Chez Huguet

About a month ago I sat down to write up a post on our new apartment - a sort of virtual tour.  Well as soon as I sat down to start writing, I realized I didn't have very many photos, so I grabbed my snazzy new James Bond branded camera phone and walked the apartment looking for the best photo ops.  That's when I realized, this apartment is a mess!  Well no, I already knew that actually.  But I did  realize that it was so bad, I was not even willing to post any pictures of it on the internet; I was that embarrassed by it.  So the last month we have been hard at work - shopping, cleaning, unpacking, hammering, sawing, painting, etc.  And you know what?  It STILL doesn't look very nice!  But it does look much better, and I am finally willing to let people inside the place.

So here we go!  When you walk in through the front door, you see we have an entry way; it's empty right now.  But the coat closet on the left has been very handy during the winter.  Eventually I guess we will look for something to fill this space. 

Entry way - view from the front door

From here, you can go three directions: left, straight, or right.  We'll go left first, into the living room.  And also the dining room.  I usually just call it the "one big room".  We move the furniture around almost every single week trying to figure out the best way to arrange everything.  It's not so simple when you have three doors and a radiator to work around.  But I think we have landed on this arrangement, at least for now.  I have spent three whole days furniture shopping for something else to fill this room, but haven't purchased anything yet.  I did try once, but the girl at the store didn't speak any English and wasn't being very helpful, so I left very upset and haven't returned.  Maybe I don't need that china cabinet after all.  Off of this "one big room" we have the larger of our two balconies.  So far, it gets primarily used as a potty spot for the dogs.  Minnie is a pro at using her new porch potty!  It's not the best system, but it beats taking them downstairs first thing every morning in the freezing cold weather, and then again 5 more times during the day.  We are working on a better solution so we can get this out of the way and put some furniture out here in time for summer.  

The Big Room

Now if we go back to the entry way and go straight forward instead of turning left, we find the kitchen.  This is where we have spent the majority of our time and effort so far.  As many of you know, when we moved in there was nothing but a sink.  This sink actually:

The "kitchen" when we moved in.

And now, we have this!

Much better!

Full view of kitchen

Open shelving opposite sink, stove, and oven

It took about two weeks to design it, one week to purchase it, three weeks to get it delivered, and about a month to install everything.  But it all works great and I'm enjoying cooking again after a four month hiatus.  Through the kitchen we have our second balcony.  It's smaller than the first, and oddly shaped.  I think when the weather warms up it will be the home of our clothes drying rack.  And possibly the dogs porch potty.

Let's jump back to the entry way one more time, and this time turn right.  This hallway leads to the bathroom and bedrooms.

First door on the left is the WC, which is what Europeans call tiny rooms with nothing but a toilet in them.  Not exciting really.  It's even less exciting when you find out the shelves your ordered off the internet were never delivered and are now being held hostage in some post office in the countryside.  The next door is the actual bathroom, with shower and sink.  As you can see, the owners of the apartment have little concern for renovations.  I'm guessing these are the original 1980's wall tiles.  So much for that wonderful French "charm" we were hoping to find. 

Then finally we have two bedrooms.  The first serves as our office / storage space.  These are the boxes we either haven't unpacked yet, or unpacked and repacked because we weren't sure what to do with the stuff inside them.  Well, boxes, suitcases, and Kerry's giant stuffed tiger.  

And here is our bedroom!  This room has seen a lot of improvement in the last two weeks.  The bed frame got a makeover last week, it went from wooden posts and black iron to shiny, light gold.  And the "closet" area went up last week.  I still need to get a couple more shelves and baskets, but it's almost finished, and it's very nice not to be tripping over shoe boxes every day.

"Closet" - sort of

As you can see, we still have a LONG way to go.  I have shelves, rugs, and bedding on order and in the mail, but it's only a start.  Interior decorating has never been a strong point of mine, or even something I really enjoy much.  I thought I would, but turns out I would much rather spend my time researching and planning vacations or cooking in the kitchen.  But I have committed to making it a priority for now, at least until we get a few more of the basics taken care of.  After all, does anyone ever really feel like they are "finished" with their home?  There is always something to be fixed / replaced / improved / purchased / reorganized.  So perhaps in this case, I should be thankful that we have downsized by more than half from our home in Houston, although it's not always easy to see it that way.  But despite the desperate need for a decor makeover and it's petite size, we are happy with our apartment.  Every week we make a little progress and like it a little more.  It's no dream home, but it will certainly suffice for a few years!