I have always lived in apartments and loved it. And all the apartments Yianni and I have lived in, we have renovated. We complain every time we decide to renovate but I think deep down we do like it.
Yianni likes the Modern styles and I like more of the Transitional styles. But I love how we make our styles come together. And I must admit, many times Yianni has a better vision than I do and all I have to do is trust him with it. And it always comes out perfect!
The first renovation we ever did was in our two bedroom rental apartment right before we got married eleven years ago. We didn't like the kitchen cabinets in there and so we changed them. We also added new paint and a few other things to make the apartment feel more like our own.
Our last renovation was two years ago when we bought our second apartment in New York City. We went from a two bedroom to a three bedroom apartment because Nicholas was on the way and more space was needed.
We thought that this was it for us. We wouldn't move anymore. We were happy with the area, the apartment, all the amenities (pools, gym, restaurant, tennis courts) and so we decided to do all the renovations at that time rather than later. We designed it to fit our needs and wants. We removed the bathtub (I hate bathtubs!) and added a stand up shower instead and added a wine fridge in the kitchen. We also removed the carpet, added bamboo flooring throughout, fully renovated the kitchen and bathroom, painted, and so on. It was hard word and there were a lot of things to figure out but we love the way our apartment came out. Yianni and I incorporated both of our styles and it worked out great.
But sometimes life throws you a curveball!
We have thought for years (since before we got married) about moving out of New York City. So even though we love our apartment and everything about it deep down, moving wasn't out of the question. After years of conversations and working towards our goal, Greece made the most sense for our family.
Thus our new renovation! We are currently renovating our first (and hopefully last!) house in Greece (YES! A house! I'll be living in a house for the first time in my life!) and we are so excited!
This renovation is definitely the hardest one out of them all because we are so distant - ten hours away by airplane and seven hours difference to be exact!
There has been many middle of night phone and video calls, many decisions to
make about flooring, to add one thing or another, there were plenty of disagreements and misunderstandings but we know it is all going to be so worth it.
We are thankful for the amazing architect team making our vision a reality.
The house itself is two separate houses that we are combining to make one house. So we had to make decisions about where to keep the kitchen or where to add the stairs to combine the two floors for instance and we wouldn’t have been able to do that or anything else for that matter if it wasn’t for our amazing architect and her team's help. When it is all set and done, it will be the house of our dreams and a completely different house.
The plan is to move into this house mid August before Sophia begin school. And that’s around the same time the things we shipped from New York City will be arriving in Greece. Hopefully it all works out.
I'm also super excited for all the decorating! Pinterest has given me tons of inspirations and I can't wait to see it come together. We decided to look for new furniture/home pieces in Greece so we gave away pretty much all of our furniture to friends, family, and neighbors in New York. We're happy our eleven years old furniture pieces made someone else happy.
One of the first things I want to do when we arrive in Greece is look for small business furniture shops. I love the idea of having pieces in my house that was made by someone locally.
So there's a lot going on! A lot of good things! Make sure you stick around because there’s even more coming! And I don't want you to miss any of it!
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