Playing house

Here is our house three years ago.



Local homes are build around a court yard. Rooms surround the yard, and often almost all the rooms have their own outside door. Toilet and kitchen are often in the far back corner of the yard. Actually we have a 'western' style house... without the kitchen that is in the back of the yard. But it is so easy to put the kids to bed when the bathroom is right there!

This is how our yard looked like when we got it (picture). It is pretty normal to have hard mud 'floor' on the yard...it is easy to sweep clean, and sweeping is a big thing here (it is worth a posting of its own!). People might or might not have plants; roses, tomatoes, potatoes... But almost every house will have grapevines.

In our house the grapevines are really really high. But the shade...it is amazing! In the heat of a summer day our yard stays much cooler than the street.

I promised some after shots as well... here is how our yard looks now:

Isn't it nice what a little grass and painted fence can do?




This was the kitchen when we visited the house for the first time...

And this was left for us after the previous renters moved out (we painted the walls light yellow). The sink is really pretty! And it is good to have tile and a hot water heater. It is very good! On the right corner of the picture you can see a little bit of the new cabinets we bought. We did not have the mental energy to start ordering custom made cabinets, and we settled with this cute ready set.



This is how the new cabinets look. And the new Korean stove. We are pretty happy with our kitchen...it is light and big enough to have a family dinner table in it.

Welcome!