Dream House

The Mr. and I have been house shopping for about 6 months now. We’ve had offers in on 4 different houses, but all fell through for different reasons. I admit I am getting so tired of looking at real estate websites and house advertisements. But looking at them has helped me get a good idea of what I would do in my dream home.

• Island in kitchen with seating – The kitchen is such a gathering place. A big island with plenty of seating and lots of space for food serving and preparation is a must for me. Bonus points if the island is built in with a veggie drawer and knife holder.

• Soaking Tub – I love baths. It’s relaxing and I always end up feeling soft and smelling good. Plus, it’s a great place to enjoy a paperback.

• Walk-in Closet – I need a large closet. I want one with plenty of hanging space and one that has shelves for storage as well so I can get rid of the chest of drawers in our bedroom. Shelves make it so much easier to find things. I will also use lots of lights in my walk in closet so I can see everything.

• Upstairs – I like the idea of having an upstairs. When we lived in the townhouse in Tallahassee I admit I got tired of going up and down the stairs, but that was mainly because the bathroom was upstairs. The houses that I tend to especially like are the ones with stair and a banister that can be seen in the main room. It just looks so grown up.

• Fireplace – I know I live in Florida, but I love having a fire going just about any night of the year.  We had fireplaces in our apartments in Tuscaloosa and Tallahassee. I loved starting up a fire and reading in the living room. It was so relaxing. Plus having a mantle to decorate feels homey and grown up too.

• Screened-In Porch – I love nights when you can enjoy the outdoors, but mosquitoes are pretty bad around these parts. That’s where the screen comes in. And preferably a porch swing.

• Doggy Room – Steve and Wil would be so pumped to have their own space. Complete with a soft bed, built in water bowl that automatically refills, custom height food bowls, hangars for their collars, leashes and shelves for their other doggy paraphernalia.

• Sewing/Craft room – a room with several tables for lots of projects to be going on at once. And room for Matt too so he can work on his own projects with me. This room also needs a good sound system so we can listen to music while we work.

• Great backyard – We def. have kids planned at some point in our future so a good backyard with space for a play set is def. a must. We’d love to build a treehouse. Plus we both like being outdoors so we’ll need a space for our chairs and firepit. Matt will also need a good corner for gardening.

• Great Neighborhood – We’d love to live in a place where we can be close to friends and fun stuff like restaurants and parks. Double bonus if we could actually walk to them. We have a park in walking distance right now and we use it all the time for jogging and dog-walking.

• Trees – I like shade in my yard and on my street.

• No Carpets – When you have pets you get tired of constantly vacuuming. Sweeping is much easier. And spills are MUCH easier to clean.

• Mini fridge for beverages – our drinks take up way too much space in the fridge. Also, I like having bottled water and canned drinks on hand and already cool.

• Storage – I’m a collector (nice way of saying pack-rat) so I definitely want space to store my Christmas decorations, Fall decorations and other décor items. Just because I’m not using them right this second does not mean I have to get rid of them. I like changing things out now and then and it’s fun to go “shopping” through the boxes in our storage room. Plus we have tons camping stuff to be stored as well.

• Gas stove – I cooked on a gas stove when I babysat for a family in college. I really understand the phrase “now you’re cookin’ with gas!” – It’s true. The heat is even and strong.

• Driveway space for multiple cars – my dream home will have plenty of room for parking

I don’t expect to find ALL of these qualities in a house. Especially one in our price range. J But it’s nice to dream. Someday we hope to be able to build a house and when we do, I will make sure this entire list is considered. It’s a good thing I have it all here online for posterity.