February 02, 2016

Update: Photos from our project

February 02, 2016/ Susan

The new year has just started and it's already February! While Angelo works on our project in Pizzo - the wooden and tile flooring now is all done - I am sitting at my desk in Bangkok searching online for some decent outdoor furniture. Calabria has not yet been discovered by IKEA & co and so it is not easy to find cool stuff. Beside having done some shopping in Northern Italy lately, ordering online seems a good solution to save time, but not being able to see and touch what you get and shipping cost to the most distant region of the Italian mainland are the downside. And while we are working on getting the apartments furnished before early summer, I get already many booking enquiries. I am really delighted to see that we get credits for our 5 star rated hospitality. But of course, our potential guests want to see photos! - Photos? But it's not furnished! - However, Angelo sends us on our what's app group (yes, that's how we manage another long distance project) almost daily updates. Although these are not for advertisement, I am posting them today as an update from the project side. And I promise the furnishing will be as nice as in our residence: a mix of old and new decorated with local art. Expect nice shots mid April. For now, please accept that we are at this state:

Dependance: entrance area from the street with view into second bedroom

Dependance: The second bedroom with small balcony facing the sea and restored stone wall

Dependance: living room with passage to the kitchen and restored original stone wall

Dependance: living room and restored original stone wall - I am curious myself how the staircase leading to the attic will look like ...

Dependance: roof terrace detail (wrought iron railing still coming)

Dependance: roof terrace stone bench (wrought iron railing still coming)

Dependance: kitchen not yet delivered but floor tiles look great!

Dependance: open window in the kitchen with a view

Dependance: kitchen will be on the left, passage to living room, kitchen balcony

Dependance: master bedroom with original stone wall and small balcony

The house: Studio Bellavista entrance below left, Dependance entrance upstairs

Studio Bellavista: The bedroom with a small balcony facing the sea

Studio Bellavista: living room with 2 windows facing the sea

Studio: balcony of bedroom facing the sea

All photos by Angelo, shot with his phone and sent via what's app group. Please expect big progress in April and more photos on the way.

September 29, 2015

Our new Project: an update on tiles and more

September 29, 2015/ - Susan -

We were so crazy about cement tiles that we almost imported a container from Asia, until I realised the quality is not what we want. Since cement tiles are so en vogue, also Bisazza has some well-known designers creating beautiful cement tile series. But we could not see any samples, only the online catalogue, and they not only seemed pricy but also a bit too opaque. I almost had given up on antique style cement tiles when someone was telling me in Pizzo that they are renovating an old palazzo and the new owner wanted to get rid of the cement tiles. People have different tastes, right? When I wanted to see them, we learnt that workers had just taken them out the fast way. They were all destroyed and already disposed. Then I announced to my FB friends in Pizzo that I am looking for old tiles and the message got shared. A few days later, I was offered to visit a dark and dusty storage room. The tiles looked interesting, not glamorous, but ok. We did not know how many of the same pattern were in that dark earth hole, and how many were still usable. Look at the photo below! This is now what lays in front of our new entrance at the end of the staircase. It is a bit shiny after washing it with water, but doesn't it look nice? The same pattern in a different size and colour (not as nice as this one) was later offered through a different source, for a different price... I think we got really lucky!

antique cement tiles from Pizzo found a new home in Pizzo!

We even have one more square meter available that we will lay on the floor of a little bathroom. It is not what we had in mind, but I am so glad to have found something antique, something that gives the new apartment a bit of a special touch. When you come to Southern Italy on holiday you don't want to see what you could get at home or at Ikea, right? With these cement tiles we have recycled something original and local. I am sure our visitors will like a unique flooring. I do!

So far these cement tiles cover just 2-3 sqm ... out of hundreds.... there is so much more to decide ...

Apart from tiles, we like the experience we have with wooden parquet from Berti. So we decided to repeat the oak wood parquet from the residence for the flooring of the living areas and bedrooms.

However, for the kitchens and entrances we prefer tiles instead of wood. And because we could not get cement tiles, but wanted a Mediterranean touch nevertheless, I said let's get Vietri tiles that are beautiful colourful ceramic tiles from a town called Vietri, near Salerno.

And I still love the floor tiles of our master bathroom: Greca Blu by De Maio. It was an easy decision to use them also for two bathrooms of our new project. Each apartment will get a bathroom with these gorgeous floor tiles:

There will be two kitchens with entrances plus one extra side entrance for the dependance. I decided to chose for each area the best matching tile. So three decisions had to be made. Some of my friends got a bit of whatsapp messages with photos during the holidays (no crowd sourcing on the blog this time) and then, two days before my departure, I went with my mother-in-law to the showroom to finalise my choices. In the very last moment we changed the color of one kitchen from red to white in order to match a beautiful modern interpretation of a classic Vietri pattern! Since the kitchen builders were also gone to the beach (August!) it was no problem to change the colour for the kitchen. We had red in mind as we wanted it to resemble the kitchen of the residence. But now, I am looking forward to something fresh and exciting like this:

Tile: Benincasa by De Maio, Serie Fiori di Ravello

For the larger kitchen in the dependance (that would be white too) I have chosen 'Valeria' by De Maio (photo below). The star pattern is matching the cement tile 'star' in the entrance (first photo above), the light blue will match the balcony tiles and the Smeg fridge that will be light blue again like the one in the residence.

The most beautiful tile probably is the next one! I am very much looking forward to see that laid in the "side" entrance of the dependance, which is a corridor of 14 m2. The blue will match the Bisazza mosaic in the small bathroom, the blue of the relief of the church opposite in the piazza, the sky and the sea. It will look fabulous!

