Two Weeks

Since hearing from so many of you, thought it was good to do another update. And the news is good. We are healthy and strong. Well, Theo’s a little bored, but we’re okay. The property here in Spain is large, so I can lose myself in the garden…or in my ‘Studio 54’…or on the patio with my nose tucked behind my iPad.

My orangerific Smeg range in my unfinished kitchen.

Exciting news this week. The refrigerator, dishwasher and cooking range were delivered! Yoo-hoo! Cheap thrills, my friends, cheap thrills. Although the kitchen cupboards are only carcasses (waiting for their doors to be able to be delivered), and there is no countertop (waiting for the raw materials to be able to be delivered to the stone mason), and with no countertop comes no kitchen sink! Although I am THRILLED to have the appliances—so now we can store some real food, buy frozen food, and even have ice for any cocktail that may come to mind… And Theo was SO EXCITED to have a hot meal prepared on our new range. Maybe he’s the cheap thrills guy… Hmmm…

I’m still ordering ‘pieces’ for the house—whether it’s furniture, scissors, cleaning supplies, art, or storage solutions—and thankfully, they are still being delivered. So almost every day is like Christmas, with the delivery dudes learning where “Cynthia” lives. So fun. You should hear my Spanish!!! Not.

We are comfortable here, even though we don’t have many essentials that you have once you’ve settled into a house (or that you bring with you in a move). It’s coming together, piece by piece. But most of all, we’re thankful that we are still healthy.

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Covid-19 Update

Thanks so much to everyone who has been checking in with us. This post is to let you know that we are staying healthy and safe in our new home in Spain. Even though we decided to name the house Nineteen, we are NOT the epicenter of the virus, that’s just our address!!!

‘Birds’ from our garden brighten the mood.

As with most of you, we are confined to our house and the only facilities that are open are grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and hospitals. Any type of travel is limited to essential trips and only one person per car, all closely monitored by police.

Up until yesterday, we still had workers in the house, finishing up the final details. But now they are not allowed to access job sites for inessential work.

We are very concerned to do our part to help ‘flatten the curve.’ Theo has his ginormous TV and it’s in a room with pocket doors, so I put the floor heating on in that room and he LOVES it. He’s still hogging the fur blankets I bought, but he’s pretty happy sitting and reading, surfing and watching tv. It’s too hot in there for me, so I have the rest of the house to myself. At least I got my Sonos speakers in time, so I have great tunes all around!

Happy Papa in his mini man cave.

We still get deliveries from my online shopping (for glamorous finishing details like toilet roll holders) and I wash my hands like a madwoman after touching the cardboard from every delivery. I still have a lingering cough from WHATEVER I caught in January. A delivery guy was here yesterday and I couldn’t hold back a cough. You should have seen his face! Poor thing. I quickly told him “No corona, no corona!” He ran back to his truck very quickly…hope he didn’t blacklist our address!

Without an established stocked kitchen, we’re not in the best situation to eat in the ‘manner we have become accustomed!’ But we are making due by being very tolerant of the lack of variety and trying to be creative with what we have. The store shelves were bare last weekend, so am hoping they’re getting restocked at least a little. And yes, we’re using every little square of toilet paper judiciously. Of course, we found out the hard way that today was St. Joseph’s Day and even the grocers are closed!

Most european national borders are closed, so don’t know when we’ll be able to get back into France. But we’re snug as a bug here in Spain.

Sending best wishes to all of you out there. If you’re stuck at home and want to chat, please feel to ring us on Messenger, WhatsApp (+33 630710551) or Skype (cindy.loevenich). Take care!!!

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Coronahhh…

We’re currently in Spain, waiting for the house to be finished, with no real kitchen— just an under-counter fridge and a cronky old electric cooktop. We’ve been eating out Spanish style with a large late lunch and that holds us for the day.

