Unique home for sale in Hopkinton!

May 14, 2018

Are you looking for something out of the ordinary?  Unique?  Filled with character and ready for your interior design dreams?  This colonial in the sought after Ravenwood Neighborhood in Hopkinton is looking for you to make it shine again!  Excellent floor plan with over 3400 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, hardwoods throughout and finished lower level.  Open kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances, pantry, island and wet bar.  Soaring cathedral ceiling family room with skylights, fireplace, mud room entrance and sliders out to the wrap around deck overlooking the large private fenced back yard.  Formal dining and living rooms and main level laundry room.  Spacious Master bedrooms with tray ceiling, walk in closet and private bath with Jacuzzi tub and double sink vanity.  Lower level walk out with finished space! Gas heat, central a/c and garage. Listed for $544,500!

Check out the full listing HERE!

Open house in Hopkinton tomorrow!

May 12, 2018

Are you looking for something out of the ordinary?  Unique?  Filled with character and ready for your interior design dreams?  This colonial in the sought after Ravenwood Neighborhood in Hopkinton is looking for you to make it shine again!  Excellent floor plan with over 3400 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, hardwoods throughout and finished lower level.  Open kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances, pantry, island and wet bar.  Soaring cathedral ceiling family room with skylights, fireplace, mud room entrance and sliders out to the wrap around deck overlooking the large private fenced back yard.  Formal dining and living rooms and main level laundry room.  Spacious Master bedrooms with tray ceiling, walk in closet and private bath with Jacuzzi tub and double sink vanity.  Lower level walk out with finished space! Gas heat, central a/c and garage. Listed for $544,500! Open house on Sunday 5/13 from 11am-1pm!

Check out the full listing HERE!

‘I-Really-Can’t-Deal!’ Patio Problems Solved!

May 11, 2018

By: Leanne Potts

Size problems. Shade problems. The wind-is-blowing-our-cocktails-over problems.

Summertiiiime and the living is supposed to be easy — but not if you live on a hot mess of a patio.

Whether it’s dying plants, a view of your neighbor’s garbage cans, or mosquitos that threaten to drain you before you can drain a beer, patios tend to develop some chill-disrupting problems. Here’s some of the more annoying ones, and how to fix them.

#1 My Patio Is Too Small:

Train a vine to grow up a wall, hang plants from the roof, or set potted plants on shelves on the wall. “Anything that draws the eye upward makes the space feel larger,” says Brian Patrick Flynn, designer from “HGTV Dream Home.”

Tying the patio space visually to your yard will also make it feel larger, too. Layer plants around the patio’s edge — short ones at the front and taller ones as you get farther from the patio. Don’t have planting beds? Use containers of plants to get the same effect.

#2 My Patio Is Near a Busy Street:

Nothing kills a patio buzz like a swarm of noisy traffic. A masonry wall is the best way block the car horns and sirens, of course, but that’s a large and expensive project.

A cheaper, simpler option: Make a living wall of plants. A dense planting can cut noise by as much as 10%.

Or create your own noise. Try installing a fountain. Even though the sound of gurgling water won’t drown out all the street sounds, it will mitigate them and soothe your noise-battered soul.

Playing music or white noise over an outdoor Bluetooth speaker can also knock down noise. Try some rainforest-themed white noise to make your patio feel like it’s surrounded by jungle birds, not a highway of V-6 engines.

#3 There’s Too Much Shade — I Can’t Grow Anything:

Yes, you can. You can grow plants that like shade. Ferns, hostas, palms, banana trees, and a gaggle of other plants will adore your shady patio.

They have nice leaves, but don’t bloom much. If you must have flowers, plant them in containers and place them in sunny spots in the yard. Move them on the patio when you have guests over.

If moving 25-pound containers of begonias isn’t your thing (fair), go with fake flowers.

Put a bouquet of iron or wooden yard-art flowers in a pot, hang some flower-themed art on a wall, or upholster your furniture in a botanical print to add color to a patio or deck that’s overcome by shade.

Note: Never use silk flowers. Ever. They’re perfectly suitable for cemeteries, but that’s about it. Unless you’re going for a uniquely morose patio theme, steer clear.

