In the beginning of this house building adventure, I casually threw around this term – rustic. At that time, to me, “rustic” meant raw materials juxtaposed against more crisp modern details. I envisioned slabs of reclaimed wood and rusty metal scroll work nabbed from a second hand store, chipped old flower pots and worn baskets. What I didn’t imagine was how this term would change for me during this process. Quite the opposite of having many words for snow, this term has now encompassed any irregularities or issues that we wouldn’t have planned for. Rustic has floated down and settled like a thin film of dust. It has taken on a whole new meaning.

Now don’t get me wrong, this build has gone spectacularly. As you go through a build or re-model process, in talking about it, you invariably find friends who are going through the same thing. Reflecting on those conversations and the trials they all went through, we were very fortunate. We had a great builder who was pretty much on-time and basically on budget, which is not the norm – especially in Mexico. However, that does not mean everything went exactly as we envisioned it. Nothing major happened, just a series of small paper cuts. Some just needing a bandaid and ointment, others festering and becoming so infected, that surgery was required.

Our decision to use as many local materials as possible, curtailed many of the issues. Using locally made building materials (bricks, concrete, foundation rocks, etc.) not puts money back into the community, it also provides a better product because the very talented artisans here are used to working with them. But when I saw the picture of the kitchen sink (below), I was inspired to write a post about things that didn’t go so well.

We opted for an imported Italian fireclay apron sink. If you look at the picture, do you notice anything that may be a problem? Washing dishes in the sink, where will the spray go? Could food and other crap get trapped in any spaces here (look at the edges of the sink compared to the counter). AHA! Most of the little imperfections we decided to live with, but the first time I saw that picture, I immediately pushed back and requested the change. The counter top should go over the edges of the sink, otherwise we would be ruining the cabinet below and little pieces of food and other garbage will fall down in between the sink and cabinet. We gave the builders and carpenter pictures of a properly installed apron sink, but this type of sink is so unusual for them, it just didn’t translate. We’re getting it fixed.

This was also the case with the ceilings. When first completed, the upper ceiling line on either end of the great room bowed up a bit to the counterweighted ceilings. This created a visible curve in the line. Neither Switch or I could stop looking at it, so they evened it out for us.

Not everything can be fixed, however. The light box (where we will hang a light fixture for the dining table) isn’t close to centered over the table/rug location and the switch for it is in a completely different place and not centered on the wall. Since it is very difficult to change the light box, we opted to swag the light fixture over which limits our choices a lot and we’ll never be able to hang a ceiling fan – which is what it is wired for. The door thresh-holds for every door but the sliding glass doors ended up above floor level. There is really nothing we can do about that, but I dislike that it is a trip hazard. When Switch was traveling last year, they made many decisions that would have been better to be made in person, like placement of the light switches and downspouts for the roof water, which ended up in weird non-intuitive places. When the guys laid the tile in the bedroom, they were kind of sloppy and dripped extra concrete on the floor and the tiles are pretty wonky as well.

Honestly, I feel a bit bad even mentioning all these things, because they really are so minor, but I didn’t want to mislead you that everything was perfect. When I stop in my tracks and my eyes land on the crack between the outside wall and the courtyard or the floor sealant that doesn’t cover the entire floor of the kitchen, I just quietly repeat to myself…. rustic.