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Back in 2003, I spent a semester in L'Aquila, Italy and fell in love with the country. That study abroad experience changed the trajectory of my life.
Two years later, I returned to pursue my master's degree in marketing management and communications at Bocconi University in Milan. Fashionable, fast-paced Milan was miles away from the sleepy, neighborly L'Aquila, and the city's nightlife actually reminded me of my hometown of Miami.
After I finished school, I knew I wanted to stay. It was the beginning of a two-decade-long, and counting, love affair with Italy. I moved here permanently in 2012 after I married my Italian husband, Diego.
Today, we live in Milan with our six-year-old son, Lorenzo. I run a company called Doing Italy to help other Americans make a home for themselves here.
How we made a home of our own
We rent a 1,227-square foot 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment for about $1,850 a month. We've lived here for about three years.
We found this place when Lorenzo was three. The apartment hadn't changed much in the last 40 years, so we set about renovating to make it feel more current, and more like us.
In the United States, doing significant work a rental might be frowned upon. But in Italy, there are government incentives, like tax credits, for people renovating their homes, even renters. Our landlord also gave us eight months of free rent for renovating the apartment
The renovations cost us about $41,000, but between the government rebates and the rent pause, we saved roughly $33,400.
A look inside our newly renovated Milan apartment
The bathroom
This bathroom is one of my favorite rooms, but it required a ton of work. We gutted it completely, changed the faucets and added the hexagon tiles, which I love. We sourced the tiles from an adorable, friendly and family-owned company in Tuscany.
The hexagon shape looks so elegant to me.
Photo: Thea Duncan Prando
The kitchen
When we got here, the kitchen had not been renovated in about 40 years, so it needed a lot of work. We actually had our movers bring not just our kitchen wares from the old apartment, but the appliances, too.
My husband and I love to cook. I often say I live in Italy for the food.
Photo: Thea Duncan Prando
We tore out the sink and the stove from our old apartment, and had them installed in the new place. It was a memorable transition. We also added a few new cabinets and a new countertop.
We demolished the existing wall tiles, but kept the ones on the floor. We also closed off two lateral doors that used to open up into the kitchen, to give us more countertop space.
Elegant, but still efficient, storage in our kitchen.
Photo: Thea Duncan Prando
The living room
To open up the living space, we knocked down an entire wall. The living room has natural hardwood floors that we sanded and added a lighter stain.
A great place to sit and have a relaxing glass of wine.
Photo: Andrea Mignolo for CNBC Make It
Since the flooring in that corridor space was tile, we sourced a bit of wood flooring to best match the rest of the room.
A lovely place to sit, work and collect my thoughts.
Photo: Andrea Mignolo for CNBC Make It
The bookshelves, the grey couch and the lighting fixture are some fun focal points of the space.
My son's room
The details on the map are so charming.
Photo: Thea Duncan Prando
My son's favorite part of his room is the giant map that we put up on one side of the wall. He loves pointing out all the different locations on it. I love it because it helps bring all of our worlds together in one place.
Our room
A calm oasis of a space.
Photo: Andrea Mignolo for CNBC Make It
One of the most important additions we made to the apartment was the air conditioner in our bedroom. I grew up in Miami and my family is from the Caribbean, so I can handle a little heat. My husband on the other hand, not so much.
The air conditioner was a must.
Photo: Andrea Mignolo for CNBC Make It
I also love our dresser, which was handmade by my husband's great-grandfather in the 1800s. It needed a little bit of work to bring it back to life, so we had it restored.
Why I love living in Milan
Me at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. An important shopping center in Milan, near the Duomo
Photo: Rhianna May
When we go to the market, there are so many quality ingredients to choose from. Fresh, delicious produce is relatively easy and accessible here. We source items like pasture range eggs, milk and butter either farms that are right outside the city, or from the farmer's market in the city.
Me at the fresh produce stand in the Brera neighborhood of Milan.
Photo: Rhianna May
Leisure time is also a serious business in Italy. A perfect example of this is the evening ritual and tradition of the aperitivo.
My husband Diego, and our son Lorenzo, having dinner at a restaurant in Piedmont, about an hour and a half from Milan.
Photo: Thea Duncan Prando
As soon as the workday ends, people will stop into a café for a glass of wine and food for an hour or two. It's deeply ingrained culturally, so much that whenever we leave the park after school, my son says "facciamo un 'peritivo'" — although he very adorably doesn't pronounce the "a."
At a local family owned farm called Zipo. They sell slow food fresh dairy products and their own rice. They also organize cheese making classes, where you eat at the end.
Photo: Jessica Pepper
We'll head over to a neighborhood spot with our friends. The kids get their own table with juice and chips, the grown-ups will sit at our table with our adult beverages, and no one looks at us like we're inconveniencing them.
Me in the Abruzzo region of Milan, where I lived when I just moved to Italy. I'm at a super cool butcher shop where you can buy your meat, and then roast it on the BBQ next to the shop. I’m eating a typical dish (essentially lamb skewers) from the area called arrosticini.
Photo: Diego Prando
I love raising my son in Milan. Having kids here doesn't mean your social life ends. There are a ton of parks, galleries and museums, and a wide variety of family-friendly activities.
At one of my local markets.
Photo: Andrea Mignolo for CNBC Make It
On average, Italians get four to six weeks of paid vacation every year, and unlike in the U.S., people actually use their vacation time. From Milan, we can get to Lake Como or Genova, on the seaside, in under two hours, and those are just the easy day trips.
Me in front of a random pretty door in my neighborhood.
Photo: Rhianna May
I grew up in a middle-class immigrant family. The fact that I now get to regularly vacation in places like Italian Dolomites and spend weekends in Vienna is not something I take for granted. I feel incredibly blessed, and I couldn't be happier to be here.
Thea Duncan Prando is the founder of Doing Italy. She lives in Milan with her husband and son. To learn more about her life in Italy, follow her @DoingItaly
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