Changes

We haven't updated our blog in ages. There have been a lot of changes in the Platow Haus, including our daughter Amelia's entry into the world. Boy, are we smitten! This was her on January 11th.

And below is Amelia around 9 weeks. The Platow Haus looks much different now, so I'll post more soon...

Next Project

We have started to collect a few items for baby Platow, but we have a few more months to go before the nursery needs to be up & running. Although we have a second bedroom, we've decided to keep it as a guest room instead of a baby's room since we can use the little, sweet room off of our bedroom which has remained empty since we moved in. It's small, but cozy, and has a huge closet, and a nice window with wonderful light almost all day. We're still working on picking a paint color, but we're thinking light blue. We're not expecting a boy, but blue is THIS girl's favorite color! Hopefully our baby girl will like blue, too.

The photos are from my iphone so not the greatest quality! My apologies.

The crib and changing table were going out of stock so we scooped them up quickly as it was the only set at babies r us that looked somewhat modern (and was reasonably priced). There are some amazing websites with cool baby furniture, but it all costs a fortune.

Again, this bedding was a steal. It was priced for almost $400 (whaaaat?!) but we found it on sale for $85.

The changing table. It converts into a regular bureau which is a bonus.

We're going to put this wall sticker on the wall above the crib once we paint. We got it from this company called ferm living which has the coolest wallpaper, too.

Our rocker. Cool, but not the most comfy so we'll see if we use it. The little stuffed animal I bought this summer in Sweden at this awesome place call Polarn O. Pyret. Really beautiful quality, quirky stuff.

We'll add more updates as the nursery progresses!

Bookcase Bliss

Between my hundreds of books from being an English major in college, my masters in Writing & Literature, and Will's hundreds of books from Germany (he really likes to read), we desperately needed some bookshelves in our new home.

This is step one of Project Bookcase. This is the largest bookcase, but Will is going to build two more smaller ones since we still have more boxes of books, even after we lost some in a basement flood last week. I'm proud of Will and love how it turned out! Here are a few snapshots of the process:

Will used a hand saw, dowel pins, and wood glue for most of the project. He did use additional screws for the individual boards though and to secure it to the wall. Safety first!

A view from the loft of Will working on the skeleton of the bookshelf. Our dining room was transformed into a work studio.

Will with nearly completed bookshelf. Next came the painting process.

And in two weekends, the bookcase was complete, painted, and the new home for many of our books! Bravo Will!

Blue Bathroom

It has been a while since we moved into our new home in Salem. We are LOVING it in our new place and in our new city! We've been spending time in new restaurants, by the water, on the common, and sharing it all with some friends & family. We've also been nesting a bit.

Last weekend we got around to painting our bathroom. We used a great & green paint that's ok for pregnant women and kids. This weekend Will is building shelves for all of our books and I'm working a bit on the baby's room (more on that later).

This is what the bathroom looked like before we moved in...

And this is our bathroom now...

Relaxing & pretty, right?

Photos of Home

Although we STILL don't have internet access at home, we've managed to post some photos from work.  Here are a few we've taken over the past two weeks of new home ownership!

We've already had one picnic with friends on the Salem Common and have spent many days & early evenings out there.  The common is a 30 second walk from our home and can be seen from our dining room window.  As our friend Jimmy said, it's like a huge back yard we don't have to mow!

You can see our building in the background (it's the brick one in the middle).

Upstairs lounge where the office and tv are also located.

Entrance leading into the dining room area (you can see a poster from our friend Daniel's band, Ill Lit, and you can see my friend Eric's painting in the background).

New, comfy, awesome bed. 

Will installed some shelves in the kitchen.  He's amazing with power tools.

One view of our dining room with our very solid dining table.  The bench arrives in August.

Another view of our dining room (with a little extra sitting area).  

More photos to come!

HOME!

We have finally moved into our new home!

It's been a while since I've blogged because I figured no one wanted to hear about how painful and exhausting the loan process with Bank of America was.  But that's behind us now, as are the 7 months of working towards our goal, the 3 Purchase & Sale agreements, 3 inspections, 3 appraisals, etc.  We have our 1 beautiful home.  Photos will be posted when we upload them and get our internet fully functioning!

Table Talk

Platow Haus update:

The inspection is taking place this Tuesday (yay!) and the closing date will be set soon.  It must be set before June 25th, so we need to get back into packing mode!  In less than a month this little gem of a home will be ours!  We were at Union Street recently and marked things off on the floor to see where we'd put our furniture and to see what size table would work well in the dining room.
This wall is where we want to have a large, floor to ceiling beam, bookshelf built.  The contractor was there and he said he, "can build anything."  Looks like we'll be working with him on the bookshelves.

Will we put a buffet or a couch next to the fireplace?

At first we thought we'd buy two of these awesome Darjeeling tables from cb2 and either set them up in a big square against the wall, or have them run together to create a very long table so the room feels kind of like a hall.  We mapped things out on the floor with masking tape to see, but we're still undecided.

Will now likes the Pacifica from Crate & Barrel.  The mission continues.