exterior color look like when it is not sunny? Will it be too light in bright sun?
Will the light switches be in the right place?
Will there be enough light in this room with this wall color?
Will the shelves be too high in the laundry room?
Will I have enough space for storage in the dining room?
Will the pool-decking compliment the grout in the new pool tiles?
Will Hubby D and I enjoy living here?  (Biggest question)

I also need to be more positive and less critical.  My subcontractors almost cringe when they see me coming (although that might be good). I am a perfectionist and want everything just right. I try to sandwich my criticism with praise for the good work, but sometimes I am just critical.  I want it perfect and I WANT IT NOW.

Although the outdoor kitchen was one of the first jobs on the house and the pool was one of the last, I need to show them to you together to see the whole "picture" of our outdoor living space.

Florida is all about outdoor living so we knew we would want an outdoor kitchen and a pool no matter where we lived.

When we first moved in, we anticipated we would be grilling often.  We love to grill. However, we did not want to invest in an expensive temporary grill so I picked this one up at Wal-Mart for only $20. We called it our Wal-Mart Special. It was a hassle to light the charcoal and keep it clean, but it worked great until we had the outdoor kitchen finished.

We chose to do the outdoor kitchen first so we could grill and cook out there while the main kitchen was under construction.  Unfortunately, the outdoor kitchen was not complete when the construction started inside, but it was not long and we did cook a great deal on the grill. I also kept a small kitchen area with a coffee pot in our bathroom in addition to the outdoor kitchen.

The is where we finally decided to locate the outdoor kitchen. The long counter to the left has a sink and running water so this was the logical spot.  

First a gas line for the grill was installed all the way around the back of the pool deck.

Long lines of concrete were cut on the deck.  It was extremely loud and I know the golfers were not happy.

When Hubby D was occasionally not traveling, he watched the progress from inside the master bedroom where his office was temporarily located.

The grill and other parts arrived and were stored on the pool deck.

The grill counter was over 10 feet long. Our granite supplier was able to find a slab long enough so seams were not needed in the granite.

The granite is beautiful.  We were able to put matching granite from the same slab on the existing counter (on the pool deck to the left). This photo was taken while they were polishing the stone in the shop.

Hubby D took a break from work to come out and watch the installation of the granite.

Stucco was applied to match the texture on the house.

The day they applied the stucco it rained. But then it rains almost every day.

It turned out really nice. The grill is huge and although it took Hubby D a while to adjust to the high temperature, he is back in form and a true grill master.

This was our first meal on the new grill. We were still eating on paper plates but we did break out the good wine glasses.

The addition of the outdoor kitchen was a very positive improvement. Not only does it look good, it is a great cooking area. We can't wait for an excuse to have a party out there.

BEFORE - The walls had already been painted in this picture, but the outdoor kitchen is not yet installed.

AFTER

The counter that was on the deck previously (to the left of the grill area) also turned out nice. The new cabinets are made of a material that will not warp or distort in the humidity and the granite countertop matches the outdoor kitchen island countertop. 

The pool was a bit more work.

We purchased the house for the view. Many years ago, Hubby D and I decided where ever we lived it would be all about the view.  In Bahrain we had a beautiful view looking out over the Arabian Sea.  Our little condo in Vero Beach had a view of a wonderful marina. Our condo in Sand Key, where we owned a vacation home for many years, had a drop dead view with magnificent sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. We came to the decision that IT IS ALL ABOUT THE VIEW!

So we had to have a great view in our Florida home. And, we do.

Our backyard and pool look out over the tee box for hole number six, the number one handicap hole on the SunTree Classic course. The SunTree Country Club has 2 courses, the Classic and the Challenge. Our neighborhood has parts of both courses on each side.

Our neighborhood is in the upper portion of the left side of this picture. From the top of the map, if you follow the street  Interlachen you intersect our street, Spring Lake Drive at about the middle of the map on the left side. The Classic Course runs to the left of Spring Lake Drive and the Challenge Course runs to the right of Spring Lake Drive. 

Our view from our pool deck takes in 3 holes of the Classic course, the fourth fairway and green (par 4), the fifth tee boxes, and green (par 3) and the sixth tee boxes and fairway (par 4).  The green for the sixth hole is up around a dogleg to the right and beyond a large lake making it just outside our view.  You need to shoot your ball over the water to get to the fairway approaching the green. We see many, many balls go in the water. Unfortunately, some of them are mine.

Here is the view from the upper deck on our second story.

In the foreground are tee boxes and fairway for the 6th hole.  Behind along the far edge is the fairway for the 4th hole. During our recent hurricane (Irma) this lake filled up coming really close to our pool deck.  

This is the green for the par 3 5th hole seen from our upper deck.

It is a great view.

We have tall sliding doors leading from the family room, living room and the master bedroom. They all open completely onto the pool deck making the entire house feel like you are outside enjoying the view.

These two photos are from the original listing photos of the house before we purchased it. 

Of course, when I open up all the sliding doors at the same time I can hear in my mind my dad telling me, “Are you going to air condition the whole out of doors?”

Yes, Dad, I am. (And, I am leaving all the lights on, too!)

The pool needed a bit of updating and refreshing. We started with removing the stone edging and installed a new edge. The surface was completely redone and we added some tile around the entire edge of the pool and spa.

I also removed overgrown palms and replaced them with plants that did not block the view. After all, this house is all about the view.

Plants have all been removed and you can see our Wal-Mart Special Grill taking center stage.

One of the first things done was removal of the stone coping.

After they drained the water, LW wanted to go down and see where it went. He closely followed the progress of the pool.

Glass blocks were removed and a new spillway installed.

Tiles were placed so that the pool would be easier to keep clean at the water level.

After the tile was in place, the new surface was applied.

These were some pretty strange shoes but they did the job of keeping the surface smooth while they worked .

A new deck surface was also applied and then they rolled on the finish.

Note the golfers in the upper left of the photo. They are on the green tee box.  There are 5 tee boxes - each one more difficult.  Blue, White, Green, Gold and Black. We can watch golfers shoot their balls into the lake from all 5.  

LW and Hubby D enjoy the spa together.  LW runs his trucks up and down all over the waterfall rocks.

I think we are actually having more fun in the pool than we thought we would.

BEFORE

AFTER

Looking at the entire remodeling project, the pool was the easiest part to manage. The company we used, Aqua-Rite did a fantastic job and they were extremely easy to work with.

The rest of the house?  Not so easy.

Cheers,
Brenda