We have secured our first apartment in Italy!

50 square meters off via Laura just a block from Piazza Innocenti on a pedestrian street. It has all the features we were hoping for: terra cotta floors, dark beam ceilings, a garden/terrace area and room for company. We were looking for apartments in the historic district and this gem of a place is just a few blocks from the Duomo in Florence. One of the nicest features is that it is a ground floor apartment and all the areas that Kiara needs to access are on one floor, no stairs for her.

Our lease is 18 months and has an option to renew, so we’ll need to decide if we’re staying on a little longer in Florence or making the move to Venice which is stop number two for our Italian adventure.

This shot of the master bedroom shows the terra cotta floors (which will help keep the room cool in the summer) and part of the study loft above.

This is the study loft in the master bedroom which shows the dark, wood beam ceiling as well.

The living room, which is actually part of the great room which includes the living room, kitchen and dining room. The space is not very big, but is nicely appointed without being crowded so even the small space looks larger.

The guest loft has two single beds that can be made into a double bed for couples (this is a standard in Italy which allows for a lot of flexibility for hotels and vacation rentals).

The dining room has a nice view of the terrace garden, we are hopeful that the fountain actually works! This was the shot that sold us on this apartment, we could just picture ourselves having breakfast at this table every day.

The kitchen is all pretty normal as Italian basic kitchens go, except for that nice big oven. That is definitely an upgrade from the average Italian kitchen and one that we’ll appreciate all winter long.

The statue and greenery are a welcome sight, we never expected anything so beautiful or even a backyard at all, this was such a huge bonus for us.

But as far as apartments go, this one is actually very nice and quite spacious for it’s minimal square footage and it is so beautifully situated within the historic district that it will definitely be a great starting point for us.