Renovating the Budapest Apartment: Winter Progress

 

As the weather turned colder, work in the apartment slowed. We had to wait for the walls to completely dry out. After the holidays, the wood floors were installed. I picked a light ash wood, to go with the overall bright and airy theme. We also started purchasing light fixtures. The one you see below is an antique found on the internet. It will hang in the dining area.

I was trying to decide between a more Gustavian crystal style chandelier, possibly whitewashed, and a modern wrought iron one, when I happened upon this beauty at an online auction place.  Even though I have not seen it in person yet, I think it will look great in the dining area.

The bathroom ceiling light fixture is in place.

And the tile work is completely finished. 

The semi-circular shower

The bedroom. 

Except for the kitchen cabinetry, which is prefabricated, all the other cabinets and 

built-in furniture will be custom made. Here you can see the beginnings of the

bathroom built-in. In Hungary labor is still relatively cheap (compared to the U.S.)

so getting custom furniture was a bit more affordable than here. Products in

Hungary, however, tend to be somewhat more expensive. 

Here are a couple of photos of the exterior. The newly installed windows

(there used to be only one on this curved wall) of the dining area got a 

lovely plaster frame . The villa the apartment is located in was built in 

the beginning of the 20th century (it is just about 100 years old).

The door to the terrace.

Also, I managed to find the photo of the terrace that escaped me last time.

Finally, here are some pictures of the floor.  These were taken at night, so the color looks warmer than the actual wood. 

I am sure you guessed it: the dining area. There will be a built in 

half-circle bench here.

Above is what is to be the living room and kitchen.  I did not want to put tile in the kitchen area, because the apartment is not large, and I like the look of unified flooring. (I have wood in my kitchen in Hawaii too, and it is not very hard to keep up with, despite having three kids and two dogs.) So except for the bathroom -mosaic tile- the entire apartment now has parquet wood flooring.

This concludes the pictures for now. I may get a few more of the kitchen by email (the cabinets and countertops are in now, as well as the sink and stove. Fridge and microwave still waiting to be built in.  The rest of the custom furniture is under construction as I am writing this, and I can't wait to see them! I will be in Hungary in the middle of June and will take lots of photographs and also start on the finishing touches myself. So looking forward to it!