The before and after home pics... and a few others..

Well... It has finally happened... We are moved into our little place in La Crescenta, LA. :) But there is a lot to tell about how we got here and it is all lined with the Lord's grace and kindness shown to us in so many ways.

So to begin with, here are some pictures of our little 'apartment' before the painting and cleaning had happened. Our new friend Vicky Zekveld (an architect) helped us to think of ways to maximize the small space and she even created a 3d model to help us see how things would look in our little place using exact measurements and everything!

This is the old kitchen:

This is the old lounge:

This is the old bedroom:

This is the old passageway:

This is the old bathroom:

This is the old bay window area:

  Now to see Vicky's 3d ideas: (She got home after seeing the place and after having jotted down some measurements,  constructed this little replica of our place! Got to love it!)
This is a 'birds eye view of our little place:

 

 Top view of the living room:

View of bedroom:

View from the lounge:

Isn't that amazing? It is so helpful to see how much space you have and also to see what colours will work with the bright blue carpet etc. It has been such fun to be friends with an architect!


So now, the time for work began! We had to move everything out of the place first and then start the painting...


Here are some of our work photos:
Here is Vicky in action, taping off the necessary places:

Me painting this beautiful blue that completely changed the look of our little place!

A little help from the guys... (Izak started orientation classes when we began painting and Andrew was working most days but they jumped in as soon as they could!)

The Zekveld renovation team... TEAM AMERICA! (Hehe. Vicky made them these t-shirts for the 4th of July - Independence day!)

And now to see the new little place. (Will post better pics when we are properly settled in and have some more furniture. Izak and Andrew are building Izak's desk that will perfectly fit in the bay window this morning.


So, here are the 'After' pics:
Here is the new bathroom: (Its so little I battle to get bigger pictures to show off our painting work!) But basically, we have taken out alot of clutter throughout the house and the bathroom is a light grey-blue that helps brighten up and modernize the little room.) 

Then the little passageway.... (Vicky was so clever with the way we used the blue in feature places. The blue completely changed the way this passageway looks- it adds depth and makes it feel bigger.)

Then the new-look bedroom...

Then the new lounge....

And then the little kitchen...


So, it has been a very exciting time to put it mildly. During all the moving and painting, Izak had his first day at school- ie the orientation week. (Normally he would have to wear a shirt and tie but they could get away with golf shirts for that week. I think it was better for everyone since we had such extreme heat!)
Here is Izak on his first day:

Awww! And here we are together:

I cannot resist showing you Vicky's beautiful lounge (The one we occupied for three weeks). Isn't it inspirational? I have learnt how colour can play such a big role, and she didn't spend alot of money on the items, there is a wonderful second hand online site that helps you pick up bargain buys. 
Vicky's lounge:

Sweet hey? Notice our learner Izak studying away. :) (Oh and ps, all the clutter is ours.) It is even nicer normally.


Then, last but NOT least... The unveiling of our little car...
Ta da!

Our little red Dodge Neon, '98. Drives very nicely although sometimes the speedometer seems to be having attitude. We are so grateful to have transport and to have a little place of our own. We heard from Pat, (our landlady today), that because our area (La Crescenta) is at the foothills, we have possums (not very cute at all), raccoons, a neighbourhood smelly skunk, possible mountain lions,tree rats and the biggest flies that we have ever seen! We thank the Lord that we can be so close to nature though. You will see that our car is in shade (a huge commodity in this heat) and this area is full of trees and very hilly. It is very pretty, with mountains all around! And... there is a place somewhere close by that apparently has a view of the ocean on clear days. (It is called ocean view incidentally!)