We are nearly completed on the chicken coop and it has come along beautifully! It started its life as an ugly vermin-infested bathroom on top of an old worn out deck and now has been repurposed as a chicken coop. 95% of the materials we used to build this coop came from that old bathroom. The only things we bought to make it were some paint (around $30), some nails (around $30) and some hardware wire (around $20). We also decided to purchase a paint sprayer (about $100) that we plan on using in future house projects but we could have done it by hand.

After we put on the siding

We didn’t necessarily have to paint it, but I’ve always thought that it takes so little to make it just a little more finished looking. Most of a makeover is the façade, but it makes such a striking difference! A chicken coop doesn’t have to be ugly! And since we will be going into it every day to collect eggs and check on chickens why not enjoy the experience? The paint sprayer made it so easy too. We finished painting the exterior in about 20 minutes compared with the 3+ hours it probably would have taken us using rollers and brushes.

 After painting the inside and outside, hanging the door and painting the trim (with a chicken in the window)

I normally don’t like all the power tools (like the chainsaw), but I actually really enjoyed painting with this sprayer. Britton had to actually ask so that he could use it too!

We chose a color called Cozumel, but I think it should have been called Calypso as it is nearly the same color as the Calypso Bar in Rincón! Because we had saved some time in painting the exterior and we were having so much fun with the sprayer we decided to paint the trim and inside with our leftover white paint from when we painted the cabana. It really brightened it up!

Interior Before and After

!Gringo Loco!

Since we had a little extra time we decided to bring a few of the chickens to check out the work in progress and have a little fun!

We still have a little work to do like secure it with the wire and we are also thinking of building a porch onto the coop so we can watch the funny little birds run around. Overall, though, it has become very close to the vision we had conceived of when I drew this design months ago!

Manifesting reality!