FINALLY...Pictures of our Apartment

Welcome to our apartment in Florence, Italy. We've had a few *cough* requests to put some pictures up now that our stuff has arrived and we have unpacked (We lived here for two months without any furniture but for a futon mattress, pack n' play, and folding table w/ two chairs.). We're finally getting around to it and hope you enjoy getting an inside look at life in Europe.

Here you are standing in our living room. It's the first room you walk into when you come through the front door - that very sturdy and safe looking door on the far wall, left side. I think even SWAT would have a hard time getting in it!

This is a view from the front door. As you can see, there are no hallways in this apartment. Each room has a door that just opens up off of this room. For example, in this picture you see, counter clockwise from right to left, our little bathroom's door , the door to the storage room, the door to our big bathroom, the door to the kitchen, and the door to the dining room. At first I wasn't sure I liked the no hall set-up but it's been great in practice. It's so easy just to close the doors to rooms I don't want Colton to crawl into! :)

One last view of the living room. You're standing in Colton's doorway now and looking at the guest room door, the master bedroom door, the small bathroom's door, and the storage closets door (again, counter clockwise from right to left).

One of the most difficult rooms for us to set up in the house was the kitchen. This is because it was unfurnished - meaning there was NOTHING in it. Ross took countless trips to Ikea and electronics stores to buy cabinets and appliances and after about a month - and Ross' blood, sweat, and tears - we had a fully functional, beautiful kitchen!

Here you are walking into the kitchen from the living room.

Once you're in you get a view of a wonderful smelling honeysuckle bush that is growing just outside the beautiful doors. These lead out to our private garden - about 40 feet by 30 feet of stone patio and grass. It is a huge blessing to have a nice outdoor space in the city and we are thankful. So are Beau and Colton - it's a great place for them to play!

Now you're standing by the door to the garden and looking back into the kitchen. We have a pretty big fridge by European standards, though it's still small for the U.S.

To the left of the doorway to the outside is what we call our "island." We had enough space on that wall to put an upper and lower cabinet, plus a pantry. Having this space really makes our kitchen feel bigger!

A view from the "island" area to the main part of the kitchen. The oven is the farthest left, then a dishwasher. The rest you should have a pretty good view of!

This is the dining room. It also looks out to the garden.

We are blessed to have two bathrooms in this apartment.

This one is the big one and has a great bathtub, perfect for Colton!

This is the small bathroom. There's a shower to the left of the toilet. Not enough room in here for the bidet, sorry.

The next room is one you need to look at closely - the guest room! Could you sleep here???

Looking in from the doorway.

A view of the "office" section of the guest room.

An armoire for your clothes (We wouldn't want you living out of a suitcase your whole visit!), a queen-sized bed for your comfort, and a mirror so you can get ready in the mornings. What more could you want? ;o)

This is Colton's room. It's one of the smallest rooms in the house but it works great for him!

You're looking straight in from the doorway here. As you can see, he has some beautiful doors that open up to the garden, as well. Besides the lovely doors you can see his dresser, crib, toy box, Gator, and armoire.

A close-up picture of the Gator. He loves to play all over it and to pull his friends out of the trunk.

Looking from the back of the room towards the living room.

Last, but not least, are pictures of our master bedroom. It, like the guest room, faces the street and has a great window to let in plenty of light. It's also at least twice the size of our bedroom in Orlando. Seriously? Who would have thunk it???

Looking in from the doorway.

Again from the doorway - the big thing on the right is our armoire.

For those who have been asking, a good picture of our bedding.

Thank you for touring our apartment. Please consider this your invitation to make a personal visit at any time; we'll always have an open space for YOU! :)