teamgaither - Pix - Housing

Pix > Housing - Lagos

Transit Flat - 1

This is our temporary flat - it is corporate housing so it has given us a chance to meet other expats in the company. It is also not far from the American Club, the lagoon, and a stretch of restaurants in Ikoyi.
Transit Flat - 2

This is my kitchen in the rental apartment. I hesitate to say I hate it because it is not designed the way kitchens in the US are where the kitchen is often the heart of the home. It is designed for a cook and as it is one of the smaller flats, is seriously lacking counter space. I DO hate the curtains.
Transit Flat - 4

We had a front loader washer/dryer in Australia and I really never cared for it- it kills my back and once the cycle has started, you can't open the door to throw something else in or deal with an over balanced load. It is also TINY.
Transit Flat - LR

This is the living room in our transit flat. I really detest the color of the rental furniture. Since its a 1st floor flat, there are bars on the windows which I really don't like but it is a safety protocol. It is off the pool which is a bonus but we also draw the blinds more often so the whole compound isn't watching us!
Transit Flat - BR

This is a typical bedroom in our compound, the wardrobes are built into the wall and there is just enough room for a bed and a bureau, but not much more. There are several bathrooms however, with full tub/shower.
Transit Flat - Art?

The rental office made an effort to add some art work; not exactly my taste but "A for effort". I find it odd they couldn't provide a coffee machine or water dispenser however.
Transit Flat - 5

This is a very beautiful picture of what is considered very high end housing. Unfortunately it is not as high quality as it looks and there are the usual issues like flooding and cheap building materials that many buildings in Lagos are subject to.
Transit Flat - 6

This is the view from our rental flat - or rather from the kids' area across the way. There aren't nearly as many boats as you would think but it is changing as the city adds more marinas and docking areas.
Transit Flat - 7

There is a space for grilling and get togethers across the street from our flat. It is nice because it is near the water but I question why they put the grill there and not at the pool where most of the other compounds have their rec space.
Transit Flat - 9

Someone made an effort to get some kids play equipment put in the rec center. It says ages 5-12. I think they meant 5-12 months but it will do!
Permanent Flat

This is a pic of our permanent flat! At the time of this posting (May) we still haven't moved into it and I am chomping at the bit considering the first time I saw it was in February.
Permanent Flat - 2

Our new flat is on what is called Banana Island, a relatively new development full of newly constructed houses. There is a lot more green space and views of the water from most sides.
Permanent Flat - 3

This will be our living room. Everything is tile which makes it easier to mop and dust. I am very excited to have a view and a balcony as we spend most of our day in the car or in an air conditioned flat.
Permanent Flat - 4

There is another little balcony off the Dining Room which is great for a grille. My Stewardess has been working diligently cleaning and ironing the curtains to prepare for our move. She irons everything!
Permanent Flat - 5

This is the kitchen - a big upgrade from our Rental flat. There is more counter space and a small island. The laundry is still in the kitchen but it is separated by a wall and there is an actual pantry. It is still not designed for families to eat-in but it will make my stewardess' life much easier!
Permanent Flat - 6

This is the master bedroom. I am thrilled with the bay window and big bathroom with double sinks.
Permanent Flat - 7

Another view from the balcony - the pool and a kids' play area. There is even a park down the street we can walk to - almost unheard of in these parts.
Permanent Flat -8

Our new place has a proper community center- an indoor space you can use for functions and parties with a place for food and drinks.
Permanent Flat - 9

There is even a squash court; squash, not racquetball as a friend of mine so often reminds me. Apparently one can not play squash on a racquetball court or vice versa. Like I care. The expat wives just want to use it for Zumba classes.
Permanent Flat - 10

This gym will be my savior. Proper equipment and more importantly lots of light and a TV
Permanent Flat - 10

The kids can take swim lessons at their school or you can have an instructor come to the compound.
Move In - 1

This is what the flat looked like about 2 hours into the move, when the boxes just kept on coming
Move In - 2

This is the living room
Move in - 3

This is the dining room. I still don't know what Im going to do with that massive cooler. I thought we would bring it to the beach huts but it would take up 1/2 the boat!
Move in - 4

This is our room. Our tempurpedic mattress weighs a ton and the frame just can't keep up. My sister and I assembled it 5 years ago before we moved to Australia. It's been disassembled and reassembled countless times since then.
Move in - 5

This is K's big girl room and BIG girl bed - the mattresses are massive, she looks the girl from "the princess and the pea". It also used to be her crib!
Move in - 6

This is C's room- a very tight squeeze with 2 twin beds and a dresser. No room for his beloved train table.
Move in - 7

The playroom is still a disaster 5 days later.
Move in - 8

The kitchen is manageable but my appliances are large and require a step-up/step-down converter because of the voltage. It's the size of a toaster and weighs about 3 pounds.
Move In - 9

Venus worked tirelessly to get K's bed made and some of her toys organized. She is thrilled about her new big girl room and has stickers all over the door that say PRIVATE and KEEP OUT!
Move in - 10

C is pretty excited about the playroom. The TVs work on a converter so the DVDs and the Sony Playstation worked with no trouble. Somehow we squeezed the train table in there too!
Friends' Flats - 1

This is the play area over at one of the other compounds (a different company but still oil and gas). It was just added this summer and it is as nice as what the kids have at school.
Friends Flats - 2

This is a high rise that some other expat friends of mine live in. It's purple, but its very modern!
Friends Flats - 3

This is the pool at one of the other compounds - they are more or less designed the same. The kids' school has a pool and there are several health clubs you can join that have lap pools.
Home - 1

This is our living room, more or less decorated. This is also a pic of my new non-kid furniture! I've given the kids their own rooms and a playroom so I'm taking back the only adult space left - my living room!
Home - 2

This is the dining room. It is not too different than the set-up we had in Houston except I had to change out the table. So far it works but we have yet to have more than 2 adults over for dinner !
Home - 3

This is the kitchen - Venus is here more than I ever am but it still has all my favorite kitchen things from our house in the US.
Home - 4

Another shot of our living room - the TVs are from the US and run off a step-up/step-down converter. We have cable TV through a Nigerian company called DSTV but lots of people in our compoiund use Apple TVs so they can watch movies and TV through Netflix and itunes.
School Daze

This is how I know the school bus is here - I can just look out our balcony since it comes right to the door! The kids leave at 640 am and there are about 7 kids on the bus. There are other kids in our compound that go to the same school but this bus is just for the kids whose parents work at the same company as E. There are probably another 10 kids in the compound that are driven each morning by car.
Friends Flats - 4

This is another flat that a friend lives in. It has a view of the lagoon and a gorgeous pool - perfect for parties and playdates!
Friends Flats - 5

This is the view of the lagoon from my friend's house. The water is fine for boating but is typically polluted because it is so close to the city. It is still a gorgeous view and there is always a breeze!