The Artist Loft

We recently returned from ten days in Seattle to attend two weddings and go to some Mariner games so for this trip I rented a place to stay from airbnb.com that was entitled Huge Artist Loft. I just have to dedicate a post to this place because it was so unique.  I wanted to get a good size place because Nick was also staying with us.  He flew in from Japan to attend his childhood friend's wedding and he also planned to stay the ten days so I wanted a place where we could spread out in comfort. 

This place was located in the SoDo district which is an artsy, trendy area located south of the sports stadiums or "South of Downtown", thus SoDo.  There are many artists studios around here and this particular building use to belong to the Bemis Paper Company, now an old warehouse turned into individual studios, many occupied by artists.

The location is also very industrial and close to the Port of Seattle, ship terminals, railroad tracks, and walking distance to Safeco Field where we attended three Mariner games during our stay. We just walked right out our front door. So convenient!

The loft had two sleeping areas since I knew Nick would not want to end up on a hide-a-bed for ten days.  At 6'5", he needs to have comfortable sleeping accommodations and the second bedroom worked perfect for him.

The master bedroom area would not have worked because there were too many low hanging pipes.

Even Bruce bumped his head on the pipes a few times but otherwise it was very comfortable for us.  I loved the whole "warehouse" theme feel to the place.

When you first walked in, the owner had a display of his work taking up a whole wall.  The photographs were gorgeous!

On the other side, was a birch wood carving made to be a divider between the entrance and the kitchen.

You immediately got the feel of being in an artist loft the minute you walked through the door.

Walking straight ahead you would end up in an area with a projector and movie screen that was huge and took up another whole wall.

There was a really comfy couch in here that Bruce took a nap on a few times that could have actually been used as a bed.  The stairs that led to the master bedroom were also here. 

Did you notice the beautiful chandelier?  It is made out of canning jars!  I love it!

All the lighting in this apartment was unique including this makeup mirror outside the bathroom.  I figure this must be where all the models get ready for their photo shoots. We used it for our charging station.

This came in handy as we were all getting ready in the morning.  I had more time in the bathroom since it was perfect place for the guys to shave.

The bathroom was nice

and kept with the warehouse theme with it's pipe-like fixtures.

The apartment also had a warehouse-size fan that we could use to move air since it was hot while were there but it was much too loud.  It also projected warehouse-size noise!

We kept the windows open most the time but we had to climb stairs to reach the windows which was sort of fun.

Looking out the window you saw trains and highway 99, not a quiet neighborhood.

But this was urban living at it's fullness.  I took a picture of our place as we drove by it on highway 99 one day. 

We noticed a lot of the furnishings were from Ikea only with an artist's touch.

I loved the giant umbrella next to the kitchen, perfect decor for Seattle.

We enjoyed leisurely mornings in the kitchen of the artist's loft.

Another art piece I liked was the window pane on the wall between the kitchen and work area.  It was nice having a big clock on the wall, too.

And speaking of work area, how would you like a desk like this one?

It's a warehouse size with pipe-like fashion.

I should probably mention the elevator, too, because it was an industrial type elevator. 

We usually took the stairs since we were only on the fourth floor and the elevator was so big and loud.  It was like the kind you see in movies where people live in New York in old warehouses converted to apartments like in Fatal Attraction.

Like everything else, the hallways were very wide and spacious and there was a cute little lounge on the fourth floor that we passed everyday to and from our apartment.

We even had a daily visitor...the neighbor's cat named Mr. Mouser, who would always dash through our door as soon as we would unlock it and step in.  He'd make himself right at home every time.  I guess our apartment was more interesting than the hallways.

Each time we left, we had to call Mr. Mouser and make sure we put him out.  Sometimes he was hard to find.

If you're going to be in Seattle for ten days, you might as well make yourself at home and we felt right at home in our huge artist loft, complete with resident cat to always greet us.