Sage – Author at Plaster & Disaster

A few months ago I shared some preliminary musings about changes in the bedroom, including painting the walls a lighter color, relocating the bed, and adding a new built-in closet/wardrobe to the nook where our bed currently is.

I shared a few layout options, and you all gave great feedback! The majority of you seemed to agree with my first choice contender, which was to flip the bed so that it faces the nook (rather than option 2 of being perpendicular under the side window).

Before going too far down the path of building a new closet, I decided to move the bed just to see if I liked it (or if I could get used to it — sometimes changes like this can feel jarring at first but then once you get used to it being different you decide you like it). So about two months ago, one Sunday night I just moved all our bedroom furniture.

I rotated the bed 180 degrees and put it under the outside window:

The black thing on the wall is the mount for the TV we had above the dresser, which has no home in our new layout

And then I put the dresser in the nook where the bed had been.

Also still in the nook is my old nightstand — we’ll need lower nightstands for this new layout, so in the meantime I grabbed one I had in the basement that was waiting for a makeover (yes, I had an extra nightstand in my basement…) and put that on my side of the bed so it wouldn’t block the window.

We’ve been living with this layout for a couple of months, long enough that I can confidently say that we both like it and we’re going to stick with it. (Sam liked it immediately, and it took me a little while but I came around.) Unfortunately it’s hard to photograph because the whole space is so small, so any wider shots would just be blocked by the doorframe (I’m basically standing in the hallway to take the photo facing the bed).

Since I feel good about the layout, I was ready to start committing to the new closet. My dad — who is a talented woodworker — came down to visit recently and we mocked up the plans. We decided to forgo a complex built-in wardrobe, and instead turn the nook into a closet with bifold doors. Our ceilings are pretty low so normal-height doors will go almost up to the ceiling anyway, and two sets of 24″-wide bifolds will fit pretty pretty perfectly in the 101″ wide opening. That means we only need to do a little bit of framing, and then I can use pre-manufactured bifolds which definitely cuts down on the work involved (since this is step #1 of about 500 steps to change the use of several rooms in our house to prepare for starting a family, I don’t need to take the most complex route on every project).

Here’s a sketched bird’s-eye-view of the book once we add the doors (in pink) and framing (blue):

And here’s a sketch front-on:Our plan is to put a dresser in each opening — we have a dresser set that’s not currently in our bedroom with one shorter dresser and one taller one. We’ll put the shorter one in Sam’s half with a bar he can hang clothes on above it (and there will be space to the side for full-length items to hang), and then I’ll use the taller dresser and use the top of it for my jewelry storage (since I’ll also still have my clothes hanging in the original bedroom closet, so I don’t need a hanging bar). That way we will eliminate the need for most other storage furniture in the room, which will make the whole room feel less cramped even though we’re taking up space for the new closet.

I know bi-folds aren’t the fanciest-looking, but my dad pointed out that this will be so close to the foot of the bed that a french door style will make it impossible for one person to walk past the doors while the other is using the closet. Given that we both get ready in the morning at the same time, it seems like it would be a big pain for one person to be trapped while the other one gets dressed. Plus, I found some nice bi-fold inspiration images:

Here’s a multi-panel shaker style I love:

Source: The DIY Playbook

These were DIYed using flat bi-fold doors and then adding lattice as trim for some additional visual interest. Here’s a similar concept with a little more flair, also made from flat bi-folds:

Source: Room for Tuesday

Then there are these amazing statement doors, which I’m not sure I could pull off in my home but aren’t they lovely?

Source: Monica Wants It

These all appear to be slightly wider bi-folds (30″+ per door), whereas mine will be narrower (24″) to fit our space. So I’m worried that too much trim could look out of proportion and overwhelming — which is why something simpler might be the way to go for us. We could do just a single border, for instance:

Source: Better Homes & Gardens

I’ll probably just get the doors and then play around with different configurations of trim to figure out what looks right for the proportions. My dad is coming back in June for us to do the project (we ended up going a simple route that I could definitely do on my own, but as I learned with making some of our kitchen cabinets, it’s so much fun to work with my dad!), so I just need to get the doors done before then so that he and I can focus on framing and hanging the doors.

Not a finished project by any stretch, but it’s coming into focus!

