Walking in, the first thing you still see is chaos in the carport: wood boards, cement blocks, wires, tools, and our makeshift work table. It is nowhere near “Pinterest ready”, but that messy table is where my cabinets, shelves, and little details are being born. This is the backstage of Casa Arcoiris.
Inside, the Powder Sky Room on the ground floor is slowly turning into the heart of the house. The blue walls are up, the long white shelves are in place, and sunlight now moves softly across the room. It still smells a little bit of paint and dust, but I can finally imagine books, plants, photos, and tiny decor pieces sitting on those shelves. The service area and small inner courtyard are painted in periwinkle tones -- simple, bare, and waiting for the polycarbonate roofing and the everyday life that will happen there.
The rainbow staircase is one of my favorite parts. Each riser in pastel violet, periwinkle, blue, green, yellow, peach, and blush is now clearly defined. The steps still need cleaning and retouching, but going up already feels like walking through a little rainbow tunnel. It’s a small thing, but it makes me happy every time I see it.
Upstairs, the rooms are finally showing their personalities:
The Blush Rose Room (master) is bathed in soft pink, with built-in cabinets already installed. One wall is taped off, protecting its flower checkered stencil. It is still being fixed for now, but it feels gentle and calm -- exactly the mood I wanted.
The Lemon Meringue Room is bright and cheerful. The yellow bunny stencil wall is in progress -- some squares are done, some still need cleaning and straight lines -- but the idea is alive. It already looks like a happy room, even with paint cans on the floor.
The Mint Meadow Room is fresh and vibrant in green. The pumpkin checkered wall is nearly finished, with repeating pumpkin silhouettes giving the space a playful, cozy feel. This room catches a lot of natural light, and the green really comes to life in the sunshine.
The upstairs hallway and landing are still mostly white and plain, but that is intentional. I want the neutral corridor to frame the pastel rooms and the rainbow stairs, almost like a gallery that lets the colors breathe instead of competing with them.
The Peach Sorbet Spa -- the upstairs bathroom -- is functional but still being refined. The peach wall softens all the stainless grab bars and fixtures, and the large window brings in daylight. At the same time, the tiles still show stains, the grout needs cleaning, and some edges and corners clearly need retouching. It is not a “spa” yet, but the foundation is there and the safety rails are in place, ready for my PWD needs and future aging body.
Across all the rooms, you can see raw edges, unpainted corners, tape, pencil marks, dust, and tools. The window grilles are painted but not perfectly smooth. There are smudges on walls and rough transitions between colors that still need the final careful hand. This visit reminded me that a house does not magically jump from blueprint to showroom -- it passes through this awkward, messy, in-between stage where everything looks almost done, but not quite.
And that is where Casa Arcoiris de Anna is right now.
These 55 photos from my own phone are a record of that in-between. They are not “after” shots. They are proof that the dream is slowly becoming solid: wall by wall, color by color, stencil by stencil.
One day soon, this house will be fully cleaned, furnished, and styled. For now, I am choosing to honor this version too -- the version where workers’ footprints are still on the floor, the paint cans are still open, and the rainbow stairs still have dust on them.
This is Casa Arcoiris de Anna in progress.
And even unfinished, she already feels like home.
