I am a pretty big HGTV fan. I enjoy being nosy about the kind of homes people buy and I love getting home decor ideas from various shows. In all my HGTV watching and internet searching I have not found a House Hunters International in Moscow. I searched high and low before moving here because I felt like an episode would give me a glimpse into life here....
What kind of apartments are available - are they still reminiscent of the Soviet Era??
How big will they be? (yes we are spoiled - Everything is bigger in Texas)
Will we get one with more the one bathroom?
Will all the stuff we brought fit?
Will the kitchen be very well equipped.....???
Well, now that the apartment search is over and we just moved in to our long-term place I will re-create an episode of House Hunters for those avid viewers out there who have always been dying to see an episode from Moscow :)
Disclaimer: I know we were only taken to apartments that are rented out to foreigners, so this doesn't necessarily represent the average apartment in Moscow, just the average apartment rented to a foreigner.
We actually viewed A LOT of apartments....poor kids were dragged from one to the another, all day long with very few snacks. We actually ended up using my US-bought snacks much quicker than anticipated due to these long apartment-hunting days. But, it kept the kiddos quiet and happy so the adults could enjoy the day with no whining....well at least a little less whining.
Apartment 1 - "Zoo Apartment"
This first apartment was a hit almost immediately as we walked in......very bright and open-floorplan. We were advised to look for "light" and "bright" places since Winters are long and dark. Well, it only got better as we walked through it. We had already seen several apartments before this one and noticed several common themes in Moscow apartments (these items stood out as very different from Texas apartments).
1. There is always a fairly large coat closet upon entry - this is basically the "mudroom". Obviously there is a whole area of the house dedicated to coats and winter boots due to its frequent use - winter is extra long here :) The nicer apartments had warming tiles in this area too! And since walk-in closets do not appear to be very common here, it was always nice to see a large closet for more storage space.
2. Russians LOVE big huge jacuzzi tubs! Now "big" jacuzzi tubs are usually selling points in homes in the US. Realtors use the term separate shower and tub or large garden tub in their master bathroom descriptions all the time. But, those tubs just don't compare to these tubs. Russians spare no expense when it comes to their jacuzzi tub. They are huge.....much larger than your typical master bathroom tub that "seats 2", but really only fits 1. We saw red tubs, black tubs, white tubs, maybe even some more colors....all that would rival an outdoor hot tub. I guess when you don't have a yard to put a hot tub in, you put it in your bathroom. Well I think its great....what a great way to spend an evening after walking miles and miles all over the city in the freezing cold.
3. Apartment "rooms" count bedrooms and main rooms. It took a little while to get used to this. I would get excited when we would go see a 3 room apartment, only to then remind myself that it is only 2 bedrooms and a living room/kitchen area. The Zoo apartment was a 4 room apartment though :)
4. Security is a really big deal and selling point for rental apartments. When living in apartments in Texas, no one ever made a big deal about how many locks were on the front door or how many doors you had to "buzz" through to get into your apartment. I had also never seen an apartment with the "secret escape" exit until moving here. You know how doctor's offices have main entrances and then the "Doctors only door", so they don't have to walk through their waiting room because they always arrive late. Well they have "secret entry/exit" doors in some apartments here too. Hopefully this extra security thing is a precaution and not because its extremely dangerous around here. So far, I have always felt safe here.
5. Russian refrigerators are always clad in faux wood to match the cabinets, same goes for dishwashers (which I am super duper excited that they have them here!). I come from a world of "stainless steel" and have now entered the world of camouflage appliances. It actually looks really nice and makes the kitchens look sleek and modern. I know this exists in the US ;)....its just that here it almost seems like a bare minimum for the kitchen. It also makes the refrigerators small and easier to open....which is a problem if you have a toddler.... Counters are lower and knobs/oven/stovetop are all easy access....also a problem with a toddler...
6. And to answer one of my big questions pre-Moscow trip.....no they aren't all reminiscent of the Soviet era. All these landlords have completely renovated their apartments. Many of the outside buildings still look super old and dingy, but the insides are beautiful. As I understand it, many buildings are not privately owned, so there is little-to-no maintenance. This includes the elevators! Some elevators were really scary! But, the home owners take a lot of care of their individual apartments. There are some privately owned buildings and you can really tell the difference between those and the others.
Ok, back to the "zoo apartment"....As I mentioned, it kept getting better as we walked through it. 4 rooms, 3 bathrooms (I am pretty sure it was the only one with 3 bathrooms we saw) and one of the rooms was specifically designed for a little girl. It included a large flower shaped "mood light" cut into the ceiling, walls with pink flower wall paper (oh I forgot about this one above, Wall paper business is alive and booming in Russia!) and a child bathroom! The bathroom had a little kid toilet, sink and shower/tub kids can easily get into. As we walked through this room, I could already picture little miss S living here in her own little Princess domain! Then.....drum roll....we walked into the enclosed balcony and looked out the window to see the camels roaming around in their little camel world at the zoo (now you see how we named the apartment...clever huh?)! Little miss S squealed with excitement and little man asked "What those, mom?" After we told him they were camels he couldn't stop saying "Camel, mom, I see camel, MOM!" We don't have camels at the Houston zoo.
The apartment had a very nice kitchen with a lot of counter space, including faux wood clad refrigerator and full size-dishwasher. The land lady was also leaving the espresso machine (key because there isn't a Starbucks around the corner). She was also still living in the apartment, so there were lots and lots and lots of perfume bottles everywhere...she must collect them.
The two negatives for the apartment were that the third bedroom didn't have a bed, just a pull out couch, and the washing machine was small and was only a washer - no dryer. The good news, everything is usually negotiable and these things can be changed before move-in.
So needless to say, the apartment is around the corner from the zoo. There are also two metro stations close by (key when living in Moscow with no car), some parks and a preschool. The kids couldn't stop talking about this apartment as we went to view others that day and I don't think I remember much else from that day besides this apartment. So, it made it on our list of 3 top choices. This was also two days after we arrived, so some of the blur is related to jet lag :)
Ok, so that is the first apartment...stay tuned for the next apartment..... (the kids will be up from naps really soon!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment