The hall was painted in a pretty yellow, darker than lemon but not as dark as mustard. She wouldn’t have thought that shade of yellow would work, but it was actually very attractive, set off by glossy white wood trim. To the left, a stairway rose, painted in the same yellow, and to the right of the stairs the hallway continued on, a bedroom door opening off to the right. The stairs themselves were painted white, each step topped with highly polished natural wood.
Immediately to the left, a wide doorway led into the living room with ivory walls and the same white trim. A doorway on the far side of the living room most likely led to the kitchen, or perhaps a dining room.
On the right side of the hall, another doorway led into a family room or den, painted in the same ivory as the living room, with windows overlooking the small front yard. Naomi went to the windows, tapping on them. “Double paned,” she said approvingly. “This will help in winter.”
“And in summer,” Miranda said, having followed her into the room. “All the windows are double-paned. Every room has wall-mounted air conditioners and baseboard heaters, and the living room and bedrooms have ceiling fans. The stone helps amazingly with insulation, as well.”
The den had a nice fireplace set flush with the wall, with a wooden mantle above it. Liam went to inspect it, peering up at whatever was inside chimneys; Naomi thought there was something called a flue, or… something. He seemed satisfied, at any rate.
“There are four fireplaces; this one, one in the living room, and two in upstairs bedrooms, but the two upstairs have been converted to gas fireplaces with ceramic logs. The two downstairs still use wood. Both active chimneys were cleaned this last spring,” Miranda consulted her notes. “I have the number for the chimney sweep, as well as the gardening service, if the new owner wants to keep them on.”
Liam nodded thoughtfully, clearly taking mental notes as his gaze roamed the room. “There’s not a lot of natural light in here,” he observed. “Despite the front windows. This would make for a great TV room. I’d mount a big-screen TV against the wall there, put in a couple couches and recliners against the walls, a bunch of tables scattered around…”
“For holding pizza boxes?” Naomi suggested, snickering.
He grinned at her. “Yeah. We can even put in a small fridge just for beers and sodas, for when there’s a game.”
She rolled her eyes, and turned to Miranda. “Let’s move on, shall we?”
The realtor took them across the hall to the spacious living room. Whereas the hallway was laid with terracotta type tiles, the rest of the house seemed to have lovely polished hardwood floors.
“What kind of wood is this?” She asked Miranda, kneeling down to run her fingers over the smooth wood, feeling the polish against her fingertips. “I’d say mahogany but mahogany’s darker than this.”
“I’m not sure myself,” Miranda confessed. She, too, inspected the hardwood floor closely. “It could be red oak.”
“I don’t suppose it matters,” Naomi commented, rising to her feet. “But it’s very pretty, and it warms the room.”
Miranda smiled. “It does indeed.”
At the far end, a wide doorway led into a small but attractive dining room, and on the far end of that, a doorway into the kitchen. Naomi stepped into the kitchen and came to an abrupt halt, unable to suppress her gasp of dismay.
“Whoever perpetrated this outrage could not have been the same person who chose the decor for the rest of the house!”
Liam paused at her side, his expression mirroring hers as he stared at the green cupboards. Not a pretty forest green or a pale, pastel green, but a bright green somewhere between lime and avocado.
“Shades of the seventies,” he joked. “Perhaps they saved the kitchen for last and just didn’t get this far?”
“They should have re-done the kitchenfirst,” she asserted.
The rest of the kitchen was nice, though, with a double sink, a huge stainless steel side-by-side refrigerator, a built-in microwave above a spotless mirror-top range, and oodles of counter space.
“Except for my eyes bleeding from the green, this is a terrific kitchen,” Naomi observed. “They have good taste in appliances, even if they are color blind.”
“The appliances come with the house?” Liam asked the realtor.
Miranda nodded. “Yes. The owners are moving into assisted living, and in fact, any of the furniture you want, they’d be happy to leave for you.”
Liam looked thoughtful, and turned to go back into the dining room. Until now, neither of them had paid any attention to the furniture, but now Naomi appreciated the polished mahogany table and six matching chairs. A seam down the center indicated that it had at least one leaf that could be inserted, expanding the seating. A sideboard stood against one wall, and a glass-front china hutch as well, both also mahogany.
“I definitely want this,” Liam commented, his glance going to Naomi. “What do you think?”
“Absolutely.” She ran her fingers over the glass front. “Is this leaded glass? I think it is.”
“Definitely,” Liam said, coming to her side to inspect the hutch. “These are antiques, or I miss my guess. This is called a breakfront.”
She lifted her brows at him questioningly, and he shrugged, looking a little sheepish. “My mom is into antiques. I got dragged all over the northeast as a kid when she was in the mood for antiquing.”
They backtracked into the living room, where good, solid wood and thick damask made up the sofa and two arm chairs, with a matching coffee table and end tables.
