Two Years in Two Hours

It took a bit under two hours to move almost two years (save two months) worth of belongings from Smichov to Holesovice last Friday. The transition was swift and painless, and I couldn't have asked for nicer movers than Armand, an Albanian, and his side-kick George, a dashing Georgian student. George from Georgia. Couldn't have made that one up.....



An aside: are we Americans ever going to shake our bad reputation when it comes to world geography? After introductions, George felt the need to add, “I am not from the States....” Gee, can ya give me the benefit of the doubt that I would know of a country called Georgia?

Quite happy with the new place. Three weeks before the move, I went with my new landlord to a nearby supply store to select colors for the walls. When he had told me beforehand that the walls needed fresh paint I blurted, “I want the living room to be green!” Eh? He looked, hmm, skeptical. "Your walls. Just make sure you pay rent...."

At the paint shop, he said very little as I inspected the palettes. “What do you think? CRV48-S2030-G50Y or CRV49-S2030-G50Z? Ugh! This is soo harrrd!” He was a bit more responsive when I moved on to the blue palette for the bedroom.

The following weeks were then spent in sheer terror. The decision to go green was impulsive, with little research done beforehand. (Of course, afterwards I wasted hours online—Apartment Therapy, HGTV, Domino—trying to justify my choice.) The only thing I had to go on was a visit last February to an interior design firm that I interviewed for an article. The firm's studio, set up inside an apartment, had muted green walls that I quite liked, but I could not have imagined that they would be inspiration four months later....



Love my green walls. (Still can't peg the name of the shade though.) Even the landlord is impressed.

Settling in will take a while. Okay, a few months. I know me. Though I chose wall paint on a whim in minutes, it'll take me a millennium to decide on furniture. And that I already have a bed, desk and chair—sleeping, eating, working—means I will feel no rush to get anything else. A bad paint job can be easily fixed. Bad furniture not so good. I'm prepared to be patient, and I think all those home design websites I have bookmarked will come in handy.