Holly from West Pear Avenue's Dream Home

Today we have Holly from West Pear Avenue sharing her dream home with us.  Holly is one of the first blog friends that I made.  She has the most sincere and insightful comments that I always appreciate.  We laugh that we can consider each other friends eventhough we have never met or had a face-to-face conversation (thanks to the wonders of the blog world!).  Holly will be taking some design classes this fall and I think she would make a wonderful designer should she decide to change careers someday.  Meanwhile, she has been busy transforming her home room by room, including modernizing a classic pink 1950's bathroom and updating her laminate-covered kitchen.  Go check out these projects and more and be sure to say "hi" to Holly at her blog.  Without further ado, here she is....

Greetings Saved By Suzy Readers! A big thank you to Suzy for having me here today. I was SO excited when Suzy was looking for guests to post about their Dream Home. My mind was racing with all of the features of a home that I would LOVE to have some day - both exterior and interior features. This post really got me thinking back to when I was a young girl, riding in the back of the car gazing at the same houses day after day to and from school and activities. A girl can still dream, right? I had to narrow my list down tremendously because who doesn't have a laundry list of dream items for a dream home?!

Let's start with the exterior of my DREAM HOME...I've always wanted a portico. I just think they are such a nice architectural feature that really frames the front entry to a home. I have always been drawn to older homes made of stone or brick. I love the character in an older home. These are a few photos in a neighborhood not far from where I work. I would take one of these homes in a heartbeat.

I love the front door and portico on this one. It's fun to imagine what the interior looks like and what the layout is like inside.

I'm realizing now that these three houses look very similar, but I guess that means I am drawn to a specific style of exterior. This one is my favorite. I love the color that the window boxes add to the exterior. I love the front of the house and the framework around the door. I didn't get a good shot of it but there is a nice balcony off of the top floor that you can see a little bit of in this picture at the top right.

Going inside my DREAM HOME...

I've always wanted a beautiful fireplace and mantel. Throw in some built-ins and I would never leave the house. I'd curl up with a good book or magazine and a cup of coffee and relax in front of the fire.

Better Homes and Gardens

Country Living via Holly on Pinterest

This image above is one of my favorites. The fireplace, the beams, the chairs, the double doors leading to the outside...I just love all of this.

Lonny

This image from Lonny is a completely different look, but I still love how much interest the fireplace brings to the room.

Elle Decor

This fireplace blew me away. This is in Courtney Cox's Malibu home. That's the ocean out those windows. Yep, I could handle that. Another feature that I would have to have in my dream home would be a coffee bar/station. I'm a borderline coffee nut and it's now a part of my morning ritual, so why not incorporate into my dream home? And of course, Martha, does it like no other. Please take a look at my future coffee bar.

Martha Stewart

I would also settle for this beauty of a coffee bar as well - not too shabby...

Traditional Home

Lastly, I think I would also like to have a massive, beautiful staircase such as this one below. Wouldn't this be amazing?

Apartment Therapy via Holly on Pinterest

This staircase is like fairy tale time for me! Drool-worthy, beautiful, stunning! And there you have some dream-worthy features for my dream home someday. This was a lot of fun! Thank you for dreaming along with me, and a BIG thank you to Suzy for hosting this dream home series!