There were a number of changes that we wanted to make to the basic design of the townhouse in Pueblo Campestre Phase 2. In the kitchen we had the upper cabinets built to the ceiling, we changed from the standard stain on the cabinets to green lowers and white uppers. We upgraded the countertops to quartzite and added a subway tile backsplash from Porcelanosa. All of these upgrades were accomplished with the contractors on the site.
However, when we were looking for furniture and discovered Carlos Ochoa Carmat Carpinteria in La Paz. We decided to see if he would build some furniture for us and also the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling entertainment center that we were interested in for the living room and a moveable island for the kitchen. The entertainment center was designed to fit our 70″ LG television as well as several large sculptures. There were also four drawers included in the design for storage. We wanted it to be the same Alabaster color as the walls so that it would just blend in. Carlos Ochoa visited the townhouse to do the measurements on site and worked from photos of similar units to finalize the design.
On Saturday, with a large trailer in tow, Carlos arrived to do the install. We were very interested to see how the wall unit was going to be made to look like a single integrated unit. There were six large pieces of the unit along with a special base. The three upper units sat into the lower ones so that it looked like a single wall unit. Four L-shaped pieces were used to join the three sections together and to fit to the walls and a larger one was used on the top to take the unit right to the ceiling. It was incredible watching the team of three put together the unit, secure it with screws and install plugs, putty areas and create this incredible piece. They will be back to touch up the paint next week.
But the wall unit was not the only custom install. The bedroom closets come with double bars and lots of room but no shelves within the closet. So we also asked Carlos to build a set of shelves to fit into the closet in the primary bedroom, matching the color of the closets themselves. Again, these were incredibly well thought out. The shelves were installed at secured by placing screws from the inside of drawers and shelfs to the left so that these shelves looked like they had been built with the unit. The team also had to cut five spaces for outlets and cable and internet plates in exactly the right place through the back of the wall unit sections. It was quite amazing.
Carlos also delivered our custom moveable island for the kitchen, which we had a quartzite top cut for when the kitchen countertops were fabricated. We had provided Carlos with the paint to match the lower cabinets in the kitchen. Unfortunately, we saw that the kitchen contractor must have slightly changed the paint to a darker green. Carlos immediately agreed to repaint the island to match when he returns next week.
Finally, he delivered a number of other pieces that we had ordered – a 54″ round table for the outside patio on the first floor, a desk for my office, a bench for the courtyard, two bar stools, a side table for the bedroom on the second floor and a mirror and shelf for just inside the door from the courtyard. Because the walls do not have their final coat of the paint, the mirror and shelf/drawer could not be installed at this time.
While Carmat Carpinteria was building the furniture in their shop in La Paz, they provided us with photos of the construction process. The quality is amazing and the prices are much more reasonable that using contractors in Los Cabos. We couldn’t be happier with the results.
For more information about Carmat Carpinteria visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579039329 Carlos Ochoa can be reached on WhatsApp at +52 624 166 1533
