Our Flat, Staged

I came across this picture while cleaning out our old paperwork. The room looks familiar, right? And yet not quite?

Well, that's because it's our flat, but before we moved in eleven years ago. It's also before the previous family moved in, because we saw their decor and it wasn't this. I'm guessing it was taken in 2010 or so, if not before. These photos were then used to list the flat for rent. Yes, you too could live here!

What's up with the very '80s glass and steel table and stereo equipment? And all that white furniture -- you can certainly tell this was long before Olga. I note that they took down all the terrible drapes before taking the photos.

Just for comparison, here's the living room now. (We also took down the terrible drapes, as has been discussed in previous posts.)

The dining room was very sparse -- more like an ironing room, from the looks of things.

Here's what it looks like now.

The old photo of the bedroom has the most furniture of any of the shots. I guess some previous occupant was in the process of moving out, but hadn't quite yet.

Here's the bedroom now. Those armoires came with the flat but they're not in the older photo, so I'm not sure when they came on the scene. Note that the carpet is the same. 🙄 And here we do have some unsightly drapes.

The kitchen looked very white. I could not figure out what that dirigible-shaped thing is on the left. Dave thinks it's a speaker for a phone, like a docking station, sitting on top of the microwave. (Addendum: He's right. It is in fact a Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air speaker.)

Here's the kitchen now. We had it painted yellow and all of the appliances have been replaced over the years.

And finally, this is what the garden used to look like! It was so empty.

Here it is today. That hazel tree on the right has gotten huge, despite several trims, as has the Japanese maple and some of the other plantings in the back. Overall it feels much more private and secluded, I'd say.

Anyway, just thought you'd enjoy this look at the flat before we lived in it -- particularly if you're into before-and-after real estate shots!