Our Paris Apartment: "Before"

We are moving into our new apartment today. I have great plans for this place but I thought I should post some "before pictures" and talk a little bit about it. While we were looking my wish list for my dream Paris apartment was this:

-Located in Central Paris
-Has windows/gets good light
-Has a Balcony and some kind of view.
-Two Bedrooms
-Near a Metro Stop
-Wood Parquet Floors
-Partially Furnished

We ended up with 5 out of 7. The apartment doesn't have a balcony and is a ten minute walk from the metro stop but other than that we are happy with it. (With the kids we take buses a lot more than the Metro since it is so easy to get on and off. You can even leave them in their stroller!) Honestly, if I was going to do it again I would probably just get an unfurnished place since the apartment we ended up in is on the second floor and it wouldn't be a big deal to get furniture up. But that isn't something I would know until we actually found a place. Also the idea of buying a fridge intimidated me (unfurnished apartments here usually don't have them) but Paris refrigerators are itty bitty and it wouldn't have been that big of a deal to find one used or even buy one new.

The main room is quite large. It has a dining area and a living area that are connected. There are lots of windows and architectural details and the space gets great light. Some of the furniture isn't my favorite but it could be worse and the sofa turns into a bed, which is useful.



There is a long hallway that all the rooms are attached to and the layout is actually really nice which can be hard to find in Paris. (Another apartment we saw had an awful layout, which was so bad I went straight back to this apartment to give him a deposit.)

The boys' room is first. There is a crib (not in a closet!) and we opted to get a queen size bed instead of a twin because we are expecting visitors and it will be easy to have Moses crash in our bed when guests come. It is really nice having a second bedroom, after so long in a one bedroom we feel so lucky to have a space just for the boys.



The master bedroom is also pretty big. We'll probably put a small office in there so when someone needs to crack down and work they can shut the door and have some privacy. Besides we never hang out in our bedroom besides at night so it will be a more efficient use of the space.



The bathroom we don't have pictures of but it is very small and across the hall from our bedroom. It does have a bath, which is nice for kids.

Which brings us to the kitchen, which is TINY! It is essentially a hallway that fits: a sink, a stove, a small dishwasher, a washing machine/dryer, and a fridge. Apparently most Paris kitchens keep the washing machine in the kitchen. And even though our dishwasher is the size of a drawer we just feel lucky to have one. This is the first place we've lived in our six years of marriage that has had a dishwasher or a washing machine in our apartment. The luxury!



All in all we are very happy with the apartment. I am really anxious to get in there and make it pretty and cozy. I didn't think we'd end up in the 7th Arrondissement but we are happy to be there. We are a block from the big grassy area in front of the Eiffel Tower where everyone picnics so we'll be able to go all the time and we are just a few blocks from Rue Cler and the lovely food shops over there. Mostly I'm just happy we have a place to live, it doesn't hurt that it is in Paris.




The pictures above were all taken from our street.