Tuesday, July 22, 2008

How to Make Your Own Bed #3

Ok Ok ....so there has been a delay since the last post.....well I have been mightily busy.....and over the course of the next few weeks you will discover exactly what that busyness has entailed...but, first of all back to the bed story, for bed is one of the most important places in the world....

I set off in search of a space that matched my sums. Along the way I added a few other criteria which I list below for your reading pleasure

  1. 3 minutes walk from the tube
  2. 10 minutes walk from Church
  3. A short-ish cycle ride to school
  4. A bus stop a very short walk away for when it rains
  5. A place to store my bicycle that is nice and safe
  6. Somewhere that needs minimal renovation work
  7. Somewhere happy
  8. A short walk from a major supermarket so it is easy to carry the shopping home
  9. A short walk from a cafe so there is somewhere to do some reading on a Saturday
  10. A place that is easy for others to travel to so some people will come and visit
Now, looking for a place to keep a bed is not a straightforward task, as fellow bed shaped space hunters will know, especially when it has to have all of the above, as well as being affordable and in London.

Lo and behold, I stumbled upon a building that looks like this

I asked the slimy estate agent all about the building and looked at some studio apartments that were way too expensive. Then I found a non-slimy estate agent who showed me a studio apartment that looked like this


I was disappointed to discover that the chair on the bed, the cowboy boots and wet towel were not included in the asking price. I tested this very tidy studio against my criteria only to discover

  1. It is literally 3 minutes walk from the tube
  2. It is 10 minutes walk from Church
  3. It is a 4 mile cycle ride to school
  4. There is a bus stop directly at the front of the building
  5. There is lock up storage for bicycles
  6. A bit of paint and a new carpet would make it livable
  7. All of the people I saw in the building and the porters smiled at me
  8. A 4 minute walk away are Sainsburys, Waitrose and M&S Simply Food, and a marvellous organic food store, library, chemist and Woolworths.
  9. There are 3 cafes and 4 restaurants across the road, and another 5 cafes 4 minutes walk away
  10. Lots of my friends travel past the building on their way to and from work.

Taking all of this into account I made an offer and a day later made another offer and it was accepted!! My heart skipped a beat or three and I felt the mortgage burden settle upon my shoulders and I bid goodbye to the idea of working part time.

You can read more about the building here

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sharon,it's gorgeous! Congratulations on finding the perfect bed shaped space. If we ever get back to London can we come and visit you?

Sharon said...

Yes!! Please do.
So lovely to hear from you. I am missing Kathryn as I am sure you are, but am making grand travel plans to Texas..

s xx

Kathryn said...

woohoo! great post :)

how is it that my MOTHER gets the first post in here as well?! ;)

some people will stick at nothing...

xxxx

Anonymous said...

very funny. after a lot of searching and obvious dissappointment at not being able to purchase some of the previous residences I hope the bed is comfy.

mazza