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.

A Visitor Brings More Happiness

We had a visitor this weekend.  My friend Daniel, who is a kind, interesting, beautiful person and an awesome musician.  He left for the airport this morning to head back to LA, leaving a note on the table that brought tears to my eyes.  I'm so happy I have this friendship in my life.

One of the things I knew little about was Daniel's wife.  Our long distance friendship doesn't always allow for us to share all the details of our lives, and oddly enough sometimes we don't share the most important ones, like stories about our spouses.  Daniel finally got to meet Will, my husband, and I got to hear such wonderful things about his wife, Amy.  I was excited & surprised to hear she's an interior designer.  It was fun to find her design firm, and to see the inspiring spaces she creates.  If only LA were a little closer so I could frequent the their store.

My weekend has been a great one!

Beautiful, beautiful!
I'm not sure if this design is by Nickey Kehoe, Inc., but I'm loving the painted brick walls!  I can't keep going back to the idea that we might need to paint 10 Union's walls.

Will and I recently bought a bed that looks very much like this one.  This photo inspires me to find clean, simple bedding for it, and a cool bedside table.  Our lighting will be slightly different, though.

Update

We found out the appraisal happened last week, and the inspection is hopefully set for Friday of next week, which means the closing will be on or before June 29th.  This is perfect since we need to be out of our apartment by June 30th.  Yay!  Progress! 

Loft

Here are some photos of the loft that make me happy, and keep me hopeful that we'll soon be living in this wonderful space.

Stairs leading up to the loft/living room area.  The stairs seem to be original and it seems they're being kept as is.  Yay!  We could always wallpaper them!

Will near the utility closet and top of the stairs.  The floors are fantastic up there, as are the two skylights.  I think we'll love this "room"!

You get a sense of the height, the light, and a good view of the beams.

The railing overlooking the dining room below.  Isn't the light from the window nice?

Since I saw these in old homes, and in a refurbished home belonging to some friends in Jamaica Plain, I've wanted an electrical unit IN THE FLOOR!  What a cool thing. 

Small Space Need Storage

The new issue of Dwell is about homes under 1000 sq. ft.  Luckily, 10 Union is a bit over 1200 sq. ft., but I'm always looking for beautiful and smart storage ideas, which is why I was especially happy to see this issue in my mailbox.  

We actually like the challenge of working and living in a small space.  You wouldn't guess it by the look of our apartment right now, but we tend to like things tidy, simple, and neat.  We're in packing mode right now, so our home is nothing like that!  Oh, the transition.

This is one bookshelf in our current living room in Somerville.  We have SO many books.  We're up to 22 full book boxes packed already, and we still have three rows to go.  We really have to think about how we're going to store these books at 10 Union.  Our newest thought is to build bookshelves in the dining room, after some purging!

I'd love for our bookshelf at 10 Union to look like this one I found on the site Remodelista.

I also found this photo on Remodelista.  I wish the bathroom at 10 Union looked like that!  I love the towel rack.

But the bathroom at 10 Union looks like this.  Not bad, but we have some short-term ideas for improving it, and some long-term ones.  Unfortunately, there's little room for storage (like a cool towel rack), but we'll be creative!

Also from Remodelista, I was drawn to these kitchen shelves.  We will need more storage in the kitchen of 10 Union, and I'd love something like this.  Will is thinking of putting in some high cabinets and a bar along the wall below with stools, but I'm still drawn to this idea of lovely shelves.

This is the kitchen at 10 Union.  The shelves or cabinets/bar/stool combo would have to go on the left wall, just at Will's back in this photo.

3 years

I met my sweetheart three years ago today.  Although it felt like the perfect encounter between two strangers, it could have only been better if he'd worn his lederhosen!

Floor plans

The floor plans are showing up kind of small, but this gives a good sense of the layout.

The bottom floor of the space.  They have the living room downstairs, but we hope to put a dining room there.  We're going to take the back, right bedroom which has that great space off of it for an office.

The top floor of the unit.  They have a bedroom up in the loft, but we hope to have it as a living room.  

Fingers Crossed/Thumbs Pressed

Will & I learned last night that the seller has also signed the P&S so we're one step closer.  It seems like we should celebrate each of these little victories, but we know that this all means nothing until we have the keys in our hands.  We're hoping that will happen early to mid June. Fingers crossed, or as they say in Germany, thumbs pressed!

Here are a few more photos of 10 Union:

Some people have been asking where in Salem 10 Union Street is.  Here is it!  The image is small but as you can see we're close to the common, close the museums, and close to the water. Our awesome friends Jill & Ryan live .4 miles away, right across the common.  Google estimates that it will take us 1 minute to drive there (one minute!) but I think I'd rather walk or bike.  Maybe skip!

These are the stairs that lead to the loft area.  I kind of want them to keep them as is.  I used to live across the street from a few really cool houses in Cambridge that were featured in Dwell magazine.  The owners/architects pretty much gutted the place, except for the stairs which they kept from the original home.  That was my favorite part about the house.

View from the loft down onto the dining area.  They're going to be putting up a railing soon.  We hope to put a living room up there, with our brown Ikea couch which pulls out into a bed for guests.  The condo is a two bedroom, but the loft space and the second room off the master bedroom allow for several alternative guest spaces.  We like guests so this is ideal!

This is a good view of one end of the dining area, which as you can see has the loft above it to the left, and the kitchen just off the side.  

The other end of the dining room (and my sweet husband!).  There are two windows to the left which look out onto a nice old house, a not-so-lovely parking lot for the Hawthorne Hotel, and the beautiful Salem Common.

Elk

My friend Thea sent me this link today and and I really want to go to this store, Zimmer360, now.  Check out the cool wall decor they have!  I wonder if Will is going to love it or hate it.  It's fun not to take ourselves too seriously!  Some time I'll post our tray collection which shows our silly side.

Let's eat

Dining room tables are on our minds.  We're thinking new table with old chairs, or old table with new chairs.  This one (just below) I found at this really cool site called emmas blog.  You can also find a cool guide to Stockholm there (which is perfect since my friend Jolene & I are headed there this summer!).

Our friends Brian & Aaron have this amazing Saarinen table.  It's a dream.  

I keep going back to cb2.  I can imagine these in 10 Union, especially since there's exposed brick.

I like this table and this whole set up, but I wonder if it's us.  Will tends to like more clean, modern lines I think.  The exposed beams remind me of 10 Union.

I found these inspirational rooms at Nestled In.