From the piazza, the facade looks already as we could move in tomorrow. Deja-vu! We had this with our first project too. When my neighbour brought me flowers to welcome us in the alley, because it looked from the outside like we had moved in, it took us another two years or so to finish the inside! This time, I hope we will be faster! Although we are already one year behind schedule due to - I would call it 'the usual Calabrian obstacles' - we plan to have two apartments ready for rent in May 2016.

The project from the outside - with one studio downstairs and the 2 story dependance upstairs.

The roof is done, windows and doors are installed. What is still missing are the balustrades for the balconies that we ordered to be crafted according to my design (which is repeating the pattern of the oldest railing of our first project).

Maybe I should have ordered some standard wrought iron pattern. Then you know what you get. Let's see. Can't wait to see the facade completed.

playing with designs for the WROUGHT iron balcony railings

April 17, 2015

Day 3 choosing bathrooms and kitchens

April 17, 2015/ - Susan -

We knew it will be a 'working holiday'. And today, we spent a few hours in a shop to determine sinks and toilets for 2 1/2 bathrooms and 1 guest toilet. The good thing is, we already have experience and like what we chose last time. So we stick with Duravit and its Stack 3 and Vero line.

More difficult are the tiles for the floors and walls. We still like what we chose last time, but thought not to spend too much money on expensive Sicis mosaic tiles ... and find a cheaper solution instead. Also terra cotta tiles are not the best solution for bathroom flooring since they absorb water. (In our guest residence we used old restored terra cotta tiles.) For the balconies we already ordered the same blue tiles as at our main house. However, we knew we will spend more time on the subject the following days.

The two kitchens we would order from the same local company (Alindar), in white and red, same as last time. Even with the same wall tiles (remember my crazy tile mix?). The only challenge we are facing this time, is to build a kitchen around and above the stairways' arch (see photo). I can't picture it yet and we are still waiting for the company's proposal.

In the evening we had a casual and relaxed dinner with friends at the local fish restaurant 'La Lampara'. I ordered TONNO CON CIPOLLA (fresh tuna fish with red onion from Tropea, cottura media - medium cooked) - and it was awesome! I totally can recommend that restaurant in Pizzo. The owner speaks english, reservation is recommended, unfortunately only tables indside, but nice decor.

April 16, 2015

Day 1 in Pizzo

April 16, 2015/ - Susan -

Although this year in April we only have one week school holiday to spend in Pizzo, we still came.

Since we initiated a new renovation project - that started slowly due to diverse issues - it was now the time to push it forward: spring. Pizzitani tell me it was one of the coldest winter - yes, there was snow even in Vibo Valentia - and lots of rain. Indeed, it is still chilly here! But I had refused to pack winter clothes in my suitcase. We were travelling to Southern Italy in spring, at least! But don't underestimate April in Calabria. (Sicily is more dry and warmer - yes it's further South too). So, we are wearing the 'onion look': layers of sweaters and jackets. But once the sun is out, it's lovely! However, we are here not for the dolce vita. There is work to do, lots of decision to make. And so we end up spending hours to choose sinks, toilets and tiles!

April 24, 2013

We have a New Renovation Project!

April 24, 2013/ - Susan -

Yes, we do! We do have a new renovation project! In Pizzo! Again!

I don't know where to start, I don't even know how it happened. I was against it. We just had enjoyed our first summer in our palazzo - how could I look at another house?! It felt like I would betray our beloved baby! - Which sounds stupid of course, especially to men.

And it was men - my husband and Angelo, his father - who layed eyes on a new property. I looked at it once, I thought it was overpriced - and refused to discuss any further. The more they showed interest the more I was against it.

Of course we would not give up / sell our palazzo. We would realize a new project for a third party - for sale. Or at least for rent.

But you don't have to have studied economics to make a simple calculation: purchase price + project costs roughly = I declared the project for unmarketable. Full stop. End of story.

Well, well. You see, we have a project, the men won.

The truth is: Angelo NEEDS another project!

He loves to supervise these kind (and much bigger) projects. That was his job for decades. He enjoys
DIY flooring, painting, craftsmen work. However, since there is not much more to do in our home, Palazzo Pizzo, he got bored. Our visitors can testify that Angelo appeared every morning to just fix something. (Of course we are lucky and thankful for these quick fixes!)

But now, he gets a whole new construction site all for his own! Well, not now, really. The project has not started yet. We don't even have the layout finally defined or decided on the contructors. (But we already got a friendly letter from the lawyer of our neighbour who has never met us, warning us about any changes in general. Seems to be a popular way in Pizzo to greet new neighbours).

Anyway, after my first resistance to the project, I seem to slowly get into the mood for renovation again. It is strange though, to do it for a "third party". Meaning, I don't want to get involved emotionally too much, since this casa (no, no more palazzo) will not be ours to live in... does that make sense?

We are not professional interior designers (although we would love to), so I wonder how one feels when doing that job for a customer? How much passion and commitment do you put into a project? And how does it feel to leave the keyes for someone else? Any comments?

I guess, it depends on the customer, the briefing, the budget. Since our "customer" is a future, to be defined, customer, we have to do it the way WE like it, however with a closer eye on the budget.

Since our last visit to Pizzo this April, I am more curious about the new project. Last Sunday, I came across a book with a stunning Sicilian casa. I love these hand painted blue window cornici. Paint costs not much and Angelo enjoys painting... blue especially, remember?... I showed him these pages via skype the same evening. I think, he likes it. So here is my first idea for our new project: