Oost, west, thuis best! (home sweet home)

I have had some requests from fellow friends and bloggers to see our casa. You have knocked and thy door shall be opened. Because our home is so gigantic I will be posting by level 1 and level 2. This post will be level 1 which covers living area, bathroom, kitchen and guest room. Okay, here are the pics. I seriously thought about taking the picture of each room "as is", but I couldn't do it. How funny would that be? Even more funny would be if I had taken an "after" shot of each room the following day.

KITCHEN


DINING ROOM
Here is our dining area. Notice the 80 year old high chair(family heirloom, but killer to keep clean) in the corner and the $3 Van Gogh print on the wall. Those two items are very precious to me. It is all about character!

LIVING ROOM


The living room is where we do everything: play, work, dance, and eat. It is very cozy and the warmest room in the house. This place was furnished with sofas, tables, chairs, and appliances, all provided by the landlord. Stefan's parents found beds for us along with many other items. The kitchen was equipped thanks to Stefan's mom. She provided towels, silverware, plates, dishes, glasses, etc. We have received several hand-me-downs from family and friends (t.v., baby beds, rocking horse, kid's table, toys). All of the extras were brought over or bought. Kind of scary how fast it all accumulates.


Here are a couple more pictures of the opposite wall in our living room. This wall has two windows that look out over a main road in Alblasserdam. Stefan gets on and off the bus right below our house. Very convenient. Ian loves to look out the window and wave to Papa in the mornings. Every time he sees a bus, you hear, "Papa? Papa?" It is amazing how much entertainment those two windows have given us.