Goodbye 2013: Hello new home in Italy!

Not being in Italy means I can't take all the photos I want to create the before and after extravaganza I'm planning, but as the last minutes of 2013 tick by it seems a good time to have a review.

I'll start by introducing the property as it was introduced to us by the agent (seen below!): il palazzotto.  Strictly speaking it means little palace, and we kinda liked that so the name stuck and is how we've referred to it ever since - it just seems rude to demean a little palace by calling it a house!

So, Il Palazzotto (now its proper name!) hadn't been lived in for years.  We couldn't see some parts because they had no light or were unstable.  It was cracked, decrepit and crumbling down:

Before

After a year's TLC, here's some before and after photos as promised:
(Want a closer look?  Click on any photo.)

Entranceway: Before and After

 



Living Room: Before and After

  

 

 

Bedroom: Before and After

 

 

Kitchen: Before and After

 

 

 

Remember the first photos I shared with you of our grim roof terrace in looking-for-inspiration?  I promised you then a Sarah Beeny/ Kevin McCloud reveal and here it is:

Roof Terrace: Before and After

 

  

There's also been the creation of two apartments on the ground floor that started life like this:

Before

 

And, nearly finished, look like this:

After

 

And, simultaneously, the conversion of one giant house to 8 flats in SE UK went from this:

Before

To finished and on the market one week before Christmas, with one already sold STC:

After

   

  

So it's been a full year, a challenging year and one where I've learned a lot.  But I've never for a minute regretted our decision to buy Il Palazzotto.

And, importantly, a new oven in a new kitchen in a new country, hasn't affected my brownies!!