Top 10 Impressions from the Renovation Work

In the last five days I have taken many pictures from the house and the work progress. Every day, I am on site measuring, looking into details, unpacking, helping whatever I can do. Yesterday, while showing friends around, I realized that I have some new favorite spots that I want to show you too:

My first favorite spot is the small sunny piazza infront of the house.

Here, at the main entrance three generations of (future) inhabitants are posing happily.

Angelo's art work at entrance #37

more stucco and paint art work on ceilings

my favorite bathroom in the vaulted cellar

good news: we found enough original floral tiles for the main entrance

measuring and calculating the floor space in the vaulted cellar (seminterrato),

we will have natural oak wook parquet since Angelo had insolated the floor perfectly.

It is difficult to say which is my favorite floor, but I really like this unique basement!

father and son at work in the living room

we bought stucco deco borders for the walls and sample colours to try out the effect (soon). Can't wait to see the trial paint on the walls....

my favorite room for the moment is our guest room with view into orange trees, the yellow of the ceiling is so warm and friendly - even the chandelier, that is not really my taste, can stay.

interesting perspective on the primo piano - the door frames turned out nice!

My favorite spot for the view is our balcony on the piano terra

Of course there are many more beautiful spots in the house, but these are the top 10 of the last five days. More is coming. 

Before and After: Basement with Balcony

Our house has a basement, that we call our seminterrato, which means "half under earth" or souterrain. Our seminterrato, however, is very special: On one part it is really underground, carved into the rock, on the other side it has fantastic 180 degree see view 54 meter above sea level! And it has access to a small garden with a lemon tree, a fig tree, a bougainvilleas and some cacti. It did not have a balcony though. But this has changed. Angelo is always good for surprises. Now we have a balcony in our basement. It is a balcony for two people with shoe size 40 or so.... but look the transformation from before with no balcony and rusty wrought iron balustrade to after with small balkony and restored balustrade in blue (!) :

BEFORE in August 2006

in between in 2009

(...) 

iron rail painted blue

balcony railing moved further out to obtain a small balcony above the new haven

Angelo demonstrating the use of the new balcony

I am saving this post to a new label "guest residence". Our basement is beautiful, it is my favorite part of the house (actually, I cannot decide which floor I like best, they are all amazing). But since the house is too big for us alone it makes sense to rent our part of it. The only part that can perfectly be separated from the rest of the house is the seminterrato. It has its own entrance. It will have two bedrooms, a bathroom with sea view, a pantry kitchen with balcony and a garden. I already envy my guest... ha ha! Of course we also have one guestroom upstairs, but this can only be used for family and friends while the guest apartment can be rented out to vacationer spending some time in Pizzo.

At the moment we are working on the insulation of the floor and walls and will post new pictures soon. 

Meanwhile you can find more about the progress of the guest residence or seminterrato here.

blue mission

Blue ringhiere look good everywhere.
On the seaside from top to semiinterrato.

(for details click on pic to enlarge)

blue balustrade of the balcony on the ground floor

Only the balustrade around our tiny garden is not yet blue.
But then, after that: blue mission completed.

UPDATE:
I forgot to post these pictures:

Angelo sent me this one, with no comment, and at first sight I did not really understood what this line near the ceiling that looks like a shadow would be... is it a blue stipe ??!

 

In the next picture I saw it clearly :

Angelo must have got crazy about blue !

I think he had some left over blue paint and obviously thought a bit of blue will add an interesting note to our bedroom. So funny.

While we are on house hunting tour in Asia ... our Italian home progresses ...

Angelo, my Father-in-law, has unpacked some stuff, and felt like interor decorator ...

So funny ...  Although these Shanghai style deck chairs don't belong into this room, I wish I could relax there NOW! 

And Angelo continues to paint wrought iron gates blue.

Even if I have posted this view before, I can't get tired of it (now with new blue balustrade).

Here we got a wooden 'battiscopa' - and please note the professional fresko cover protection. 

Yes, I confirm, these tiles are for the master bathroom's floor (pavimento) and not for the bathroom wall.

This one is hilarious :

Angelo o-tone:  'I have engaged a cheap and competent woman for the final cleaning and waxing of the master bed room'.   (Editor's remark: this cheap 'room cleaner at work' is my dear moterh-in-law)

Super finish : floor after final cleaning and waxing

blue summer

Angelo continued to paint balustrades of balconies blue. Here is the one of the soggiorno in the primo piano. We have decided to paint all ringhiere blue that face the seaside, including the one in the garden.

 

This is the new blue "balcony" (shoe size 40) seen from the larger balcony below.

And you can see our new outside lighting. - CC found the lamps in one of the catalogues of our electrician and we ordered them without having seen them. Good choice, I think.

 

I can see, feel, smell the fresh sea breeze!!

I wish I could be there right now and jump into the cool sea.

Ahh, instead I am suffering in the heat of my appartment where I have to prepare the move ... No time to fly to Pizzo. And Angelo wants bathroom decisions and drawings by mail and skype. But at least I can keep dreaming. One day, I will spent a whole summer in our house.