blue mission

Blue ringhiere look good everywhere.
On the seaside from top to semiinterrato.

(for details click on pic to enlarge)

blue balustrade of the balcony on the ground floor

Only the balustrade around our tiny garden is not yet blue.
But then, after that: blue mission completed.

UPDATE:
I forgot to post these pictures:

Angelo sent me this one, with no comment, and at first sight I did not really understood what this line near the ceiling that looks like a shadow would be... is it a blue stipe ??!

 

In the next picture I saw it clearly :

Angelo must have got crazy about blue !

I think he had some left over blue paint and obviously thought a bit of blue will add an interesting note to our bedroom. So funny.

While we are on house hunting tour in Asia ... our Italian home progresses ...

Angelo, my Father-in-law, has unpacked some stuff, and felt like interor decorator ...

So funny ...  Although these Shanghai style deck chairs don't belong into this room, I wish I could relax there NOW! 

And Angelo continues to paint wrought iron gates blue.

Even if I have posted this view before, I can't get tired of it (now with new blue balustrade).

Here we got a wooden 'battiscopa' - and please note the professional fresko cover protection. 

Yes, I confirm, these tiles are for the master bathroom's floor (pavimento) and not for the bathroom wall.

This one is hilarious :

Angelo o-tone:  'I have engaged a cheap and competent woman for the final cleaning and waxing of the master bed room'.   (Editor's remark: this cheap 'room cleaner at work' is my dear moterh-in-law)

Super finish : floor after final cleaning and waxing

blue summer

Angelo continued to paint balustrades of balconies blue. Here is the one of the soggiorno in the primo piano. We have decided to paint all ringhiere blue that face the seaside, including the one in the garden.

 

This is the new blue "balcony" (shoe size 40) seen from the larger balcony below.

And you can see our new outside lighting. - CC found the lamps in one of the catalogues of our electrician and we ordered them without having seen them. Good choice, I think.

 

I can see, feel, smell the fresh sea breeze!!

I wish I could be there right now and jump into the cool sea.

Ahh, instead I am suffering in the heat of my appartment where I have to prepare the move ... No time to fly to Pizzo. And Angelo wants bathroom decisions and drawings by mail and skype. But at least I can keep dreaming. One day, I will spent a whole summer in our house.

ringhiera blu

I am jealous myself ...

I can't be there right now.

Instead I am sitting here in super cold Germany with 10 degrees and rain.

But at least I have something to dream about !!! :-)

PS: one would almost not see the antenna....

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And here to compare one "BEFORE blue paint" picture:

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photo update of the completet ballustrade:

Fantastic job, Angelo ! Salute, cincin !

Preserving the entrance luster

The entrance luster - Part I

The only "interior" that came with the purchase of the house is a small old luster. As you can see in the pictures above and below it consists of a simple yellowish glass sphere and a wrought iron fitting. Nothing precious. Probably not even 'antique'. But special to me.

The small old luster is hanging in the entrance of our house. Althoug the house is called 'palazzo' in Italian, the entrance of the house is not an 'entrance hall' - it is a fair small entrance and this small luster fits perfectly here.

During the renovation work in the house last year, someone took the luster down. And as you can see it did not become prettier over the past three years. It became more rusty, got some paint on it and a lot of dust.

During our summer holidays we never really can go ahead with remodelling or renovation work, not even with much planning or choosing material as everything closes down in the South of Italy in the month of August.

But this rusty luster was in the storage room where we stayed. And one day I decided to not go to the beach and instead to do a tiny tiny restoration project : "preserving the entrance luster".

I cleaned the glass sphere and the wrought iron fitting and bought paint suitable for iron. The name of the paint was 'ferro battuto' (wrought iron) and looked almost black. However, it turned out a bit too grey. But I decided to leave it this way for now and to put it away, back into storage.

 

The entrance luster - Part II

This winter in Venice, my parents-in-law had a surprise for us: A luster !  Antique for sure and nicely elaborated. A flea market find from an antique market in the Veneto region. For the palazzo in Pizzo.

"But not for the entrance" I heard myself, the ungrateful daughter-in-law, saying.

"Molto bello, grazie , maybe for the dining area" I tried.

They were quiet disappointed. I gave up - with a smile - knowing my father-in-law, who probably will install this luster before our arrival in summer ...

flea market find -  to hang in our house, somewhere

Luster no. 2  is about 3 x bigger than luster no. 1. - Probably it would suit the entrance of a palazzo better than the small luster (although the entrance is small). But still I am attached to the first, the original one. It was the only interior object we got with the purchase of the house. And as we do a lot of remodelling I thought to at least preserve the entrance luster at its original spot, in the entrance. - What do you think ? Should I give the second luster a try ? And find another place for the 'original' luster ? Or vice versa ?

Restoration progress of the Vaulted Cellar

One of the beauties of our house in the South of Italy is a spectacular vaulted cellar.

