Now, before I continue with my methods, here is the
story of my white canvass and why it is so important to make it work.
How I got my apartment
It all started in 2009 when I started looking for a
place to live, and was horrified to find out that I like nothing entirely…so,
while visiting apartments in Brussels I would always transform them in my mind
– exchange one room with another, pull down walls, build in wardrobes, open up
terraces, re-decorate… probably everyone out there has felt the same.
Then, I found a place to my liking (2 years later that
is), but in my head there already was a comprehensive plan on how to even
better this relatively small space. This may have been the 50th apartment I had
visited, probably a 10th or 15th realtor – by this point in time I had enough
experience to have confidence in my choice. So, I made the offer and signed a
preliminary contract.
And then, something relatively bad happened – I could
not go further ahead with the purchase because the apartment was mortgaged
twice and the bank would not let it go. Enter 2 years of law issues, heartache,
and despair and, you may have guessed it – loss of time and money. Two years later
the property was back on the market, this time without the legal mess, and I
was finally able to put a far more secure offer at a public sale.
Just as I had moved, and scratching the surface of
what I had at hand and what it would cost me to start renovating and finally
put my plans back on track, I lost the most beloved family member of mine. And
that is how, once again the whole project of creating my own space was put back
on the shelf. Emotionally I was in a rather dark place and chose not to deal
with it for a while.
Another 2 years went by, and I realized that my
negligence was getting expensive – a few invoices of losses due to bad
maintenance kicked me back into reality and that is how I was able to shift my
goals from getting by into my new flat, to repairing my new flat, to making it
nice.
So, roughly a year ago, I took stock and started
moving things, initially with just my own hands and what is available in the
utility store. I discovered a wonderful universe of knowledge and crafts, which
I had the unique chance to explore (and master, if allowed?). All along the way
I had so many questions, in spite of having a career in the construction
sector. It became apparent that the more I needed to know, the more involved I
would get, and so much higher my aspirations would be!
Thus, after six years,
divided equally between hesitation, distrust and desperation – two years for
each of those periods, I found myself finally ready to use my very first
apartment as the proverbial white canvas for my first interior creation. And
here we go.
And, in more practical
terms – here is my apartment
At the time I made the
first offer, I already knew that I didn’t have the budget to buy the exact
property I fancied, in an area where I’d live happily, so in my mind there were
already some pros and cons settled.
I was very much prepared to
compromise on:
· size of the apartment
(because I love small spaces – so cosy, so economical, so easy for the
maintenance).
· the area – if not
where I wanted to live, at least the nearest place affordable
· the floor –
because street noises do not bother me as much
I was not prepared to give
up:
· the terrace –
but had to in the end – not Brussels’ most common feature in the recent past,
and therefore expensive
· a second bedroom
– no matter what size – the expat life suggests comings and goings of friends
· relatively good
general state – today I am thinking it is the relatively which is the key word
in the above.
· Sunshine! At least
part of the days and part of the time
· Lift – I do not
like stairs at all, and yes, it is a luxury in Brussels and someone has to
calculate in how many years to price difference of lift/no lift property is
amortised through the lift running costs.
And here is what I got:
Now, to my mind major defects
were:
- bathroom only
accessible via bedroom – and I had plans to make good use of the second bedroom
- separate wc and bathroom
– as a result minuscule wc. To be honest I find the practice of separating
those, in smaller apartments, very useless, and may be tempted to write a post
on it alone. It is to this date the most annoying feature of local internal interior
design and architecture
- kitchen far from
the living room/dining room
To be fare on the
architect, his original plan did not feature a second bedroom:
In fact, dining room could
be reached straight from the kitchen, the living room features exposure to two
facades, so no blame at all for the original thought.
In my mind however, things
should gradually evolve this way:
As already mentioned –
there is only point in getting a spare bedroom if it can have independent access
to the facilities. Also, I feel so uncomfortable in bedrooms, where the double
bed basically fills the room. In fact, I am a huge fan of hotel rooms, where
one can do almost everything in his room (but meet visitors I would say). And
then, meeting visitors, ideally should be done in a room forced to be formal –
i.e. like the living room but different.
When I analyse my feeling
for home spaces – it is like my inner circle is the bedroom, where I’d happily
also leave, just so that a space for outsiders is reserved in what is called
living room.
So, another reason for the
swap is also proximity to the kitchen (even if it is all so relative in smaller
spaces). And a final touch – the entrance door opens into the today’s master bedroom
– and it makes so much sense to have the first room in sight as the formal
living room.
Here is the place to say
that the future living/dining room already had its floor replaced in order to
match the other “no need to wear slippers” areas. That is because here people
wouldn’t take their shoes off when visiting someone’s home, which is another
reason to keep a separate visitor’s area.
Well, may have not made myself
so clear, but hope the drawings are speaking loud enough. Before dipping into
really important matters, such as:
- · planning spaces
- · my style
- · sourcing
- · how I put the
two rooms together,
- · etc.
I will be so delighted to
learn what readers think of the swap. Does it make sense? Do you think it is
alright to disagree with the building’s architect? What are the risks when
changing a rooms function?
Still have to decide what
exactly the next blog will be about, but if have to describe the hottest
potatoe – it is the future living room – colour scheme is clear, however there
are so many ways to go with it… do tag along and you’ll find out!
