No Kitchen Provided

Why would I want someone else's?

I was discussing our house purchase with a family member and when I started to talk about the kitchen we would have to install a puzzled look came over his face.

“You mean you will remodel the kitchen once you move in?”
“No we have to install a kitchen as there is none.”

What you get when you buy a house in Italy, and most of Europe, is different than what most Americans are accustomed to. Our house comes without a kitchen, light fixtures or closets. It does have bathroom fixtures. This is standard. The kitchen area has tiles walls but no sink, no cabinets, no appliances. The lighting is provided by bare light bulbs. We will need to procure armoires in which to hang our clothes.

A few years ago we were discussing the light fixture issue with a couple where he was Swiss and she was American. The Swiss’ comment on the lack of light fixtures was “Why would I want someone else’s light fixtures?” The concept makes a bit more sense once you look at it that way.

The house is habitable as it is, we just need the utilities turned on and to put in a bed and a basic kitchen. There are some changes we would like to make, like moving the kitchen location, but those will probably be future endeavors. We saw a lot of properties that need a LOT more work…more on that later.