Well this afternoon I saw that the mayor of Madrid had virtually shut down the city to contain COVID-19. The thought crossed my mind that similar measures were most likely coming our way. Not 5 minutes later, I saw an alert announcing that restaurants and bars in the Valencian province where we are, were to close at midnight tonight for a minimum of two weeks. Yikes! And here we are living like we have no cares in the world. And WITH NOTHING TO EAT because WE HAVE NO REAL KITCHEN!!!

Well, it was getting late, so I shooed Theo to the car to peel out to the Mercadona to join in the mayhem that has been sweeping the northern hemisphere. And wow. Walked in and the fruit and vegetable isles were empty. Every last limp celery and bruised apple was gone. Amazing. And so we wandered around the store in search of ‘dry goods’ we could nibble on in the coming weeks. Without a freezer, we weren’t able to buy meat or anything in bulk. We were laughing at our funny on-the-fly menu planning, which included canned tuna, pasta, jalapeño olives (yum!), crackers, cartons of soup, packaged meat & cheese for sandwiches, nuts, some oh-so-important cava for me, and the rest of the cart was filled with red wine. At least if we have to quarantine ourselves, we can get happy!!! And toilet paper? Forget about it!

Do you have a funny story from the panic?

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On the Hunt in Spain

Today, I decided work before fun. So while Theo was still ‘resting,’ I started mopping the new floor tiles for the umpteenth time, scraping up the bits of plaster, grout, and paint spatters with my razor blade and scrubbie pad. After a first pass with the mop, then onto my knees for maniacal close-up scrutiny, I was still able to catch a glimpse of the amazing sunrise.

This was all in anticipation of putting down an area rug in the living room to not only warm it up a bit and absorb some of the noise, but to help us decide on colors and size of the eventual permanent rug.

I have a list of probably 50 rugs ‘bookmarked’ on my computer, but they are new or are retail antiques, and well, we’re always looking for a deal. Who isn’t??? When furnishing a house of this size from scratch, you gotta mix up the less expensive ‘finds’ with the full-retail pieces you really want. Well, I found a rug that I thought would be amazing for the living room on Catawiki. And after wrestling with their software, trying every freaking credit card I could find in the house to be accepted into their stupid system, I finally succeded in placing my first bid. While meeting the reserve price, a steal at €689 for a 2.5 meter x 3.5 meter Sarough with 360,000 knots per square meter in pristine condition and freshly cleaned with 9% auction fees and shipping of only €15, I was holding my breath as the auction was close to ending, thinking I was soon to be the new owner of this beauty. Then I got busy with something else for a few minutes, went to check the status, and yep, someone had swept in seconds before the lot closed and outbid me at €740. Still a bargain. Damn. Lesson learned. Anyone out there buy or sell stuff on Catawiki? I’m a newbie, but am always game.

So, no carpet for me. I decided with a vengeance that somehow we would wrestle the large rug (that was in the living room when we bought the house), back in from spending months outside under a watertight roof. After heaving it onto the patio and vacumming it to the best of my ability, Theo and I pulled, tugged, lifted, and cussed the heavy rug inside. Then tried to place it as well as possible. Here’s what it looks like now. Still fairly undressed, this room, but was better than a couple of days ago.

Theo with his nose in his iPad in our bare-bones living room with the old rug,
which isn’t so bad after all!

So after all this hard work was done, it was time to play, so we took showers and headed out to a furnishings store we had discovered last year. Thank goodness all the retail folks speak some English––it’s so much easier than in France! Engaged with a very interested sales gal and proceeded to find many items in their shop. Still need to take some measurements, but we found some very comfortable lounge chairs for the front patio, a great little outdoor dining table, a headboard for the downstairs large bedroom, a very comfortable sofa for the apartment, and candidates for the master bedroom.

