Sofa So Good

A short blog today as, suffering from a nasty sore throat, didn’t feel much like sitting in cafes or doing much.

We did, however, meet the plumber at the house to discuss radiators, water pressure for the showers, water softeners (as the water here is very hard and destroys plumbing according to all) and where to put the boiler. It looks like this is good news for the kitchen design that had to accommodate the boiler in the corner. It now seems that everything can fit into the roof space and, although it calls for more piping, it will mean quicker hot water for the showers. Having lived here for a few months we realised how long it took for hot water to go from the tank in the roof to the boiler on the ground floor and then to the bathroom: FOREVER!

Also if someone filled a kettle in the kitchen whilst someone else was trying to have a shower, the pressure dropped to a trickle in the bathroom. Our plumber, Patrizio, has assured us that all will be perfect as he had similar issues to sort out for an American customer and he is very satisfied with the solution. Fingers crossed as Americans do love their showers, and in the friend’s house where we are staying for the moment, the shower is great.

We also popped round to our new flat to sort out keys and meter readings. It will be really comfortable we hope and is so central. Even more so than our house, which is saying something. It has a balcony and a sort of covered roof terrace for drying washing. We can move in whenever and rent is only being asked for from the start of next month which seems very generous. We met our landlady’s husband today too. She is called Rita, which was my mother’s name, and happens to be the sister in law of the owner of one of the restaurants here.

This afternoon we set off for the suburbs of Perugia and the search for some furniture stores. In this month’s AD magazine I found a great sofa and so with the help of the Interweb we tracked down a couple of local stockists. The first only had one sofa but an interesting showroom and total lack of interest in helping sell anything within it. The second, however, was very small with lots of interesting bits and furniture that looked more suitable for an office. But the two ladies who run Studium could not have been more helpful.

They had a couple of sofas by Désirée, the company I was searching for. More than that they explained all about the differing styles, knocked up a 3D rendering of the sitting room with the different sofas and chairs to see if they fit well, got out all the swatches of soft leathers and coloured linens and finally made Jamie a coffee and gave Daisy and me mineral water. Now all we have to do is argue over which style sofa to have. More decisions and that’s not even counting the fabric/leather choice or the colour.

Back home and a takeaway pizza. That’s an easy choice: Got to be a Napoletana with capers.