Havahd House and Wayfair

Last night Phil and I went out with our awesome realtor and saw SEVEN houses. We saw another three with the kids over the weekend and two before that. The good news is that we found one that we both like and that feels like home. Hooray! Now to ensure we have the right financing and submit the offer. There's always something, isn't there??

Until I can tell you about this new home sweet home, I thought I would show you some of the others, because who doesn't like seeing houses, right?? Especially when you don't have to pack up and move all your stuff at the end...

Real Estate Listing

The first house we saw was on Harvard Street, or Havahd Street as my Bostonian friends might say. A quiet cul-de-sac on the western edge of the city, closest to the state capital, it is five minutes from Phil's work and walking distance to one of the kids' schools. Best of all, when you walk out the front door, to the left is a huge shopping area with Dunkin' Donuts, Home Goods, and World Market, not to mention all the restaurants! To the right is one of the prettiest houses in East Lansing and private wooded walking trails.

 
The house is full of nicely refinished hardwood floors like the one in this living room. You can get a nice idea of the neighborhood from the view of the street through the huge front window. And I love the little slot for mail in the front door. My plan for this room was to make it a welcoming room. My desk would be here and this is where the kids would be able to spread out and play. 

In fact, I had an entire vision for this room, and shopped for all of it on Wayfair (again, not sponsored by them, just pleased with their My Clipbar program and the vast array of products they sell). 

Everything is so dang affordable! My cart including a rug, but not the drapes which are out of stock, rings up at about $1,050. Shipping is free and I would have earned $31 cash back. A pretty good deal, in my opinion. Clockwise from top: drapes / sconce / pair of lamps / slipper chair / garden stool

This is the second living room at the back of the house. Somehow in this house hunting process a screened porch became a necessity. It really expands the space visually. 

In my mind I already had Indian corn hanging on the back door and this banquette under the windows.

The kitchen was small but workable. The door near the stove goes to the basement. Although there was pool table and ping pong table down there, the basement was not a selling point of the house.

To extend the counter space in the kitchen there is a drop-leaf counter next to the sink. An idea that I had just read in House Beautiful as a good solution for a small kitchen. Meant to be, I tell ya...

There were two bedrooms on the first floor and then this room upstairs. The space you see on the right is four small closets built into the eaves. On the left is a full bath. It was truly the most efficient use of space I have ever seen in the second story of a cape cod. (And a cape cod on Harvard Street?? How much more perfect does it get?!)

Finally, the money shot. Private, tree-filled backyard. That's a brick patio off the screen porch, just right for our grill. I would have ripped out the plantings next to the garage to put in our vegetable garden. And the branches of the tree in the immediate foreground would have held a tire swing. 

Yet, as lovely as this house and my vision are, this is NOT our dream house. And I'm fine with that! But I hope somebody will buy it and give it the love it needs (including, at a minimum, a new roof on the garage, new windows & doors, and landscaping). 

Thank you all so much for your kind words on our house hunting!! It is so nice to have so many friends out there wishing us well!!