We originally planned to stay in one apartment for 6 months while we found another that had only the "shell" of it complete so that we could alleviate the issues of trying to change what was already there. Even knowing that designing everything would be a whole lot of stress. Luckily, day 1 here we were meeting our landlord to pay the 6 months rent and she asked us what she could do to get us to live in her apartment longer. Because Americans are known for taking good care of their homes and she had experienced that with her previous renters, she was willing to do almost anything to keep us around.
So, we made our list:
1. THE KITCHEN! It's countertops hit us both about mid thigh and there was hardly any storage. We had purchased a desk and used it to bring in some drawers and a storage area for our oven but that was about all the storage we had.
2. Paint the apartment! All the walls were white and we asked if she would let us paint it and told her we would pay for everything involved.
3. Bathroom changes. Our guest bathroom's shower head is above the toilet and our toilets don't hold any water in them. We also have low sinks.
She talked to her husband and agreed on the painting and kitchen and said she'd look into bathroom issues in the future. That was not as big of an issue to us and so we agreed and signed a 3 year contract to stay here and make it our home long term. I was so excited! Now I could start hanging pictures and not thinking about how everything has to be packed back up in 6 months because now it's our home for good!
She jumped on the kitchen renovations and had someone come measure and draw our design 2 days later. We were so excited and honored that she asked for our input. Of course our only Americanish option was white cabinets and we chose the only stainless steel countertop that didn't have flowers or polka dots on it. We ran some paint colors by her and bought our paint to paint before the kitchen renovation.
12 days later we had our dining room and living area painting complete and it was renovation day!!! We both rescheduled our classes for the day and anxiously awaited with Harrison's friend Caleb. 2 pm was the set time and our landlord showed up with her husband at 2 excited for the new kitchen and shocked by the paint. She literally told us 5 times that she loved it and couldn't believe we had painted it ourselves so quickly! We waited and waited and finally 2 1/2 hours late the kitchen renovation team arrived.
They said it would take 2 hours and I couldn't believe it so I had my timer app on my iphone going just to see how long it would take. The demolition part took only 20 minutes and I was so shocked, they were so fast. They installed the cabinets and everything was going smoothly until they realized the oven wouldn't fit in the hole. They hadn't taken into account where along the wall in the kitchen it would be and because of the gas pipe it couldn't go all the way in and stuck out about 3 inches.
Now in America we would probably send back the cabinets and have them rearrange the order of things to move the oven but here our friends were thinking on their feet and not wanting to come back another day. So, they took the cabinet doors off another area and put the oven there. Using a spare door that they cut in pieces they framed the oven, covering the gap between the oven and walls. They then cut some off of one of the doors to make the two cabinet doors fit where the oven was supposed to be.
It was impressive how they were able to make it work but it also slowed them down a bit from the quick demolition and start of the installation. They cut the stainless steel there in the kitchen and out in our stairwell with sparks flying and an oxygen tank blowing oxygen into the room because of all of the strong fumes. It was a sight to be seen that's for sure and surprisingly it was all still complete in just 3 1/2 hours (cleanup and all).
Before and after.... the best way to tell the difference is in the window.
We are so excited to now have our counters at a decent height and tons of storage and our favorite yellow desk still fits in just fine!
Now, back to more decorating and our DIY furniture projects. Stay tuned for more....