Formerly used as warehouse for the storage of olive oil and handmade soap this vault is carved into the cliff below the ground floor of our house. From here, many years ago, the traders sold olive oil and soap to the merchant ships by letting down the cliff roped up baskets with the goods.

A separate entrance leads from the piazza downstairs and opens up to this long gallery with high stone ceilings. We call it our 'seminterrato' (basement).

The former storage area was in two large rooms (on the right). The storage area in the ground is still visible (not in the picture). We still think of recovering it and illuminate it below a glass top.

The gallery and the second room have doors that lead to a small garden. Here we added the two iron doors (older post).

The garden offers breath taking views as everywhere in the house.

Our architect, who is specialised in restoring old stone walls and ceilings, did a great job.

Okay, here the close observer will recognize that we have a humidity problem. This seems to origine from the outside wall that we have not touched so far. It is a stonewall on which a few wild plants grow and their roots might cause the dammage and rain water finds its way through.

I would solve this problem before the wet season starts. But it is a question of money ... to restore properly the outside wall my father-in-law calculates another few thousands of Euro ... the dammage will be minor. The walls are not even painted yet (just plastered).

This is the gallery from the other side. On the far left starts the steps that lead up to the piazza by passing by a small bathroom.

Here we are. This is one of the future bathrooms. Under the vault (on the right) will be the shower ! And the window has seaview !

Opposite the shower will be the toilet and bidet - a must in an Italian home - with a lighting on top.

Let's summarize: the vaulted cellar has a long gallery with space for a small kitchen and dining area. It has two rooms for a living area and a sleeping area. And it will have a pretty bathroom.

And ....

.... it has a small garden with spectacular sea view !

And a 'balcony' with an even more breathtaking view.

Remember the separate entrance - what do you think ?!

Isn't this an ideal guest appartment ?

For family and friends - and maybe to rent as well !?!

The 'balcony' with the renovated iron railway.

Next step:

We think about flooring. What kind of material. I would love to try concrete or Venizian terrazzo. Maybe too much 'stone' on ceiling, walls and floor ? And maybe lack of working skills. Concrete floors often have problems with cracks. What about wooden panels ? Antique oak ? Wood providea a warmer atmosphere. But humidity might be a problem, air must circulate underneath the wood. Terra cotta tiles ? Delicate sometimes. Not warm enough ?

We have time. But your input is welcome !!!

the iron doors

After having been thinking and researching and writing and posting so much about wrought iron grids and doors, I almost forgot to present the result of our iron doors for the garden access.

The two original archways are not identical. That's why the iron doors have a slightly different finish and shape.



As one can hardly oversee, our tiny garden is not ready yet.
And my little lemon tree has suffered from lack of water.


But it is doing better now.
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cancelli di ferro battuto

Another - good - result of long distance renovation:

Our iron gates, cancelli di ferro, are ready for mounting.

When I received an email this morning with the above subject and attachment, I was holding my breath until the attachement opened ... and I was so relieved when I saw it ! What a surprise!

What ? Surprise ? We had the draft of the design and agreed on it (below). Why surprise ?

WAIT - that's not the whole story.

Apparently, after we had agreed on the design, the 'artist' got inspired by my posts about iron gates (here and here). And he got a new idea. He wanted to integrate some design pattern that appears in our basement.

Maybe similar to my photo editing (below).

Okay, fine, we said. But, please send us a new drawing to make up our mind - soon.
And we waited and waited.

Yesterday, we asked again: "How about the new design?"

And here came the confusing answer:

"The gates are ready for mounting!"


"Scusi ?! What about the drawing ?! What if we do not like the design?"


The last message send out to Italy yesterday night:

"Please send photos immediately before mounting !"


So that's why, this morning, I am happy and relieved to see the gates made after the originally agreed design.

No extra pattern, no sweet curves, no flowers or hearts or "s".

What a nice surprise !

Now, let's wait how they look fixed - coming next.

Iron Furniture

Wrought iron furniture is furniture made by bending, shaping, and welding wrought iron. It has a long history, dating back to Roman times (source: wikipedia)

There is almost no French country home or Tuscan farm house without an iron bed.
I do like their romantic charm !







Other popular iron wrought furniture and accessories are chairs, tables, shelves, lamps and coat racks. Here a small selection:






Wrought iron work is predestinated for outdoor use of course. I like iron chairs in gardens, so often seen in French parks with white or green finish. And not to forget the beautiful pergolas by Unopiu which offer us shade in hot summers:






Photo source:
1) shootfactory (UK)
2), 3) Caporali (Italy)
4) shootfactory (UK)
5) unknown
6),7) Caporali
8), 9) unknown
10) Caporali
11), 12), 13) Unopiu


Address/links:
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Caporali
Enzo Caporali, Santa Mama, 110 Arezzo Italia +39 0575 487033
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Unopiu
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shootfactory
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