The New House: Before!

      As most of you know, we're moving! After seven lovely years on our farm we're off to São Pedro do Sul to start a new adventure, but not before we get our new house in order and that's going to take quite a bit of work!

The main hall seen from the front door.

     My good friend, Cheryl Naja, has convinced me that people would be interested in seeing the evolution of our renovation. Personally, I'm hoping some of you out there with more sense about these things might have some ideas for the space that you can share with us!

 

    The house has been vacant for some time and for now the contractors are in the process of replacing all the flooring, wood panelling on the ceiling and rewiring the whole house. As anyone who's spent any time in an old European house knows, there are precious few electric outlets, so one of my requests when we started this project was LOTS and LOTS of outlets, especially in the kitchen. In my current house I have to sit on the floor to use my blender because there are no outlets at counter level. Nevermore!

Fireplace in the kitchen

Original marble sink in kitchen

     The kitchen is small, quite a bit smaller than our current kitchen, but like any house, it's the center of the action. I decided to keep the original marble sink, which are very common in older Portuguese houses, although for some reason people are getting rid of them. Next to and above the sink will be a counter/stove/shelving unit (which I have yet to decide on so ideas are welcome!) The fireplace (whose brick chimney is bring restored) will serve as heating for the house in more ways than the obvious. Inside the fireplace we are installing a 'recuperador' (which I don't know the word for in English) but essentially it's filled with water. The fire heats the water and then the water will run through copper piping in the floors to all the radiators in each room. The heating system will also be able to run off electricity, either from the solar panel that we will have on the roof, or from the grid.

     Then there's bathroom (cue screeching violins...) It's a blank canvas to say the least. The bidet on the right is coming out as well as the toilet. Where the toilet is will be come a standing shower with a small sides (around 30cm) so it can also be a bath, but a very small one...perfect for a small child! The toilet will oriented on the left right after the window but before the shower.

    

Manuel's room

    Besides needing floors, spackle, paint, mouldings and everything else, the bedrooms are pretty much done...not really.

 
                        But this is the view I'll get to wake up to every morning.
                               Look out for the upcoming 'after' photos!