and so the construction begins...part deux

so it is not all fun and games here...very dusty and noisy.

our smallest bedroom (aka) M's new bedroom...has a new door (we decided to move the door from the right side of the wall to the left). guess it was not such a huge deal since it took the contractor 1/2 day to install.

there is so much dust around...i mean in the kitchen in M's room in our room EVERYWHERE. even this computer i am typing on has a layer of dust on it! i have asked for the doorways to be covered in plastic. i can't stand it anymore and it's only been 1 week - 2 more to go if they run on schedule!

and so the construction begins...

This week we have re-started our construction on the apartment...

It's been a bit stressful since F is on a business trip and M was sick this week. But we are almost to the end of the week and F will be home tomorrow!

The electricians are laying the power lines for the rest of the apartment (except for the kitchen - that will be last). And they will be installing our radiators (next week...freezing in here...can't wait!). The floors are dusty with plaster debris...I just can't stand it but no use in really scrubbing since they are not finished (but I will hit it hard tomorrow - so we can enjoy clean floors for the weekend).

Then Monday the contractors will begin work on our smallest bedroom (which will be M's new bedroom when it is complete). Hopefully the construction will only take a few weeks - up to 3 weeks. M's room will become our temporary room. And we will use our large master bedroom as the living room until we are ready to do the next phase of construction.

It is hard to have M here when the electrician is in and out of rooms. Lucky M's room is complete and we can chill in there.

It is also COLD here and RAINY (today - yesterday was a pretty good day - We went to the Zoo).

Other than that I am in class 3 days a week/3 hours a day (plus the commute - so total 5 hours away 3 days a week...very tiresome). But I have met a few nice people...who don't speak English (well I don't think they do - since they are from Spanish/Arabic speaking countries). So French is what we have in common...even though my French is not very good and I ask them to repeat themselves A LOT somehow we understand each other ;-) My Professor is an older man (maybe 60's) he is very sarcastic and funny. He makes the class and learning fun. I feel more confident as I am understanding almost everything that is going on. But I really hate grammar still...haha!

until next time....

painting fiasco

We had wallpaper in our living room that we could not live with any longer.

Since we plan to fully remodel the living room at another time (after the new year) we decided to just paint over the wallpaper instead of spending the time to take it down.

We painted 2 coats of primer because it was textured wallpaper.  We picked out a yellow color that we thought was similar to the yellow we had in our Florida Home.  It was not...before we took the time and tested multiple colors before painting all of the walls.  Well here we just chose a color in the store - BTW the paint is premixed here and ready to go...OR you can also have it mixed. 

So we chose a yellow and didn't test samples and we didn't stop at painting at the first wall.  Never Never Never pick a color from a brochure and always stop at the first wall.  After we finished the first coat of yellow on ALL of the walls we decided we did not like.  The YELLOW pictured here is not a good representation...it was soooooooooooooooo bright and we could not even turn on the light or we would be blinded ;-)

We had to paint the walls white before we could paint our new color (which was 2 more coats).  Then we chose a beige/green.  This paint was the exact same paint as the yellow but for some reason it was runnier so we had to do 2 coats.

YES a total of 7 coats of paint.  It was really exhausting 3 days!

I will post more photos after we have hung up our paintings/decor...

the big move...

Tomorrow is the big move FINALLY!!!!

The movers should be at our apartment at 8:30am (Paris time). M is being watched by his Mammie at the temporary apartment. While F and I organize the delivery. I am forecasting a long day.

This weekend we spent the entire time cleaning and preparing the apartment for our shipment. We got a lot done.

Here are some pics of our bedroom floors (in some of them you can see the before and after). We revitalized them with some kind of Parquet chemical (I attached a photo of the product we used).

More pics to come...

Enjoy!

update on promises...

The contractor did come yesterday and he installed the Water Heater. Not sure if he connected our water exhaust to the neighbors or not...This is important so we can actually USE the new bathroom.

He should be installing the surround for the shower today (as he asked what kind of glass - clear, opaque or one with a decoration on it)...we went with Clear btw.

I will update with pics later tonight as we usually go after 3pm when F's parents arrive.

promises

The contractors promised that they will be here tomorrow - Sunday. YES they are committing to work on SUNDAY! That is amazing for The French. Let's see if they keep their promises...

F's dad finished staining and buffing the floors today. He still needs another coat of wax. But it looks 100% better already. I included one before pic (sanded and unsanded floor) foe comparison.

no progress...

That's right the contractors did not come on Monday nor today!!!! F is mad and so are his parents. They called the contractor today but I had a hard time understanding what was said. I think they are going to connect the water execution with the neighbors on Thursday. They had to make an appointment with the neighbor. If that is true then MAYBE they can at least get the shower finished by our move out date which is Tuesday. Wednesday is a holiday here in France...a big one. Bastille Day ~ July 14th. It is like their Independence Day. So there might be a lot of people on vacation this week for the contractor. Not sure what is going to happen if we don't have a shower. I might be washing my hair in the kitchen sink!

The only progress that was made was by F's dad today. He put the stain on the floors and he will polish it tomorrow. Then a polish of wax will go on after that. Not sure if it will be done tomorrow or Thursday. But Saturday we will for sure be able to move in M's toys and furniture into the room!!! Then we can finish organizing the rest of the space before all of our stuff arrives ;-)

floors

F's dad has been working tirelessly for 2 weeks now sanding the floors of the bedroom and hallway.

Here are a few pics of his progress. Next step is staining and waxing them which will take place this week. This will complete the bedroom.

I have more photos to post of the completed bedroom once we get some good shots with our wide angle lens (sorry can't do it till this weekend)...stay tuned!