After a satisfying lunch at our favorite Chinese food joint in Javea, we headed towards Calpe to a long-time design store favourite. On the way, Theo was peeling around a roundabout and I said “keep going!,” there’s a store over there we HAVE to go to. And we discovered the most interesting store ever! The Dutch owner was very helpful and when I described what I was looking for, she said she had something interesting in the basement (aka their warehouse on a lower level). We went down there and I didn’t want to leave. I was in my element (being a warehouse lover myself), this is where their inventory was unloaded, unwrapped, and wow, was there a lot of stuff.

I was on the hunt for a wowie-zowie bookcase unit with a Moroccan/ Indian/Asian feel to downplay the mid-century upholstered pieces in the room. And she showed me a beast. I forgot to take my phone, so don’t have a photo, but it was VERY similar to this one.

And a steal—they buy containers of Indonesian furniture that the destinare couldn’t pay for, so they get them for almost nothing, but they never know what’s going to be inside. What a fun business…right down my alley… UPDATE: I called after we got home to have them send a photo of the bookcase and she said another customer bought it right after we left. Go figure–just like the rug! But it wasn’t precisely what I had in mind anyway.

Went straight to the internet and found exactly what I had in mind. It’s white and will probably need a glaze over the paint, but I’m excited to FINALLY find what was in my head! (It’s to go on the large wall behind the two gold chairs that Theo is sitting in in photo above.)

We finally made it to our ultimate destination store, which ended up being a bust. Everything I remotely liked was so oversized and just not right for our space, so home we went. To measure. And dream. Now we cross our fingers that the stock market rebounds, as we’ve put a hold on more major purchases for the moment because of the effects of the Coronavirus on investments. 😭

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Costa Blanca Update

Oh my goodness. It seems an eternity since I sat my behind down to do some writing. To be fair, I’ve been sick for quite a few weeks with what is probably walking pneumonia. Still thinking it’s going to heal itself. Getting better every day, but oh-so-slowly.

Checkin’ to see if there’s just a little more space in there!

Anyway, so much for my pity party, we postponed our winter trip to Spain partly because the construction is slightly behind schedule and partly because I simply wasn’t up for the drive. But last weekend, we packed the car to the hilt and peeled out of France like the Beverly Hillbillies. I could have packed at least two more car fulls! Brought artwork, new bedding and towels, light fixtures that couldn’t ship to Spain, extra decorative items, a rug that will work perfectly here, new flatware, and just the crap that you have to stuff in when you’re going to be gone for two months! We laughed at ourselves every time we needed something from the trunk, as breath had to be held as we slammed down the lid and crossed our fingers it would ‘catch.’ I had used some old Space Bags for the down comforters, the ones you suck the air out with the vacuum, then seal like a zip-lock bag into a condensed rock-hard chunk. We put them in the car, closed the doors, then laughed our asses off when the seals didn’t hold and they expanded where they could. A funny Kodak moment…!!!

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, Zaragoza Spain
Image from Expedia

Split the 10 hour drive this time into two days and spent the night halfway in lovely Zaragoza. Just missed a Mardi Gras parade, but the old town is lovely and deserves further consideration. It was very civilized to sleep in, enjoy a leisurely breakfast and a little stroll around the neighborhood, and drive less hours per day. But I was chomping at the bit on Day 2 to get to the house and see the improvements.

We stepped through the doors and were absolutely delighted at the transformation! Opening up the kitchen just MAKES the house, even though the kitchen cabinets are still carcasses at this point.

The paint has made such an enormous difference and our contractors (obviously lovers of fine design) have applauded each of my choices. (pat pat on my back 😉) The workers had abandoned ship for a few days to give us time to settle in and we have made ourselves at home in the apartment on the pool level. Living vicariously in the Captain Hook beds left by the previous owners—a bad purchasing decision even 40 years ago! Anyhoo, design for the lower level is phase 2 after I get the main floor dialed in.

But it is slowly becoming a home. It’s been like Christmas for me unpacking the upholstered items we ordered on our last trip and opening the plethora of cartons of other furniture pieces I ordered online and had delivered here. Good thing we had assistance recycling all the cardboard and packing materials (almost a trailer full) — good helpers are always a welcome comfort.

