Sylwia's aunt Bożena passed away unexpectedly in September of 2021 after going in for heart surgery in Kraków. After the surgery, she simply never woke up in the recovery room. She was only 72. I had a chance to meet her back in 2014 when Sylwia and I were on vacation in Poland. The condo where she lived most of her life was in their family since it was built in 1964. Sylwia's dad, aunt Bożena and their two other siblings grew up there, although they were already in their teens when they first moved in. This was Sylwia's only home in Poland before moving to the U.S. when she was fourteen. So when the opportunity presented itself to purchase her childhood place, we took it and it officially became ours on November 8th, 2022. After the purchase, it sat empty for about a year and a half before we arrived in June of 2024. Lucky for us, by that time the renovation was just about completed. We hired Sylwia's cousin Paweł and his wife Patrycja to spearhead the entire project for us while we couldn't be there. They own a design and remodeling business in Kraków and had the experience we were looking for; it was a no brainer for us and thankfully took a lot of stress off of our shoulders.
In March of 2023 I flew out to Poland for a couple of weeks to take a first hand look at the condition of the condo and to start planning for a full renovation, including all new electrical and plumbing. At 54 square meters or 580 square feet, its size was a bit smaller than what we'd look for if purchasing something else here but since this place is special to Sylwia and our plan was to only spend the summers in Poland, the size would be fine. The goal with the renovation was to make it cozy and comfortable for us and the kids.
A full gut renovation finally began in April of 2024. A two man crew, Tomek and Adam did a heck of a job considering the condo is on the third floor with no elevator. They busted some walls and built new ones and I can only imagine the amount of rubble and materials they had to haul up and down those stairs during the roughly three month project.
What a big mess, now let's see what we've done with the finishing touches to make it our home. Click on "Next" below to find out.