Sam and I are wrapping up our 10th year living in the Boston area, which is hard to believe. We both moved here the summer after we graduated college — I moved first because a close friend and I decided we wanted to stay in New England (where our families live) but we wanted to be in a larger city to increase our odds of finding a job, and Sam moved shortly thereafter for love (me, duh). Since then I’ve worked at three different organizations (all doing nonprofit operations/strategy) and gone to graduate school (for an MBA), and Sam has been with the same organization (but many different roles) and also got his graduate degree (in education) part-time while still working.

Through all those changes, we’ve asked ourselves if and when we might leave this city. Whereas it used to be fairly conveniently-located between our two families (mine in Vermont, his in Pennsylvania), our families have continued to spread further afield. Both of us grew up in more suburban/rural settings and while we love the conveniences of the city, we’d also love a little more space and nature. Also, Boston is also incredibly expensive, and despite being from the northeast neither of us love the cold weather.

The Shoveler

That said, relocating is no easy feat, especially with two careers that have continued to grow and fulfill us in Boston. We’ve also built up a strong community of friends that it would be hard to leave, and we own a home. We also have easy access to premier medical facilities and amazing health insurance, which didn’t mean much to us when we were 22 and picking a place to live but lately has become more a part of our reality and quality of life. We know people move all the time — it’s increasingly common in today’s world — but there are many things keeping us here that we love and we know that any place we land will require choices and tradeoffs.

So while we continue to think long term about where we might want to be, one of my favorite things to do on a lazy Sunday morning is house hunt (online) in some of the places I’d most love to move. (This is an especially good activity during the wintertime in Boston when leaving the house is an unappealing concept.) Today I thought I’d share a few of the places that are on my wish list.

Colorado — Denver/Boulder area

When we tell people we’d love to move to Colorado, the first thing they usually ask is, “you know it’s cold there, too, right?” Yes, we know that there’s winter and snow in Colorado. And obviously depending on where in the state you are, the amount of cold and snow can be significant (hello, Rockies). But on the whole, Colorado gets less precipitation and has a lot more days of sunshine than Boston. It also has a lot for outdoor enthusiasts, and a culture that supports that. We visited Denver and Boulder last fall, and despite getting some unseasonably cool and rainy weather, we really enjoyed the outdoor adventuring that was within just a 15 minute drive of Boulder.

Also, don’t you want to live in this amazing house with these amazing views?

Source: Zillow

That house in on the market for $469,000, which might seem like a lot depending on where you live but a) it’s on 5 acres, and b) in the Boston neighborhood where we used to live (but got priced out of), this “diamond in the rough” is currently for sale for $1.2M:

Source: Zillow

North Carolina — Research Triangle

Another top contender for us is the Research Triangle area in North Caroline (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill). Sam works in higher education administration, so an area with a lot of universities/colleges is appealing from a jobs standpoint (yes, we know it’s hard to beat Boston on that front, but given that he’s been at the same university for 10 years, it’s not like we actually need 50+ for him to choose from).

This area also has the advantage of being on the East Coast (where much of our family still is), having a milder climate, being easily and cheaply accessible by airplane via RDU, and having some lovely and vibrant town/city centers. We’ve visited a few times in the past several years (most recently for a wedding last summer), and we’ve enjoyed good food (there is nothing like a chicken biscuit), lovely scenery, and plenty of walking and outdoor activity. (Even though I failed to take good photos.)

It was hard to pick a house to show you in this area because there are a bazillion on the market for under $500K, but here’s one with a sweet exterior that’s walking distance to a park and trails:

This particular house (4 beds, 2.5 baths) is $450,000, but there’s a lot on the market much cheaper than that, especially if you’re willing/want to do some work on it. And as a reminder of what we’re used to, here’s a 1-bedroom condo for sale for $450K in Boston. They didn’t bother putting any interior photos in the listing because they know it will sell (over asking price, probably all cash with inspection waived) anyway, but we do know there’s a place to chain up your bike.

Scotland

Okay this one is a pure pipe dream because it would be impossible to get a work visa (and it’s too late for me to marry a UK citizen), but we loved Scotland when we visited a few years ago and I would love to settle down in a small village there. I know the weather isn’t ideal, but I can feel my pastoral European roots calling to me.

We spent four days in the Loch Lomond region which was beautiful and full of amazing nature, and I wish we’d had more time to venture further north into the Highlands.

And if I’m going to spend $500,000 on a house, why shouldn’t it be this one:

Source: Right Move

Okay, so those are some of the places I fantasize about moving (some more realistic than others). Now tell me about the places you live and love, or would love to live!