Home Improvement

Now that I'm staying another year in Romania I've been systematically tackling the apartment. You know how there are some things that you just can't live without no matter whether you'll be somewhere a month or a year? And then there are other things that might deal with if you were there for two years as opposed to six months? Varying levels of tolerance, if you will, for convenience, disarray, and decor. So when I got here thinking I was staying only 8 months, I immediately supplemented the basic kitchen supplies with a nice spatula and big fry pan and organized the kitchen a bit more efficiently. But I borrowed 9x13 pans from others, hand minced garlic, and used the somewhat sketchy old tea kettle to boil water for tea. Now that I'm staying for another year I purchased a 9x13 pan, garlic press (no really, I use large quantities of garlic multiple times a week), a hand mixer, and was given an electric water boiler.

Similarly, around the apartment there were things that I just let be, even though they bothered me, because I didn't have the time or energy to deal with them. Oh but now I have the motivation, which trumps time and energy. So with the combination of my Ms.HIS (Miss Spangles Home Improvement Skillz) and some very gracious guy friends, I have been getting this apartment into ship shape. With the help of my newly purchased tape measure, hammer, and screwdrivers so that I feel like a real adult, not having to borrow things like that. At least good enough for Tim the Toolman Taylor. Cleaned the deck/balcony (like REALLY cleaned it), got a handle for the cabinet door that never had one, fixed the broken kitchen drawer, solved the mystery of why the bureau only has four drawers instead of the five allotted and made five work once again, made our shaky dining room table stable. Gratifying stuff like that.

As I was checking things off the list, I took some pictures of a few of the more noteworthy improvements.

Turning the cabinet into usable storage space, as we have no actual closet, and our kitchen cabinets cannot contain our vast array of awesomeness. I searched long and hard for that blue dulap- just the right size:

Brand spankin new shelf above the oven. This is a big deal because the walls are solid concrete (yay communism!), so you have to track down a serious drill to be able to hang up even something as basic as this. But it has been ohhh so worth it!

I really didn't like our curtains. I mean, they weren't even really curtains so much as decoration. And with yellow walls, gold curtains aren't so excellent for sprucing up the room. But, material is expensive, curtains are expensive, and so I just let it be:

However, then I was offered some lovely green, blue, and yellow checkered curtains FOR FREE (God is so cool like that, the whole provision thing). And while if I were going to the store to purchase curtains these probably wouldn't be what I would buy, they are so drastic an improvement and just generally nice that it's great. And they match the cozy blue blanket and green picture frame (on the FIXED five-drawer bureau) I bought recently (also to spruce up the color scheme of the living room)! Voila:

And such is my life. Writing about curtains, dulaps, and and shelves. If only anyone else found this as interesting as I do.