Well the kitchen’s done! After many emails back and forth to the contractors, the counter people and Dan, Vio’s brother, who oversaw the whole thing, it has come together. All of the appliances are installed, the water runs both hot and cold, and the cabinets are all the same color. We really couldn’t have stayed sane or gotten the kitchen to this level of perfection without Dan’s help. He’s a servant at heart and we appreciate every time he has come to save the day. I look forward to returning the favor as often as I can once we’re there.
When we purchased the apartment, there were significant finishes done to it. The floors had all been installed, hardwood in the bedroom and living room, limestone in the kitchen and bathroom; the bathrooms were outfitted with toilets and the full bath had a mirror and bathtub already, and the windows were (mostly) all installed and sealed.
Even at that state, and now that the kitchen has counters, appliances and cabinets, there is still so much to be done. There are at least different light fixtures that come to mind that need something other than a bare bulb, if anything. We have no way of hanging any clothes, so we need to figure out where we’ll be keeping our clothes and install a bar and shelves. The floors are cold and echo, so we need to shop around for area rugs, both small and large. I’d like to find some local artists and decorate the walls a bit. And the list goes on.
I know we have plentiful time to finish the decorations and living comforts, and by no means do I want to fill the first month we’re there just shopping around and transporting things back (we don’t even have a car there yet). So for the time being, I’m filling up a sketchbook with ideas of loft beds, separating bookshelves, reading nooks, and additional counters in the kitchen. And we’re both using Pintrest to bookmark the styles and objects that will influence how we make our apartment reflect us.
I’m trying to come up with a set of guidelines for how I want to go about acquiring things to fill/finish the apartment. This is what I have so far:
- Never purchase anything in haste. Make sure you have a clear use and location in mind for it.
- When possible, buy directly from the maker, whether art or furniture.
- Try to find a solution that is locally made
- When building custom elements, try to do it yourself first. If not, be discerning as to who you hire to help you.
- Never buy from Ikea (or equivalent) just because it’s lower priced.