About Renovating

The good thing about renovating a house or part of a house is that you can make it to your taste and at your options.

The bad thing is that you need to make compromises. Sometimes it just can't be done as you like and unexpected situations come up and you need to rethink your ideas.

Here are some of my latest observations:

Even if you are visiting your construction site on a daily basis you will find surprises (like my sister who is renovating a house here in Stuttgart).

And even when you have agreed on something and approved it, it might not look good when it is finalized (like some parts of our terrace in Italy):



A small construction site (like one room) or a large construction (like one entire house) only means you might have more time for details when having a small project. But this can drive you crazy nevertheless (like my bathroom renovation in Germany):



You need a long breath and iron nerves for renovation projects. From what I see, men tend to rush and make quick decisions and then can live with their decision while women tend to weigh all options in sleepless nights to finally come to the 'perfect' decision. The result - of course - is not the same because the quick decision maker has overseen at least one important detail (e.g. the space for the towel rail needed some more inches...). However, as said before, men can live with this.

My advise: If you spent a lot of money on renovating be sure not to rush. Better to find a lot of inspirations first, draw layouts and different perspectives to find the best solution and maybe even get some advise from an interior designer. Even the craftsmen might have good ideas as they have seen many solutions.

The iron nerves are also important when dealing with craftsmen (at least here in Germany). Instead of thanking you for the assignment you have to thank them for having time for you. The crisis seems not have touched them so far.

But this morning I was lucky. My German plumber has offered me a cup of coffee and a Brezel when I came to sign the contract.

Do YOU have any advise or experience to share about renovation ?

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photo sources: the pics from our Italian palazzo were taken by our architect - the first one was sent yesterday. Grazie!

Now I have to live with this ...

Our windows are ready!

Look!

What is this?

Who has chosen these shiny hinges?


Oh, no!
Nobody has asked me to choose hinges!
I would have never chosen this colour! Not this shape!


Oh, no!
Was it a language problem?
I don't even know if hinges is the right word in English... (maybe cardine in Italian?)

Or was it a trick to get rid of these ugly pieces?

Oh, I am so stupid to not have though myself of this!

Big mistake! Big mistake!

We have discussed about colour and material and shape for the window frames, but that was it.
Windows need hinges and handles... an important detail!!!
Now I have to live with this...
... maybe I can paint them white?... every year.... sh*t!

Windows, windows... we have around 24 windows ...

Did I tell the other story about our windows?
That we had to order the windows in two different colours? White for the inside - and brown for the outside, because our architetto claimed that this is a restriction from the commune?
Pah!! Mistake!
This summer we learned, that white window frames for the outside is historically totally correct for palazzi in the historical center of Pizzo. Brown is more for the area around Serra San Bruno, mountain region...
No, this is not funny!

Okay, I have to admit, that maybe white windows might not look that great on our facade as we have white plaster like a second frame around the windows (see picture). So a brown window frame (or green or grey, also allowed by the town council) might look a bit less pale. We will see.

But not these window hinges and handles!
Big mistake: to not pay attention into details!

Another mistake (from my point of view) was the granite chosen for the window sills.

View from a different angle

I received emails from Angelo and Pitt, the architect. They saw my earlier post about my granite association issue. They both tried to calm me down. The granite stone's surface is rough and not polished. Only when it is wet the dark spots are a bit bold. Otherwise it looks natural and elegant like in the above pictures. The window sills at the front facade are new. They have not been there before. I have to say, I am relieved. It looks good. Thank you Angelo and Pino Pitt for keeping me posted regularly and dealing with my concerns! Also thank you Suzy (Studio Annetta in Hong Kong) and Cheryl (From the Pines in France) for mental support!

Nobody is Perfect

When you do a renovation you want to do it perfect. Like a perfect cake or a perfect picture. But you are not perfect, nor is a renovation. - Especially when you follow the renovation work from far far away like I do.

So the above picture stands for the first wrong decision we made. Or for the first decision we did not make.

We saw the granite stone plates on top of the balustrade of the terraces. We did not like it much, but said, okay, we can life with that. Not too bad. Why change it when it is already there. And more granite plates were laying under the roof. They were bought by the former owner who wanted to renovate the house but did not finish. We did not realize that these pieces were for the windowsills and door sills. Somehow we knew, but apparently we forgot about them. Then, do you remember, we bought these wonderful blue tiles for the terrace that looks like the Calabrian sea and the sky at the same time? - Now our Calabrian sea has to end at these door sills. They look like my grandfather's tomb slab. They do!

I hope I will be able to life with that (of course there is worse in life!) But we could have easily ordered new sills in a more neutral tone, some broken white tone. I hope I will not think about graves or wrong decisions whenever I walk over these sills. It looks Especially when the stone is wet, it looks ... stop!

Look: In the next picture it seems not too bad. It shows the actual status of the renovation of the roof terrace.


You might say: hey, it is not too late, take them out! Now!
Sigh. Tough decision. I am not on site to realize the actual effect. Maybe it is not too bad after all.

The good news is, that we will be on site in about three weeks!!!! And then I will know more. I can't wait to see everything in person, although Angelo emails us half dozen pictures every day. GRAZIE! BTW, these two pictures were mailed by him today.