Oh what fun it is to play…

We’ve spent today with the kitchen carpenter still hammering out details with the kitchen, as my ideas have changed a bit over time. SURPRISE!!! Not. Had to pick door handles, trick pull-out contraptions for the trash cans, under cabinet lighting, and last, but not least, the countertop material. And I did a 180°. Instead of black honed granite similar to what I have in France, I decided to go with a gray countertop (the cabinets are white). After viewing the pitiful selection of granite available and being told that yes, it HAS to be polished, I said ‘no thank you’ and decided on a matte textured ceramic slab. Talk about sticking my neck outside my comfort zone! Got home and researched the material and think I’ve just been out-of-the-loop and am way behind the times. It’s all the rage in Spain right now, so, well, when in Spain…

The other big reveal from our visit to the carpenter’s workshop was to view a big oak island countertop he had on display. I told him I wanted a wood counter for the long island we’re creating. And while he was showing it like a proud peacock, Theo and I were looking at it cross-eyed. To us it looked like a wide plank oak floor put on the top of a kitchen island (a beautifully done wide plank oak floor, but still!) Not our taste, but we are spoiled brats coming from the great land of oak trees, California.

Got home and started researching and found a company right in Valencia that do responsible olive wood products. And they make olive countertops. Wow, perfect! It’s not only in line with the region being in the middle of olive country, but they are stunning. Different. Modern looking, but with the wild striations of olive wood. I think I found my product! Now for enough time for a little field trip.

We likey…

Okay, better publish this post, as I have tons more to compile. But very little time, as we’re still getting deliveries like crazy, the contractors are here with questions, we’re still working out the kinks with appliances, the non-wood countertop guy was here, the kitchen guys have been making some changes I requested, I’m trying now to sell the wardrobes that were in our bedroom (as they no longer fit due to my brainiac changes), still moving temporary furniture around so we can live more comfortably downstairs, bought and returned Theo’s TV already (oops, no satellite receiver in the first one), the electrician comes each evening at 6 and is working like mad to finish the suite on top of the house, and I’m still ordering sinks, faucets, ceiling fans, light fixtures, music speakers, mattress toppers, side tables, wallpaper, and last, but not least, wine glasses! Now for a nice tall pour of Crianza.

Posted in American Expats in Spain, Buying a House in Spain, Costa Blanca, Renovating a Home in Spain, Spain | 4 Comments

And the Beat Goes On

As most of you already know, we lost our beloved little Alfie in early November. He made the car trip back to France just fine and he was SO HAPPY to be home. Then within a few days, he started to decline and we knew what we had to do. Although we miss him terribly, we are excited for the freedom being “pet-free” will bring us.

We are already stretching our wings—actually went out for Friday Night Cocktails (FNC) with friends yesterday. Can’t tell you how long it’s been! Anyway, in that same vein, last week we hopped on a flight to Spain to visit the house and do the furniture shopping that we didn’t accomplish during our October trip, due to Alfie being fairly ill.

View from our room at the harbour in Denia.

Yep, work has begun…

Well, we are over the moon with the progress on the reno—the team is going great guns on the house. I know many of you are asking for photos—and it seems I mostly have many, many shots of similar photos of the same floor tile, in different rooms. Tile in the kitchen. Tile upstairs. Tile in the bedroom. Tile downstairs. Yada, yada.

Sometimes in renovations, serendipitous things happen. We showed up and I had told the contractor that I wanted to paint out the dark beams in the kitchen and breakfast room, since we were joining the two rooms and the beams were headed in different directions. Well, we showed up and all of the beams in the whole house had been primed. I was surprised, but pleasantly! What a great mistake. It de-Spanish-izes the villa quite a bit, which will go a long way in modernising it.

The wall in the kitchen is history! Note the nice white beams.

Who knew it was this easy to get rid of an ugly fireplace?

My new doorway for the master bathroom.

