Monday, March 9, 2009

Extreme Home Makeover Paris Flat Edition!



Hi I’m Ty Pennington and we have come out to Paris, France to help Katie Hickey put together the shell she was given as an apartment and turn it into a livable place for the time she will be living in Francee. Everything in this transformation can be found at Ikea, on Craigslist.com., or your garage. So come on team- LET’S GO! (play pumped up music here and loud applause)


First we will start with her bedroom. When we showed up the carpet was all stained and dirty. After a week it was changed out, once again blue, but now it is fresh and clean! The wardrobe is a build it yourself piece, found at Ikea, while the dresser also from Ikea came from the discounted scratch and dent room. No longer is Katie camping out on the couches of other families working at Lifeagape. She now has her own bed to sleep in! To bring in some color to the room, we found a fun painting at the Montmartre where all the artists gather in Paris and placed that along the wall of her bed.





Next we will move to her living /dining room. The table and rug help keep the apartment a young, fresh and fun feeling, with vibrant colors to give you the sense of Katie. There is still a lot of open room available in this apartment and I am sure she will continue to add to this use of space. Her couch was donated but originally comes from Azerbaijan. The pictures on her wall are pictures of the Paris area so you don’t forget where you are when you come to visit. (note: you thinks you should come and visit!)




Her entertainment system is pretty limited. She receives 4 channels and they are all in French and DVD’s are watched on her laptop. Not to worry- she realizes she lives in Europe and thus… should not be at home watching TV! Under the window you will find a very easy to match, expandable and economical book shelf. What we did here was simply place the books strategically on the floor. It works great! What's best is that it doesn't distract from the view she has from her apartments window.



(the view is much better in person than on film- another reason you should come visit.)

And now… (dramatic sound effects please!) THE KITCHEN! Ah yes the kitchen that has taken 7 hours in Ikea to plan, two weekends of putting pieces together, a weekend of then placement and hanging (note we didn’t have our usual team of 300 people this was done by a team of 3) but allas it is complete! Katie is no longer using her window ceil as a means to keep her milk cold- she has a real FRIDGE! Her cabinets are finally hung and she can actually cook a meal on her stove!





(on wall opposite fridge and stove)

Now Let's go to Katie and see and hear what she has to say about this successful expereince.
AHHHH. Oh My goodness!!! Words just can't express what an experience this has been for me. All the endless trips to Ikea, hours scouring over deals on craiglist, and the blisters from building everything! Snif snif I just can't help but cry I am so overwhelemed! This has truely been an unforgettable experience! I am just so happy I am speechless.

Ty: Well folks that says it all! Thanks for joining us on this special Paris addition. Be sure to come back next week when we go back to states and help a struggling family of 12, where the oldest son's job, is the only income the family has to live on. See you next week!

6 comments:

Musings of the Mrs. said...

It looks great Katie! And I'm very glad you don't have workable TV or a big couch, because you're right, you should not be watching TV while you are in Paris (if you do, you will kick yourself later). I cannot believe you did the kitchen yourself. I could never have planned that...I can't even really measure stuff well.

I'm so glad you are all settled in.

Shane said...

Nice job Ty! And thanks for helping Katie out :)
Katie - it turned out really cute - can't wait to see it in person!!!

Anonymous said...

Great post, certainly got a great makeover!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE it Katie!!! I can't wait to see it in person and make it my home away from home this fall! Your view is amazing, soak it up, love your French life, and I will be there as soon as I can!!
-Denise

Anonymous said...

You are too cute! I'm so glad your place is coming together and I'm sure it feels more like home.

nikirae18 said...

omgoodnes!! you seriously just made me pee my pants!!! It looks amazing and definently a 180 from the pics i saw at first..wow..great job!! I hope i get the chance to see it!!