The countdown of our apartment renovation is in its final stages. The place is coming together. Walls torn down, lead pipes removed, electricity rewired, radiator pipes changed, the bathroom completely refurbished, the floors leveled and replaced, the walls painted…
It has been a ton of work. Mind-boggling amount of work.
My husband is NOT a handyman, nor is this his line of work, and yet he has been a superman! Impressive, handsomely strong and has not grumbled. Super sexy I must add.
I have been the Gopher (Go For Girl). I have learned many new French words regarding hardware. Don't know if I will use them again. But I have loved go for-ing this, that and the other. I have discovered our neighborhood in a new way by being the Gopher Girl.
Fireworks and champagne that is how we are going to celebrate.
Regis the boss. The Man who knows how to do every thing (cooks and loves the brocante too) and is fazed by nothing, he amazes me everyday. Calm, reflective, open to new ideas, creative, hardworking and fast, real fast, scary fast.
There is nothing he cannot do.
The project has had its hiccups (lead pipes) it has had its surprises (electricity not grounded, old building with clay pipes…) had its set backs: Uneven floors and the metal security front door that wouldn't shut properly… Regis takes it in stride, calls on his Gopher Girl and gets his team cracking.
He works with flip flops and no safety gear. Crazy scary, and nothing I can say will change his work habits.
I have learned several new slang words. It cracks him up when I utter them in the most appropriate moments. My favorite one of his is: "Un Grand Malade," which is "You're Sick!"
Tomorrow we start on the kitchen! I am so excited. The kitchen is something I can bite my teeth into.
What I have learned in this renovation experience is that rarely does anything go smoothly, a hiccup or bump in the road often appears. I guess when you are working in an apartment building that dates back a couple hundred years, and has materials that are sometimes older than that you can expect the unexpected.
The kitchen should go smoothly, the pipes, electricity, gas, water, etc. is completed. But who knows, maybe a cake will appear in the oven!
One of the words I have learned is, "Plinthe" which means, "baseboards". I painted 30 of them today.
If you would like to see what floor we are using click here: Arten Pecan.
Paint color for cupboard: Luxen Mammouth.
Window and door hardware: Languedoc / Nevers
More details to come.
Leave a Reply