Behind the scenes we’ve been busy with our new project: renovating a studio apartment in the historic centre of Vicenza.

Purchasing a property in the city centre has been a dream of mine that I’ve been sitting on for a long time.

You know me by now and how much I love the architecture of the buildings in the city centre: the colours of the facades; the wrought-iron work of the balconies decorated with flowers…I really wanted to be a part of that urban environment.

We also wanted to make an investment in property that needed love and care. A place to renovate and style up and turn into a rental.

Looking for a property to buy

In the end, it took around two years to find what I wanted. During that time I was skimming through websites like casa.it and immobilare.it.

I used two filters :price range and location and studied the photos and info that popped up. In addition, I had my own personal requirements: it had to have a nice view and a ceiling with traditional wooden beams.

Finding the one

One morning, just before Christmas, I was scrolling as usual when the photo of a place with a lovely view of the cathedral of Vicenza came up on my search.

I called to visit as soon as possible and then made an offer a few days later. I liked the location and the price was what we expected. There were wooden beams and the view from the windows was just what I’d hoped for.

Then we had to sit through the Christmas holidays until the offer was accepted. House hunting and buying teaches you a lot of patience and a lot of self control.

Purchasing

We officially bought our apartment in April. We sat inside the notary’s office which was lined with books and decorated with traditional heavy wooden furniture. It created a serious setting for the occasion.
There were six of us present for the sale: notary, estate agent, two buyers and two sellers. All together there were five different nationalities in the room.

Between the long embarrassing pauses while paperwork was being drawn up, we spent the time making small talk. It was mostly about food issues: do restaurants bother to make their own fresh pasta or does no one cares about that anymore?

Surreal conversation when in your mind, you are really thinking about the enormity of the decision you’re making and trusting that it will turn out to be a sound investment.

First works to be done- but not by us

There are so many hurdles to jump over in your house journey. We found one, we bought one, and now it’s ours and we have to do something with it.

Let me open up and be honest. I have to say that as a couple me and Mr Casa Alison may have many skills and qualities (I hope!) but these are not in any way to do with DIY and all that stuff. We can just decide and buy. That’s all.

One time Mr Casa Alison hammered a nail into the wall in the kitchen so I could put up a little picture. The nail never went in straight and wouldn’t come out again.

The picture wobbled when I tried to put it up. But that nail is now a perfect hook shape now which makes it ideal for having up his running medals.

There’s a solution for everything, really!

This apartment was used as an archive for years so it’s never been lived in so it’s in a good but dated condition.

We want to put in a kitchen, update the bathroom and do other smaller cosmetic jobs. Add furniture and get it up and running as soon as we can.

The summer arrives and we’re making progress

This month we returned from our holiday in Malaysia. It was time to stop playing, be serious and get on with work in the new house. Unfortunately as I’d fractured three ribs during our holiday, I couldn’t really do too much.

So we’ve been lucky to have an extra pair of hands to help us out, Casa Alison Jr., who took on the job of general labourer. He’s young and fit and he also shares our vision. It’s someone else to bounce around ideas with.

Roberto, the plumber, took down the old water heater while Junior chiselled and hammered away at the old kitchen tiles. Another job done.

Floriano took away the traditional balconi alla vicentina to be restored. They’re long wooden shutters which fold in half lengthways and are the typical shutters of Vicenza. Ours have been damaged overtime by the sun.

The sofa bed arrived and I’m more than happy with the colour and the material I chose from hundreds of swatches. I’ve spent many nights awake at 3 am wondering if I’d made the right decision. Now I’m free to worry about other stuff.

Finally, the laminate flooring arrived. Literally a pallet of 17 heavy packs of parquet was deposited in the hallway of the building.

Despite the heavy afternoon heat, Junior cheerfully shouldered the first pack, the second, the third … until it was all done.

And so ends the catch up on our renovation story, part one.

Do you have a similar tale to tell? Or do you have all that work behind you so you can spend your free time in other ways?