I can’t believe I’m finally living in this house that I dreamed of for so long.
It’s completed, well, the inside is. We’ll probably start renovation in the outside area in the Spring season.
I think this renovation was the most difficult renovation we did because we started while we were still living in New York.
We were in constant contact with our architect here in Greece at all hours of the day and night. What made it difficult was the fact that we were more than ten hours away by plane and seven hours behind in comparison to them here. It was hard.
Living room, guest bathroom (not fully finished), stairs
You always make plans before you start renovation/construction. The plans are usually minimal or the priority. But things never go as planned once you start chopping walls.
We went from simply adding stairs to connect both floors, to gutting out the entire house and doing pretty much everything. It was the best decision we made, we love it all, but it was time consuming too.
Our goal was for the house to be completed before Sophia started school in September. We wanted to be settled in and we wanted the transition for the kids into school and into the house to be smooth.
But God always has different plans. Instead, we continued to live in the farmhouse for the month of September and beginning of October because of delays.
Guest bedroom
Sophia and Nicholas's bedroom
It worked out fine living in the farmhouse for an extra month and we quickly had a routine going. But it was difficult to come to the city house every day and not be able to move in when it all seemed so close to being complete.
We eventually moved in the second week of October 2021. Before moving in, we made sure Sophia’s and Nicholas’s bedrooms were fully furnished, their clothes were put away and their toys was visible to them. I wanted them to feel comfortable in their new bedroom and most importantly, I wanted it to feel familiar to them. Thankfully, they loved it and felt very comfortable in their new space.
Kitchen, hallway, old living room with fireplace - removed to add space for stairs and new master bedroom
We also made sure the furniture and appliances we bought here in Greece had been delivered and that everything was working properly before we moved in. We did end up changing our fridge because it was dented and because it took up too much space in our kitchen.
From the very beginning, everything was on schedule and planned out perfectly by our architect, turned friend. And even though there were minor delays, they weren't serious. This is just how construction is.
Yianni and I have been through this many times before so we understood even tough it frustrated us.
bathroom before
The stairs was the last thing to be installed in the house. An amazing carpenter made it for us from ash wood. He traveled almost two hours from his home to install our stairs and closets (in all the bedrooms).
bathroom after
Today, I write from my house. I feel very comfortable here - as if I’ve lived here
forever. We love everything we did to this house - it's a completely different house! I'm glad we just didn't add stairs to combine both floors and instead renovated the house to be our forever house.
front balcony before and after
We have yet to decorate it fully, but we have everything we need. I’m also glad the transition from the farmhouse into the city house was easy for our family. And most importantly, we feel blessed and completely happy here.
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