Solo Renovator in Central Portugal Finishes Rendering the Second House Facade, Rests Two Days, Then Paints the Wall

In the center of Portugal, on a piece of land she calls magical, a woman is renovating a second house almost entirely on her own. In the last few weeks, she has transformed the facade, and now the rendering is finished. She rested for two days. Then it was time to paint the wall.

A solo house renovation video cover beside a stock photo of a gutted room with exposed beams and rubble.

The renovator behind @mayafeliz documents the whole job on her channel, from the first coat of render to the final brushstrokes of color. This week’s episode picks up right after the hardest part and follows her through a day of drilling, hanging lanterns and finding out how a clay colored wall looks in real life.

Rendering Done, Time To Rest

Rendering a facade is slow, physical work. The render is the layer of plaster that covers the outside of the wall, protecting it and giving it a smooth finish, and it has to be applied by hand and worked evenly. After finishing the second house’s facade, she took two days off before starting the next step, which is a sensible choice when a job asks so much of your arms and back.

The break did not last long. The morning she picked the work back up, she describes the autumn weather as beautiful. She says it relaxes her every time she goes down to the river and feels the flow of the seasons, a small moment of calm before the busy day.

Warming Up The Wall With Light

Her plan for the day was to paint the wall so that it feels warmer. She had also bought a solar light string that she wanted to hang along the top, plus a lantern to welcome visitors as they enter the space. That meant drilling holes before any paint went on.

She mentions that she had been waiting around two months to install the lanterns. Because she had bought two of them, she decided to swap an ugly fixture for one of the new lanterns, which meant drilling a second set of holes. As she lined up the first holes, she said she hoped she would not drill into a cable, a worry anyone drilling into an old wall can share.

After the rain stopped and the birds started singing again, the drilling was done and she could get to painting.

Painting With Lime Wash And Pigment

For the color, she chose a lime wash mixed with pigments. Lime wash is a traditional paint made from lime, and it has long been used on stone and plaster walls in Mediterranean countries. It tends to give a soft, slightly cloudy finish that looks different from ordinary wall paint, and it can fade a little over time.

She notes that painting a facade is scary, because the color makes a big difference to the whole house. Once she started, though, she said she loved it. She expects the color to get more washed out over time and then become more stable. Her favorite part is the reason behind the shade: it is the color of the clay that was actually used to build the house.

To reach the upper parts of the wall, she had to set up scaffolding. She admits that she hates the scaffolding, but she painted everywhere she needed to from it, and she called the work from the scaffolding really good once it was done.

Second Thoughts And A Cup Of Tea

As the wall filled in, she was candid about her feelings. She said she would soon have a clay colored house, but she was not sure yet how she liked it. If it turned out too dark, she said, she might paint over it again with a bit more white.

A friend came over for a cup of tea while she was working and gave the new color a look. The visitor liked it, which was a relief, since the renovator was still making up her own mind. It is a helpful reminder that fresh paint always looks different once someone else sees it, and that a second opinion can settle a nervous stomach.

Finishing With The Light String

With the paint on the wall, she went back to the lights. She connected the cables, stripped the wires and fed the three cables into a box, working through the electrical steps one at a time. The solar light string she had bought for the top of the wall went up, and with the lantern in place, the space started to feel like an entrance.

It is a small touch, but light changes how a house feels in the evening. A lantern by the door and a string of lights along the wall can make an outdoor corner feel welcoming, even before the rest of the renovation is done.

What Other Renovators Can Take From This

You do not have to be rendering a farmhouse in Portugal to learn from her day. A few lessons stand out for anyone tackling an exterior project.

Rest after the heavy work. Taking two days off after rendering gave her a fresh start for painting.
Do the drilling before the painting. Fixtures and lights go in first, so you do not mark a new finish.
Test your color on the wall. Lime wash and pigment can look different on a facade than in a pot, and the color changes as it dries.
Be ready to adjust. If the shade is too dark, a lighter coat can soften it.
Plan for scaffolding. High walls need safe access, even if the setup is a pain.

Whether the wall stays clay colored or gets a lighter coat later, she has already turned a bare facade into a welcoming front, one task at a time.

Willow and Hearth