We got ourselves back to work yesterday and today and finally have something that is starting to resemble a bedroom.  Its not quite finished, but its getting there! I can hardly believe its the same room. So here are a  few photos of how things are going at the moment. You can see here in the first photo the wardrobe that is painted and put back together, its just needs new handles.

You can also see that we finally have a floor!

I also thought I would throw in a couple of photos of Luigi's work truck since we've been spending so much time in it lately!

And here's the captain himself!

and this is a little collage of some ideas fore the room, bedding, throw pillows, etc. lots of color of course!

and then I thought I'd throw in a photo of my little Michelangelo just because he is always so patiently waiting for us in the window when we get home! Can't wait until our little garden is ready so he can take naps in the sun!

Thats all of today! Be back tomorrow with more new photos!

I know it seems as if I fell off the face of the Earth, and to tell you the truth it certainly felt like I did, and that I also  got hit by a truck along the way!  Unfortunately, we were forced to take an unwanted break from restoration on account of a very high fever and an even nastier virus. YUCK!  I was out of commission for an entire week.  

But, to really help me feel better and replenish my vitamin supply, my best girl Lisa and her significant other Count Cosimo made Luigi and I, along with our friends Christine and Doug, an amazing Sunday Lunch in their Tuscan garden.

What could make a girl free better than pasta made with fresh asparagus, artichokes in a light white wine and lemon sauce prepared by the Count humself? Enjoying it in the garden on the first day of sun in more than a week with some of my favorite people thats what! So here are a few photos of our glorious afternoon.

 Christine contributed a delicious curried beef and of course we ended with gelato, sunshine and great conversation.  Now I am energized and feeling like myself again and ready to get back to work! Thanks guys!

We've got color!!  Yay!  I can hardly believe it but its true. Finally!  Of course however it wasn't without it's issues.....We did mix the color ourselves and originally we only bought one bottle of the shade we needed only to discover that it was no where near enough, which is a little funny because Luigi and I went to buy another bucket of the white paint to mix it with and at the advice of the sales person decided that we didn't need another bottle of color.  Later when we mixed it we realized that that was not the case at all so Luigi ran out and bought two more bottles just to be safe.  In the end we used two full bottles. In the photos below you can see our various attempts at mixing the right shade. 

This is the first shade which was much too light and had almost a flesh tone to it.

This is the first try and the second shade together, still just a bit too light.

And then we got it right!

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It is a little darker than I had originally planned, but I am really happy with the way it looks so far. It will need one more coat tomorrow since it is still a bit streaky, but I can't wait to see it all put together. I think it will look really great with the white furniture and some funky bedding.

We have been working a little slow this week since we both have "real" jobs in the middle of it all but tomorrow we are off to Ikea to buy the flooring, so we are hoping that by the end of the weekend the entire room will be finished.  We still have to varnish the window and finish the wardrobe and get rid of this awful light! But at least the hard part is over!   

Time to get a good nights sleep so I can be ready for a full day of work.  I hope to have some fun photos for you by the end of the weekend. 

Happy Friday, be back soon!

Remember the always expect the unexpected part???  Well a few more problems popped up today.  Over the years several layers of paint have been put on these walls and over time because of the way buildings are constructed here (brick, then concrete then plaster) after a while the paint no longer sticks to the wall.......And thats what happened to us today! YAY!! As I was up on the ladder feeling very proud of myself for having almost completely painted the ceiling myself, and having almost finished the second coat of white paint, i.e just about ready to mix the tan, large chunks of old dry paint in several colors starting sticking to my roller......hmmmmm.... that can't be good.  Then I did just as Luigi taught me and I started scrapping the dry patches off the wall and all of a sudden the little patch became a HUGE section! Oops! Oh well, at least it happened now and not when we were actually sleeping in there. 

I really should have taken a photos before Luigi fixed it because you could actually see the several layers of color underneath, yellow, white, and the green of course.  So this is a layer of plaster over the concrete and now we will have to wait for it to dry before painting over it, but at least it will be fresh! You can also see to the left another section, a bit smaller this time, but another one nonetheless!

And then........I was painting another wall and look what happened here! Great!  This one I actually fixed myself.  After watching Luigi for a while I thought I'd give it a try. Not bad for a first timer.  Let's just hope it stops here and that we don't have any more surprises!

But, since I know these are not the most exciting photos, I wanted to post a couple of photos of some bedding I found on Anthropologie.com my favoriteist store in the entire world! 

Are they to die for or what?!  I absolutely love their home department, these two I especially love for the bedroom.  Think I'll be trying extra hard to fill up that tip jar in the next few months.

I would buy everything in this store if I could! Tomorrow will be a busy day for both of us, so I'm not sure how much work we will get done, but hopefully I will have some new photos to show you. 

Happy Monday! A domani

Yesterday was lots of fun!  Laura and I put the first coat of paint on the walls in the bedroom. We talked the entire time and got really messy!  We did realize however, that we are going to need several coats to cover up that old ugly dirty green. So this room is still in progress but here are a few photos of what we have accomplished so far. Oh and I think I have a made the decision to paint all the walls with the tan, especially after seeing some more photos of it being done this way and also imagining the white window and the white wardrobe, I think it will look really nice.  Today I will be taking a break and paying some attention to the apartment that I currently still live in, its been a bit neglected this week.  Enjoy the photos, more to come when all is finished!

I painted the shutters white and eventually the window frame will be painted to match

Before and after with bright white, already looking much cleaner

Still a work in progress but we're getting there

and yes, that awful industrial fluorescent light is going!

I'll be back tomorrow with more photos of hopefully a completely painted room! A domani!