When we found out we would be moving to Australia for
David’s job, one of my first concerns was where in the world we would
live. We were lucky though because we didn’t
have to deal with the stress of house-hunting in a foreign country – although
the image of us on HGTV’s House Hunters International did cross my mind. J David’s company provides housing for their
employees who move here, so all we had to do was show up at what would be our
new house when we arrived.
David arrived about a month and a half before I did (July), while I
stayed behind to wrap things up with packing, selling our house, and some last
visits to family and friends. David was
able to move right into the house when he arrived (even though our belongings
weren’t there yet), because the houses the company provides are pretty much
fully furnished. Here are some photos
of the house from right before David moved in.
A couple of the photos show empty rooms, but don’t worry, the furniture
in those rooms WAS moved in before he arrived.
This is the view of the front of the house. The photo on the left shows our street- our
house is the one behind the Subaru, and the photo on the right is the front of
our house (ignore the date- it was taken right after it was built). Don’t you think the houses here look pretty
different than what we’re used to in the US?
They all have metal roofs to help reflect the heat, but I still just can’t get
used to that.
After walking in the front door, there is a little entry way
with a door into the garage and access to the laundry room- which is actually a
pretty nice size.
Then you move into the main area of the house. This part of the house is very open- kitchen,
living, dining in one open area. This
view is taken standing in the kitchen looking out toward the back of the
house. I love, love, LOVE houses with lots of windows and natural light, so I was happy about that feature of this house. But MAN, the sun here is just SO strong, that I swear I get a sun burn INSIDE our house.
These views of the kitchen are taken standing in the living
room, looking back toward the front of the house where. Again, see the crazy amount of blindingly
bright white everywhere?!
Looking back toward the living area, there is a patio off
the back of the house. The house itself
is on a hill, so although you can’t see it from the front, the back part of the
house is raised above ground. Our patio
looks over the main street coming in to the neighborhood. We do have a backyard, but you have to go
down stairs to get to it.
Off of the living room, to the immediate right is the
master bedroom. Kind of a weird setup if
you ask me.
This photo of the master bedroom was taken before the bed was brought
in- I promise you, David didn’t have to sleep on the floor. The master bathroom is a nice size, but so
weird that there is no door between it and the room itself. This is especially annoying when your husband
wakes up to get ready for work at 4:15 every day.
There is also a small office:
And two identical guests rooms with one guest bathroom. These photos are of just one of the guest
rooms.
So, that is pretty much how the house looked when I arrived
at the end of August. And actually, it
stayed this way for another six weeks or so while we waited for our moving
shipment to arrive. We had a 1,000 pound
limit on what we could bring over, so while I would have liked to have brought
all of our furniture, decorations, etc. (because, let’s face it, the furnishings
in the house aren’t my favorite), I couldn’t.
The only furniture that we did bring was: our bed and mattress (best
idea ever!), David’s favorite chair, a rug, and a limited amount of general
house decorations. The rest of the shipment
weight was taken up by clothes and kitchen gear. Also complicating our ability to make this
place more “our own” is that the landlord does not allow nails in the
walls. We are only supposed to use 3M
hanging strips, and only 2 items per wall.
On the positive side, it does keep things simpler, less cluttered, and
we just generally have less “crap” around.
Although don’t get me wrong, I do miss every single little thing that is
in storage back in Houston and can’t wait to be reunited with it all (although
I’m sure I will have forgotten what is even there by the time we return). So anyway, here’s how the house looks now
after unpacking our shipment, moving some furniture around, and creatively
making do with what we have.
The front of the house pretty much the same except for a few
potted plants. Ignore the dead grass…
Entry way. Laundry room to the left, garage and guest room to the
right:
Living area (facing out toward the back of the house):
Kitchen:
A little storage/display area I faked:
Patio with a few added plants/flowers as well as some patio
furniture. This spot allows me to be an
excellent neighborhood spy (I’m so nosey!):
Master bedroom now with our beloved bed and mattress:
Oh- and take note of the ridiculous
lamps- so stylish, right? There are about 10 in the house-
and every house that David’s company has furnished. I will throw them out the window when we leave-
they make me nuts.
Guest room aka YOUR room when you come visit! :-)
Yes, I know it's not much different from the first set of pictures. And trust me, I know even more so that this is a far cry from stylish and carefully decorated. BUT we did the best with what we had, and it does FEEL much more homey now, and THAT is important since this will be home for the next 3-4 years!
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