Fotografo de Bodas, Santiago

December 17, 2010

Before I get to the meat and potatoes of this post, one quick thing — did you notice that the blog has had a facelift? Ryan of Second Street Creative designed the new logo and Jennette waved her magic fairy wand to implement the new look. So if you’re reading on your google reader or some other feed service, feel free to jump over and have a peak. It’s been up for a little while now but I forgot to mention it, until Emily asked, “Is the red supposed to be missing from the top of your website?” It is. I hope you like it.

Speaking of facelifts. As you may or may not know, we bought an apartment. It was an absolutely horrendous process, but here we are. On to the remodeling.

These are the plans of the apartment as is, plus the stairwell to come up onto our floor. The thickest lines shown are the walls. The entrance is on the right hand side, if that gives you a general idea. At the bottom is the balcony.

Then below, we have the apartment drawn up after the renovations. As you’ll see, there are almost no walls. The toilet will be in a little enclosed closet and besides that, everything else is wall-free. We wanted a completely open floor plan. The place is already decent sized (100 square meters) but I think that once all the walls are knocked down, it will feel even larger.

See that bath tub in the upper left corner? That’s going to be my gigantic jacuzzi. To the right of it are two standing showers. I think I’m more excited for the bathroom than anything else. I better be, we’re taking out part of what was once the master bedroom, to make it huge.

Originally, we were thinking that we’d be able to start construction this month and would do everything but the kitchen. We planned to save up and do that part when we had the money, which we estimated wouldn’t be for another 4-6 months or so. However, our apartment is part of a “barrio historico,” or historic neighborhood — basically meaning nothing, other than that construction permits take three times as long. And just our luck, the public offices that we need to approve our permits, are on strike. Isn’t that just so deliciously Chilean? I’m not even upset. My mantra through this process has been and will continue to be “This is going to take WAY LONGER THAN YOU THINK.”

But I’m choosing to look on the bright side. Because of the strikes and permits and everything taking longer than expected, we probably won’t be able to start construction until Feb. In the mean time, we’ve been hoarding away money like squirrels with nuts for the winter, and our stocks have gone way up. So we might end up having the cash to do everything at once, which would definitely be less of a headache. We may end up finishing the work on the apartment right about the time that we leave to go to the U.S. for six weeks. Then we come back to Chile, we’re here for a week, head to Argentina, come back to Chile for another week and then leave for Europe and the states again. So looking at our crazy calendar, I’m guessing that we won’t move in until July. In August I want to go to Thailand, but if we get settled in to the new place, I could see that changing.

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11 Comments

I’m renting at the moment, having been unable to sell our house in Cornwall, and I can’t begin to tell you how totally jealous I am of you being able to do your own place how you want it. You’ve always rented before haven’t you? You will LOVE owning, it’s a totally different experience. Being able to do what you want, when you want (subject to stupid bureaucracy, of course) is just the best feeling. Excited for you! And July is no time at all, you’re going to be so busy from now til then that time will fly by.

Comment by Eliza — December 17, 2010 @ 1:41 am

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It took us 4 years to get planning permission for our barn conversion! And nobody was on strike – just red tape Congrats on the new pad though – looks like it will be fab!!

Comment by Jason Lloyd — December 17, 2010 @ 2:50 am

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It makes me laugh a little that by the time you move in, you will have been doing this process for almost two years. On the bright side of course is the fact that your apartment is in a great location, and it’s going to look insanely cool once you’re done, so I’m pretty sure that it will all turn out to have been worth it.
I really like the new look, by the way, I just was worried your blog was continuing to give you problems!

Comment by Emily — December 17, 2010 @ 6:04 am

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I took lots of CAD and architectural design classes in high school and early on in college. That being said, your new layout is going to be wonderful. Did you an Seba do that yourself? One of his friends? A contractor? I am excited to see the progress!

Comment by Kai Heeringa — December 17, 2010 @ 6:50 am

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yay! i love apartment update posts – this is so exciting for you guys. can’t wait to see how it all comes along. looks like you’re in the right mind set to handle what are sure to be inevitable and multiple delays – look at you all grown up and being a home owner. Chile, the land where people own 2+ bedroom apartments in their mid-20s. Not that people don’t here, it’s just that you last name is usually Olson. Why did i move back to NYC again? xoxoxo

Comment by KM — December 17, 2010 @ 6:50 am

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1.- Me gusta el nuevo diseño del blog
2.- ¿Qué tal es la aislación térmica del departamento? Cuando derribas paredes y tienes espacios más amplios, cuesta más llegar a una temperatura agradable, sobre todo en Chile, que como ya sabes, no tiene calefacción central en la mayoría de las casas. El consumo energético puede parecer irrelevante ahora, pero puede llegar a ser importante, sobre todo en el invierno.
3.- Me gusta MUCHÍSIMO lo que están haciendo con ese lugar, se va a ver increíble, estoy seguro, y me alegra mucho que lo puedan disfrutar, se lo merecen de sobra.

Comment by Marmo — December 17, 2010 @ 11:38 am

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Eliza, I know, I can’t wait! We’ve always rented, so this will be a first for us. And yeah, time will fly until July, especially because we won’t be here for half of those months, but I’m still anxious, just to get started at the very least!

Jason, oh dear, you’re not giving me much hope with that story!

Emily, I know, kind of insane. I knew I would need to be patient, but OMG, two years is ridiculous!

Kai, did you say, “Did you and Seba do that yourself,” to be polite? I had no hand in it Seba did the new plans and then our friend/architect helped us figure out where stuff is going to go and drew in the furniture.

Katina, if you see an Olsen twin, please take a picture for me. You know I love them

Marmo, tenemos planeado comprar ventanas no se que, esas carisisimas que son especiales para atrapar el calor. Pero la verdad es que soy psicopata con el calor, y siempre tengo calor y no me gusta tener calor, asi que mil veces prefiero tener frio, sobre todo cuando aqui se puede comprar una estufa, pero no se puede comprar aire condicionado.

Comment by Kyle — December 17, 2010 @ 6:35 pm

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Squee I am so excited for you guys – and just sayin’ but Australia is nearly right next to thailand…

Comment by Deidre — December 17, 2010 @ 7:03 pm

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Yep Deidre, we are probably going to have to use miles to fly to Sydney and then go from there to Thailand because I don’t think that Lan has any direct flights from Chile. And FYI, we have some big plans for Australia in 2012

Comment by Kyle — December 17, 2010 @ 7:53 pm

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That is quite a jet settin’ life you lead lady!

Comment by Kristin — December 18, 2010 @ 7:42 pm

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I love the open plan idea…Congrats and good luck with the process. I had similar frustrations this week when trying to get all of my visa and carnet stuff done. I’ve only been waiting 4 months to get insurance and now another month went by because of the silly strike. Thankfully I keep extending my “travel” policy!

Comment by Heather — December 19, 2010 @ 7:06 am

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