During our trip, we scored twin sofas and a couple of side chairs for the living room. Also got a couple of tv chairs for our itsy-bitsy media room. We were impressed with the way the Spanish are willing to configure their models to get you exactly what you might want. You want a dining table 5 cm narrower than what they have in the showroom? No problem. You want softer cushions and custom upholstery on that sofa? No problem. Theo’s stamina for furniture shopping did not equal my maniacal endurance, but when we did reach a consensus, I was quick to call it a “done deal!”

The folks at the shop where we ended up buying the lion’s share didn’t have exactly the models we were interested in, so they called the manufacturer and set up a personal visit for us with an absolutely delightful gal who spoke flawless English! We were driving to Alicante anyway, so we took a slight detour inland. We sat our butts in every possible sofa in the private showroom. You just have to find THE ONE that has the right combination of softness, back support, cushion depth and, of course, the right arms. It’s me we’re talking about here. Not just all the comfort boxes to tick, but it must meet the aesthetic criteria as well!!!

Sunrise in Alicante. Living large at yet another fab hotel on the water.

Funny little story about the town, Yecla, where we visited the manufacturer. When we were driving through town, there was one furniture manufacturer after another, with bodegas tucked between. It was quite weird, actually. When we asked about it, the sales gal told us that the town used to be all wine makers, then there was a bad year and the grapes failed to produce, but the farmers had already ordered their wood to make the casks. They quickly reinvented themselves into furniture makers to use the excess wood. Pretty remarkable, actually, tragedy as the mother of invention. To this day, these are the two industries in Yecla: furniture and wine (two of my favorite things, I must say…)

Bloody Mary on the menu after shopping with Mr. T!

The interior vibe for the Spanish house is leaning more mid-century than I had anticipated, but we’re both excited to have something completely different than we have in France.

I have spent the last few days ordering like a mad woman. Where I could profit an extra 10-30%  on Black Friday items that were on my list, I went ahead and ordered. Many light fixtures are on their way!

We’re expecting the apartment to be done by mid-December, with the upstairs following in January. Furniture should be delivered in January, so we will plan to head back down (with a very full car, no doubt) after the New Year.

And most important of all…he still loves it!

Posted in American Expats in France, American Expats in Spain, Buying a House in Spain, Renovating a Home in Spain | Leave a comment

A Productive Month in Spain

We’ve been in Spain for over three weeks now and I’m really growing to like it here. The view is so fantastic and the sunrises are exceptional. The sunsets aren’t too bad either, but I’m so busy by that time of day, I often miss them. But I enjoy my morning coffee alone (while Theo still sleeps), overlooking the Mediterranean—a dream come true.

Remember, we bought the house furnished. Now that it’s time to start on the renovations, we are regretting that decision a bit, as it’s been a lot of work to get even just the books out. There were well over 1,000 books left behind by the sellers—beautiful hardbound books—all in German. So we boxed them up and donated them to a dog rescue that sells them for a great cause. And, most importantly, they come to your house for pick up. We have ordered another visit from them this week to pick up the better pieces of furniture, art, lamps, and tons of stuff from the kitchen.

A small portion of the kitchen stuff I am parting with!

Bye bye kitchen!

Speaking of which, everyone told me it couldn’t be done…selling a 16-year-old kitchen (albeit, a SIEMENS kitchen, as the seller reminded us not less than 15 times!), but I managed to sell it outright! A lady came to look at The Beast (see previous post), but it was not the right color for her. So half jokingly, I asked, “How ‘bout a kitchen?” She mentioned they had just closed on a house after renting here for 12 years and they most certainly needed a new kitchen. Well, I quickly measured up all the components and they went to their new house to see if it could work. And it did! Sold the whole thing, including appliances!!! She has hired someone to come and remove it later this week, right before we return to France. And with the kitchen gone, the contractor plans to tear out the wall to expand the space the week after. So here we go! We’re off to the races.

The space left after the Beast was picked up.

