Our New Home at KAUST

I have only been waiting for this move since we got here!  I know I probably sound really spoiled that I wasn't happy with a family of 7 living in a 2000 sq ft, 3 BR townhome and maybe I am :-)  But there wasn't truly that much living space and the kids (and the parents) really need a little space of their own so we don't feel like we're on top of each other all the time.  So we finally got the keys to our new house.  It is a 4 BR home, I think it is about 5800 sq ft - way more than we really need, but I'll take it - and 7 bathrooms (including the one in the maid's quarters). 

The two downsides - it's more expensive than our the townhome and I really like the location of the the other house right near the schools.  We now live on the "Island" which is a bit further away from the schools, the market and the sports club - although nothing is really that far away.

So here are some pictures that Mark snapped before we acutally moved in.

A view from across the street.

First is the main floor. When you walk in the front door - to your right is an office with a desk and bookshelves in it.

Past the office on the right is the first half bath and then you walk into the first of the living rooms.  It's a really good size.  The funny thing is that the coffee table is the same one that we had in the other house but there with it in the middle, you could barely walk between it and the couches.  It has tons of room here.

Between the living rooms is the dining room - we are excited because now we have chairs for everyone in the family! 

On the other side of the dining room is the second living room and then the kitchen.  We've debated moving the dining table into the this living room area for a couple of reasons - first, it is next to the kitchen and also because the current dining area is the largest room in the house and would be nice for entertaining.  The problem is that the second living room is probably my favorite in the house.  It's big enough but still kind of cozy.  Note the SMALL round coffee table in this room which would have worked perfectly in the townhome!

This is a view from the living room into the kitchen.

Down the long hall from one end of the house to the other.

The 2nd half bathroom is on the right of this picture.

Near the kitchen, there is another hallway that has a storage room, laundry room, garage entrance and the maid's quarters which has a full bathroom (sort of).  Alex actually wanted to sleep in the maid's quarters but we feel like it's too separated from the rest of the house.  So....let's go upstairs....

The staircase is one of the prettiest things in the house and you'll see there is lots of room at the base of them where the table is.  The kids really want to buy a piano and put it in this area.  So right now, that's the plan.

At the top of the stairs is another sitting area.  We'll probably put a tv here against the far wall and have the Wii or Playstation up here and the other one downstairs.

A view from over the balcony from the sitting room.

There are two bedrooms on each side of the sitting room.  Each one has its own bathroom which is nice because it's eliviated some of the morning stress in the house.  We still don't have shower curtains for all of them so we're working on getting into the city to do some shopping to buy them.  This is one of the times that I wish there was a Target close by!

The Master Bedroom

One of the kids bedrooms (which are all very similar)

The large balcony off one of the kids rooms.  There is a smaller

balcony off the back in the master bedroom.

A view of the Red Sea from the girls' room.

Across the street - you can see the sea through the houses.

All in all - I think we're all very excited to move into our "permanent" home here at KAUST.  We're still getting settled and unpacked.  There seem to be more of the kid's friends in this area which is really nice and they spend most afternoons outside on their bikes and scooters playing with their friends.  It's nice to be able to take a 2 minute walk down to the beach to watch the sunset also. 

Thanks for reading!!!