Page 10 of The Holiday Exchange

“Come in.” He steps back to usher me into the foyer. I can’t stop myself from peering around, taking in my surroundings with interest.

The inside of the house shows clear signs of renovation, but there’s still work to be done to make it completely modern. The living room and hall have been freshly painted a bright white and the wood floors look like they’ve recently been refinished the same dark-stained color as the exposedbeams crossing the ceiling. What I can see of the kitchen, however, calls to mind a Better Homes and Gardens spread from the 70s. I’m pretty sure I spy some patterned green linoleum.

“It’s a fixer-upper,” Trevor says, almost apologetically. “I’m renovating and bringing it up to date a little at a time.”

“I think it’s great. Are you doing the work yourself?”

“Mostly. When I first bought it, I had a plumber and an electrician come check out all the pipes and wiring and do a few updates. I’ve done the rest.”

I’m intrigued. It sounds like his carpentry skills might be more advanced than I thought. “Cool. What have you already done so far?”

“Would you like a tour?”

“Yes! I love seeing inside other people’s houses. Not, like, in a weird way,” I hasten to clarify. “I promise not to open your drawers. I just like a little insider peek into people’s lives.”

“Hopefully you don’t decide I’m a caveman by the end of this tour.”

I stare at him. Did he just make a joke? I don’t think I’ve heard him be funny before. I smile to reassure him. “I highly doubt that, but I’ll be on the lookout for mud murals on the walls.”

“So…” He clears his throat and looks around for a place to start. “You can see the living room is almost done. I just need to work on the fireplace.”

“What are you going to do with it?” I have my own ideas about how to update the red brick behemoth in the far wall, but I’m interested in his response.

“I definitely need to refinish the wood mantle and I want to take the bronze doors off, make it open.”

I nod along. “And you could paint the inside black and the outside white.”

He rubs his chin and stares at the fireplace, considering. “You have an eye for this,” he says finally. “I think that’s exactly what it needs.”

His praise warms me, but I brush it off. “I just know what I like. It sounds like you have similar preferences or else you wouldn’t have agreed with my suggestion so quickly.”

“True enough.” He crosses the living room without another word, disappearing down a hallway. Am I supposed to follow him? I hesitate for a second then go for it and find him waiting in the hall. Several doors open up on each side and he gestures for me to enter the first one.

“This is the first room I refinished.”

It must be the master suite. It’s spacious, with several large windows that let in the morning light. It’s simple but elegant with soft gray walls and minimal furnishings, just a bed and a matching dresser. The floor is the same dark wood as the hall and living room.

“Does the whole house have wood floors?”

“This room actually used to be carpeted. I installed wood in here and the guest rooms before I refinished the wood in the living room and then stained them all the same color to match as closely as possible.”

“It looks great,” I enthuse, impressed. “I never would have guessed that the floors were installed at different times.”

He seems uncomfortable with the compliment, his face flushing as he rubs the back of his neck. “The bathroom is through there.”

I flip on the light in the bathroom and nearly gasp. While the bedroom design is simple, the master bath is full of details. To my right, double sinks are set in a swirling grey and white marble countertop perched on white cabinets. The floor is grey subway tile that blends seamlessly into a wide shower on my left, the tiles continuing to the ceiling. Through the glass wall, I see two shower heads, along with a couple of cut-outs to set your toiletries in. Beyond the sinks, a half wall concealswhat I assume is a toilet, and opposite of that is a sleek white tub.

“Wow,” I breathe. “This is gorgeous.”

“Thanks. I’d never done any tiling before so that took a while.”

“Well, it turned out great.”

We continue the tour and he shows me the two spare bedrooms, which are empty and still sport wood wall paneling, along with another bathroom and a laundry room that also have yet to be redone. Through the laundry room window, I can see a spacious backyard with what I think is a covered-up pool. When I ask about it, Trevor tells me that it’s in pretty bad shape but he hopes to fix it up to be ready to swim in next summer.

“This is next on my list,” he says when we enter the kitchen.

“No offense, but I think that’s a good call.” I blink as my eyes are assaulted by the avocado Formica countertops and stained, outdated white appliances.

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