Redecorating!

We have been deep into the job of redecoration. The apartment we live in was my in-laws apartment and was already furnished and set up great. But it was set up for a middle aged couple. Not a family of 4 with two toddlers. My biggest gripe (one that can't be fixed) is the flooring. It is so hard, and so slippery. I never feel like the kids can play freely because the floors are so hard and they always fall while climbing like monkeys. The only thing we can do is put down rugs.



We have done this, but it's not the same as actually putting plush carpet down all over the house. I would be all for that except for the cleaning aspect. As I have said before, we get ants and bugs in here. Johana mops the floors twice a day since any residue left on the floor lures them in. I don't even want to think about what would happen if we couldn't mop the floors and disinfect them.

The next thing I didn't like was that there was no good place to sit down, relax, and put your feet up. There is a super comfy couch in the main room, but it's only good for putting feet up if you are the only one on it. Also, there isn't really anything to do in that general area (i.e. watch tv). One of our favorite things to do in Cincinnati is watch TV or movies while lounging on the couch together after the kids go to sleep. This leads me to my next point.. The TV. There is a TV room here, with a couch TV, and internet/MagicJack. This is all pretty good, except for the fact that it is a closed off room. I hated trying to use magic jack because as soon as i walked out of the room, it cut out. Also, since the kids can't be left unattended (thanks to the floors, other non toddler-proofed things, etc) they need to both do the same thing. If one wants to watch Bubble Guppies, and the other wants to play with toys they are out of luck. Also, most of the stuff sits on a shelf that is built onto the wall. Everything (tons of cords and cables) is open and free for the grabbing. So they definitely can't be left alone in the TV room. Carlos and I were able to watch our shows at night, but that room gets hot since it doesn't have A/C. Also, the TV shares a wall with the kid's room, so the sound would sometimes wake them up.

Ok, so this entry is not all about complaining..... As I mentioned before, we are slowly working to make this apartment more user friendly for us!

First, the TV in the TV room started to die. The screen started going out a few weeks ago so since we were in need of another one, we bought one and had it installed in the main room. This way we would be able to let the kids watch a cartoon and also play with their toys if they wanted. Also, it lets me watch something while the kids are playing if I want to. Very important :) Also, we feel like now we have a central area for everyone. A real family room!







The next step was getting the couch. I looked at a ton of couches but it proved difficult shopping without my trusty translator (Carlos) with me. The first day I went out looking with my MIL I kept saying, no I want a softer couch. After showing me a few that were not softer at all, they would always take me to a velvet couch that was (like is traditional here) hard as a board, where you need to sit straight upright. Not lounging material at all. It was then that I realized that they thought I meant that I wanted a softer material covering the couch. Also, to my dismay, I realized that affordable but good couches are few and very far between. Most of the couches we looked at, especially the ones I liked were easily over $3,000 some upwards of $5,000. This is something I am totally dead set against. Maybe at some point in my life, when my kids are grown up, and we have extra money, I will be happy to spend that on a nice sofa. But never will I pay that when I have two forces of destruction living under my roof. For the same reason, I was also adamant about fake leather. Well, we went to a small, hole in the wall place with Carlos' friend. It was a far cry from where his mom took me shopping, and was actually an upholstery store.



I was ready to call off the search and not go in because I thought it would be a huge waste of time. Was I ever wrong!!!! They custom made our couch with the cushion type, L-formation, and synthetic "leather" that we wanted. And it was 1/3 of the price of some of the other couches that I had been looking at. I was a little nervous about telling Carlos' mom about it since we had gone shopping together for a couple days at all the places that she thought would have good and reliable furniture. Then we ended up going to some hole in the wall place. To my surprise, she said they had bought their first couch at the exact same store! We love the couch, and we are back to our old pre-kids routine of watching something on TV together, Carlos working, me falling asleep on the couch :) It is nice to kind of get back to the way things were!!



Next problem.. The cables, cords, etc. being where they can be grabbed. At home, in Cincinnati, we have a huge mantle area that all of our electronics sit on top of. No kid in my house can reach any of it. I even need a chair to get to the surge protector. Here, since there is no such thing, I have been left scrambling for ways to hide all of the outlets, cords, and wires.



It is exhausting. Well not for long!!!! We are having cabinets and shelving built under and to the side of the TV. I am SO excited for that. Now, the cables are being covered by the TV box which isn't all that nice to look at :)



This is what I am basing my idea on, except that the area underneath will all be covered by doors.





Another little thing we did this week was add bars and screens to more windows, and get screen doors! These things weren't really totally needed but do make things a little better. We had screened and barred all the windows except two. One is in the kitchen so it doesn't need to be barred, it is high up, and we can lock the kitchen at night anyway. But it didn't have a screen either, and I would have to close it as soon as it got dark out, which resulted in the kitchen being horrifically hot and humid in the evening. The main room gets sticky and hot too. Even with the one screened window open, without the cross breeze we needed the A/C on every evening. I had been trying to figure out a way that we could have the patio doorway screened, but since the doors open so far, we thought anything we did would get destroyed by the kids. SO we had our trusty handyman come over and check it out, and of course he had an idea to make it work :)



So now we have all of the big windows barred (except in the kitchen) and screened! Also, with the screen doors we should be able to keep the A/C off a lot more! Our electric bill was one of the highest it has been last month. A little over $150, which is not bad at all compared to our Cincinnati bill in the middle of summer! But I know we can get it down lower with the screen doors open in the evening!

The only shame is that we are leaving in less than a month, and won't really get to enjoy it all until we get back.