As far as the rest of the stuff, I sold the big leather ‘walrus’seating pieces the through our local community Facebook group to a neighbor. And sold the ‘Beast’ of a buffet to a Spanish lady through FB Marketplace. The rest of the furniture we donated to the local church to be distributed to the needy.

Since we need to return to France for a few weeks in November, we have picked out the new floor tile, so they can get going with that project. I did a 180° on it—I had planned to use the wood-look tile to give the house a warm, traditional feel. But after looking at umpteen million samples, I only liked the brand new, very expensive type. Of course! And the price was WAY crazy!

New floor tile selection.

So back to the tile shop I went and found something that was quite attractive. A large-scale (45 x 90 cm) matte-finish stone-look porcelain tile. More modern, which makes Theo very happy, and when we brought the huge sample home, we both loved it. Bingo! And at one-fifth the price, it was a done deal.

Theo and Alfie ‘enjoying’ the last night in the smelly blue velvet vibrating massage chairs. Hate to see them go. Not!

And so my work is cut out for me. I found my design inspiration a few months ago, but now is the time to make it a reality and find actual products to fit the images I have in my head. And so this trip has been a daily designmania for me, grinding away at the floor plan, picking plumbing and light fixtures, adjusting the tile layouts, and finalizing the electrical plan. Etc., etc…

Got a tip about a local kitchen builder and decided to go with him instead of Häcker. Options were better, service was better, prices were better, and we’re giving business to two brothers instead of an international conglomerate. That always feels good. The language difference is again a challenge on this project, but somewhere between our French, English, and Spanish (and thank goodness for drawings), we’re getting what we want [fingers crossed.]

 

About half way through our time here, our dear Alfie got very ill. We were afraid we were going to lose him. He is, after all, almost 15 years old, has an enlarged heart and occasional water in his lungs. But our friends here referred us to a great vet that rehydrated him, injected some antibiotics and vitamins, and got him on probiotics to grow good bacteria in his gut, as he had stopped eating and had ferocious diarrhea. Two days later, his eyes were sparkling, he started eating like a bear, his stool was normal, and he had energy like the old days. Whew! He is on medication for the rest of his life, but we are so glad to have our little guy back to normal.

We made this 3-tiered path to the sofa for Alfie.

And lastly, we celebrated Theo’s 70th birthday here on the Costa Blanca. Not the big whopping party we threw for his 60th, but a nice night out at the harbor in Denia. And, of course, us giving thanks that we can have this great second property to enjoy.

Theo with Alfie, his “little boy in a doggie suit.”

Posted in American Expats in Spain, Buying a House in Spain, Costa Blanca, Expat Blog, Renovating a Home in Spain, Spain, Spain, Traveling Abroad with Dogs | 6 Comments

And back to Spain…

We’ve enjoyed a wonderful summer in France but when the leaves started to fall and the fog became thicker in the morning, it signaled time for us to visit the house in Spain. Not only will it give us another month of ‘summerish’ weather, but it’s time to start dialing in the changes we want to make to the house and pick out materials.

Pamplona, Spain. Photo: VaqueroFrancis/Flickr Creative Commons

We decided to travel a different route this time, so instead of going the Toulouse/ Narbonne/Barcelona/Tarragona/Valencia way, we went to Bordeaux, then down past San Sebastien, Pamplona, Zarazoga, then across to Valencia. It was a much nicer drive (in our opinion), some beautiful scenery crossing the Pyrenees, and freeway the entire way. The tolls are not inexpensive, but we made the drive in less than 10 hours total, and traveling on a Sunday with very little traffic and limited trucks is always our first choice.

On the home stretch, we visited the local LEGENDARY smokehouse and picked up a chicken and a half for the three of us (Theo, me, and Alfie, our dog) and a bottle of white for the two of us. When we got to the house, I quickly set up a table and chairs on the front patio and we enjoyed chomping away at the carcasses in the candlelight.

First dinner back in Spain.