Pic # 1 is his first attempt and Pic # 2 is when it is completed (darker flooring is the bedroom next door to compare sanded vs. unsanded.

in construction part trois...almost completed

As you can see the walls are completed and painted and the bathroom is tiled and the shower is in! We are currently only waiting for F's dad to stain and wax the floors and doors to complete the bedroom!!! He will be working on them this week.

And as for the bathroom this is a whole different story. In the bathroom photo looks completed but we are nowhere near completed. The contractors still need to connect the water execution to the neighbors, install the water heater, toilet, sink, and finish up the shower installation. They assure us that this will not take too long. But our Sea Shipment is currently scheduled to arrive on Monday, July 12th (that is 1 week from today!). I am going this afternoon to check if there was any progress today. Let's hope they actually came today and did something!

in construction part deux...

In these photos the contractors have put up the bathroom and hallway walls which have been fitted with Green Board. Green Board was used as the original walls were made of plaster and were cracked. It was suggested the best way to remedy this was to dry wall over the plaster to prevent more cracks and future repairs. Last photo is of the bathroom...sorry the angle is not good. It doesn't give you an idea of how big it is. But with only green walls you can't really tell anyway :-) More to come!

Photos taken May 2010

in construction...

Here are some photos during the demolition phase of the bedroom/bathroom.

In Photos # 1 and 2 they found more space which widens the room! They found about a foot of space which were a few small closets and an old chimney that was not working any longer. We were able to cap off the chimney and take them out which widened the bedroom to 9.5ft x 11ft!

In Photo # 3 the contractors removed the flooring where the bathroom will be placed.

Photo # 4 is a view from the main door to the Window.

These photos were taken back in April 2010

apartment BEFORE pics

Here are 2 before pics of the Bedroom that we are updating. This will be a series of posts as I have a lot of photos.

This is the space where we are creating a new bathroom/bedroom. This is a long but narrow room (8.5 ft x 19ft). So we used up some of the space for a 6x8 bathroom.

The first photo shows the bedroom before from the window to the main door. The bathroom will be to the right of the main door. There is a corridor/hallway that connects the main door to the bedroom entrance.

And the second photo is from the main door to the window.

As you can see there was a lot of work that needed to be done. In the following posts you will see this room be transformed! Stay Tuned ;-)

Photos taken February 2010

i need some hobbies...

Well when things settle down here I do. I think after we move into our apartment and are all unpacked I am going to try out sewing, making jewelry, baking and cooking. Stay tuned as I learn these skills (and maybe more!). I am going to check out a craft/art store today Rougier et Plé. It is just up the road from our apartment (our apartment not the temporary).

After we walk around the craft/art store we are going to pop in and see the apartment and then maybe play at a local square - Square Léopold-Achille on 5 Rue du Parc Royal. One of the city's websites says it has a playground for children. Let's see if it is good for little ones. Nothing will beat the one we found near Canal Saint-Martin in the 10eme.

Have a good day I will post some pics (of the apartment, park and store) once I get back from our walk.

le weekend part deux

This weekend we spent cleaning again on Saturday. I finished up cleaning the large windows in our living room and bedroom (glass and frame). They are huge by the way at least 15 ft or more (I need to measure them for curtains so I will post the actual height). Needless to say I needed the largest ladder ever to get to the top. And I still could not get one angle so I had to have F (he is 6'3" btw!) help. I also washed the curtains in our new washer/dryer (all in one).

And good news our dryer WORKS (we have an all in one washer and dryer)! I have been having difficulties with the temporary apartments washer/dryer all in one. It just makes the wet clothes super HOT instead of actually drying them! My dad had this issue when they rented an apartment here 2 years ago. As well as another friend who rented an apartment for a short trip...he had to pack his suitcase with wet clothes! haha!

F worked on moving stuff into the Cave (Basement). We have a good sized basement probably around 100 sqft. However there is a lot of items that need to be thrown out (old wood from old/broken furniture). But once it is cleaned up we have some potential for storage.

ALSO one great thing is that our contractor came on Saturday too! I was so surprised to see him. He hung the doors in the bathroom and bedroom and set up the area for the shower and toilet. The next two weeks they will be finishing up. All they have left to do is finish the line for the water, grout all tile, paint the bedroom, install baseboards, toilet, shower, radiator, hot water heater and sink.

It sounds like a lot but the contractor said that these items will not take too long and that all of the hard work is done.

I will post some more pics this week (Tuesday) of their progress. I will also post a few "before" pics.

As for Sunday I will do another post as I have a few great photos from our walk around Paris.

quick remodeling update!

The contractors laid the tile flooring in the bathroom (yesterday) and are in the middle of tiling the walls! Attached is a pic of their progress!!!

temporary housing...

We can not wait to be outta here and into OUR apartment. I am tired of doing laundry every other day, running the dishwasher everyday and going to the market every other day because everything is miniature here! M is also waking us up at 6am screaming because he is sharing a room with us. He sees us and wants to wake up and play.

But alias OUR apartment is still not ready and we have no idea where our (air and sea) shipments are. The company that is coordinating our shipment has not answered the emails F has sent...and it's been 3 weeks now. We were told the air shipment would take 1-2 weeks and the sea 4-6 weeks. I am not very positive we will see anything for awhile!

Progress on the apartment renovations for the bath & bedroom! They put in all of the lighting, radiators and switches yesterday. And the flooring tile for the bathroom came in!!! So "HOPEFULLY" they will install it today and tomorrow!!! HOPEFULLY because of course C'est La France - the metro conductors are striking (most lines are running but at 50%/75% - this makes a big deal). My in-laws did not want to come into the city because they were afraid the rush hour traffic would be crazy leaving tonight.

I am going to go over there tomorrow to check it out. We are all going over on Saturday to clean (F's parents included). More details soon