Washed the sheets before we left last time, so needed to make the beds first thing. I was putting the cases on our new pillows we bought last trip, cause who wants to sleep on someone else’s old pillows, right? Well I was putting on the cases and forgot that they are made open on each end. So I’m shaking the long king-size pillow down into the case and it poops out the other end! Ugh. The differences of yet another new country. But I love the exploration.

All was well at the house, even after the storms of the past couple of weeks. Now it is time to retake measurements, lay my ideas out in real-time-and-space, and make some decisions. We are interviewing contractors and will make a decision this month. We’ve sharpened our to-do list and are very excited to get this place updated and put our stamp on it.

We are realizing that since the gardener comes only once a month, we will need to purchase a blower (and possibly a power washer) for the patios. Those old-fashioned brooms and mops are simply too much work! I love my outdoor time and really appreciate a clean terrace. Think these will be my birthday present from Theo, as he’s always so thoughtful that way!!! And so it goes. No rest for the weary!

We are enjoying the beautiful weather and I’ve been swimming in the pool. But mostly I’ve been making lists for the contractor meetings and tweaking my floor plans. We went and looked at a tile warehouse and they have a good variety at fair prices, so I think we can find suitable materials for the floors, bathrooms, and kitchen locally. Score!

Theo fondling some yummy tiles for the bathroom. Look, ma, no glasses! Cataracts gone and laser correction all in one!!!

Trying to figure out what furniture pieces to keep, what to sell, and what to donate. And attempting to perfect the timing of the final disposition of each item, so that we don’t end up sitting on the floor!

Went to a kitchen dealer today and Euro shopping is so, so different than what I knew in the States. But I have told myself I will try to adopt more of a Euro style, even though it raises the hair on my neck! I think I found a good compromise today at Häcker…

The kitchen cabinet style I’ve chosen from the catalog.

Stay tuned…tomorrow is another day.

Posted in American Expats in Spain, Buying a House in Spain, Expat Blog, Renovating a Home in Spain, Spain | 3 Comments

What is the Opposite of Inspiration?

In my seemingly never-ending quest for some design inspiration for the Spanish house, I ended up this evening outside, surfing for light fixtures, of all things! I always try to buy local, so was looking for some Spanish lighting stores that maybe carried something a little different from the tacky standard issue…

It seems when they build in Spain, they don’t wire for ceiling lights, in fact, there is seldom a ceiling fixture. Instead, the cord is run along a beam or across the ceiling to install a ceiling fan or central fixture.

And so in our new project, there are TONS of wall sconces. Yuk. And all of them in our house are FUGLY. And so I thought, if anywhere, maybe looking for lighting fixtures might bring on some inspiration and catapult me into the  happy-ever-after land of a design vision for the house. But alas, no.

But I did have a giggle at a few of these and thought I’d share. And these are just from one site! (And I thought sourcing in France was difficult!!!) Yikes, there is some fun to be had in my future!

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Posted in Expat Blog, Renovating a Home in Spain | 7 Comments

Spain: It’s All Ours!

Wow, gotta get caught up with y’all!

Ready to go!

https://www.waze.com

We took a little 2 week break to finalise the deal on the house in Spain the last week of June and first week of July. Drove down in the BMW (the cruiser), since we needed to take Alfie with us. On the way there, we made it a 2-dayer, staying overnight in Girona in northern Spain. But coming home, we decided to stay an extra day and drive it in one lump. It was 10.5 hours door-to-door, including garbage drop off, pee breaks, snack purchases, and gas-ups. I drove most of it and have to admit that I did not stick to the limit…not even close…but no love letters from any cameras along the way so far! Found a great app called WAZE that alerts you to speed cameras and up-to-date traffic information. Invaluable!

Before closing, the sellers showed us all the details of the house and gave us tons of contacts, so I think we’re in pretty good shape. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they left a lot of stuff behind, even staples in the fridge, so it was very, very easy to just move in.

The sellers threw themselves a going away party and invited us to meet their circle of neighbours and friends. It was a lovely evening and a great opportunity to make some contacts in the community (of course, forgot to take some pics).

After taking over the house, we proceeded to start digging through the ‘stuff.’ And boy, there is a lot of stuff! (little secret…there were a LOT of owls). It’s not all keepers, but it sure was nice to not have to rush out and buy things under duress.

The butter yellow leather furniture Theo has lovingly coined “The Walruses.”

Even though we were provided with floor plans, they were not the final build plans, so I proceeded to remeasure and draw the house plan on my computer, which took an amazing amount of time, but I’m sure glad I have it now. It’s so much easier to pick furniture, window dressings, etc, with the measurements. I’m a maniac like that!

We’ve nicknamed this monster “The Beast.” It’s a quality custom-made piece for the entryway, but is massive! The top is 50″ tall and it’s 3-3/4 yards long!!! Will try to repurpose it or find someone else who loves it! Maybe paint it and use in my studio.

So, not that you care, but I plan to share my design inspirations here, if for nothing else, to make me gather my thoughts and start narrowing down what to do with the place.

Even though it’s move-in-able (my word), I need to make some changes. But, of course! It is a fabulous property and I think with some updating and contemporizing, if we want to sell down the line, we will be in great shape.

The biggest think I didn’t like about the property is the floor tiles. They are standard-issue, dated, and not my style. But they are in fantastic shape, so we should be able to tile right over them. There is underfloor heating, so our choices are a bit limited. Am leaning toward a large-scale wood-look tile (even though I’ve never like them much before, being a purist snob, given the circumstance, they make great sense!)

This is what I’m thinking to update the floors.

The second biggest project will be the kitchen. It is a top-of-the-line kitchen from 16 years ago, but it is tiny. And I am not. I need more space. And it’s a bit on the dark side in there. And so the “Siemens” kitchen has to go. Did I mention they said it was a Siemen’s kitchen? I’m hoping to sell it complete with appliances, but if not, we may consider moving it to the apartment downstairs to upgrade that space. My plan is to remove a wall between the kitchen and the winter garden to let in more light and simply open up the space.

Current kitchen.

 

Current winter garden. The wall (out of the picture to the right) will go.

The bathrooms need to be gutted and redone, but this should be fairly straightforward. Nothing scares me anymore!

Master bath. The baby blue crap is going. The corner tub goes bye-bye. The pissoir and bidet, ugh! And the ugly vanity. It all goes! Square bathrooms are not easy to design, but I’ll figure it out.

And here is the teeny-tiniest guest bath of all times. Would never pass inspections in the States! But I think I can do better. The pink is history!

 

Did I mention the owls? It started actually freaking us out a bit, as we looked around, in each room, another one! And another one! And did you notice that one??? Eeeks. We love owls, since we have the nesting couple in France, but yikes!, some of these have to go!

I’m still looking for decorating inspiration, but am thinking something on the contemporary side with splashes of antiquties and quirky. Am currently gathering ideas and will be putting together design boards very soon.

While we were there, we made it into a mini vacation. With many dips a day into the pool, I actually read a non-fiction book, which is a rarity in my life these days. But I think I will be able to switch my focus in Spain, since the garden is all on drip irrigation and the house will be finished, I can turn my attention to other things (in contrast with the never-ending long, long list of to-do’s in France). I can actually just enjoy the mediterranean garden and not be so obsessed with the garden, as in France.

Okay, enough for today. More details on Spain soon. In the meantime, we have endured the second horrible heat wave in France, with the garden getting scorched. Then two days of rain! At least everything is greening up again and it makes the weeds a bit easier to pull! All is well with us, though. Lots of social gatherings in the summer and I try to hit as many brocantes as possible to stock up on Etsy store stock!

 

Posted in American Expats in France, Buying a House in Spain, Interior Design Concept Boards, Spain | 5 Comments