#4 There’s No Shade:

A sail shade is the simplest, fastest, and cheapest solution to provide shelter from the sun. It gives you shade where you want it, when you want it.

If you can wait a year for shade, train vines to grow overhead on a pergola, which is a more permanent (and value-adding) solution than a shade. Not only will the vine shield you from the sun, but also it will lower the air temperature, thanks to the magic of transpiration.

When the air heats up, the vines’ leaves release water into the air. It’s nature’s air conditioning. The best solution: Keep that sail shade up until the vines have covered the pergola.

#5 My Neighbors Are Too Close:

If your neighbor’s gaze is an uninvited guest at every patio party, put space between you and them with plants.

Install a sheet of lattice on the side of your patio closest to the neighbors, and train a fast-growing, leafy vine like ivy or jasmine to climb up the side of it. Looks like a garden, acts like a privacy fence.

How’s that for polite but effective? If you want privacy faster, line up a row of big planters filled with tall evergreens along the patio’s edge. Outdoor drapes work, too. Close them when you want some peep-proof outdoor time.

#6 The Wind Is Blowing Our Cocktails Over:

See above. A lattice wall or row of heavy planters filled with tall plantings can make a great windbreak as well as a privacy screen.

If your nuisance wind comes from varying directions, put the containers on rolling plant stands and move them so they block the wind as needed. Another solution: Heavy-duty outdoor curtains made of marine-grade fabric with weighted hems.

#7 My Patio Has No View:

In a perfect world, a knockout view is just part of the patio package. In reality, you might be gazing at the neighbor’s swing set or the side of their garage. If painting a sunset mural on the garage is out of the question, adjust your gaze inward, rather than out with a focal point on your patio.

“Hang an outdoor mirror, install a sculpture, or water feature, or create a wall covered in unique materials like stacked stone or painted a bright color,” Flynn says. Even stringing twinkly party lights around the edge of the roof, or on your oversized plants, will make your patio more scenic and give you something to look at.

#8 We’re Being Carried Off by Bugs:

Your gentle breeze is an insect’s hurricane. Make your patio a permanent Category 5 for pests with an outdoor fan. At night, use an LED bulb with a Kelvin rating lower than 3,000. It produces a yellow light that’s less appealing to bugs.

Or battle nature with nature. Invite bats and birds to your yard. They’ll eat the bugs that are trying to eat you. Hang a bird feeder and a bat house, and provide a source of clean water for them to drink. (Use a fountain to keep the water moving, so mosquitos won’t breed in it.)

And don’t be silly. Bats won’t hurt you. Scare the bejesus out of you, maybe. But you’ll get used to them. The bugs won’t.

Just listed on Pleasant Street in Northborough!

May 10, 2018

Just listed! 144 Pleasant Street in Northborough! This 4 bed, 2 full/2 half bath colonial is listed for $869,900 by LAER Realty.

Just listed on Pleasant Street in Northborough!

May 10, 2018

Just listed! 156 Pleasant Street, Lot A in Northborough! This 4 bed, 2.5 bath colonial is listed for $789,900 by Coldwell Banker.

Just listed on Green Street in Northborough!

May 10, 2018

Just listed! 261 Green Street in Northborough! This 6 bed, 5.5 colonial is listed for $1,250,000 by Keller Williams.

Just listed on Kendall Drive in Northborough!

May 10, 2018

Just listed! 11 Kendall Drive in Northborough! This 4 bed, 3 bath colonial is listed for $674,900 by Dechairo Real Estate.

Just listed on Avery Road in Holden!

May 10, 2018

Just listed! 49 Avery Road in Holden! This 4 bed, 2 bath colonial is listed for $329k by McParland Realty.

Just listed on Freedom Lane in Holden!

May 10, 2018

Just listed! 15 Freedom Lane, Lot 26 in Holden! This 4 bed, 2.5 bath colonial is listed for $599,900 by RE/MAX.

5 Small Backyard Ideas to Make Your Cramped Outdoor Space Feel Like Versailles!

May 9, 2018

By: Jamie Wiebe

These backyard ideas will make your small space look and feel BIGGER.

Don’t think of your microscopic yard as a curse. So what if it’s technically a small concrete slab that baaarely accommodates a half-sized Weber grill? Or if your flagstone patio is just big enough for you, a lounge chair, and a good book? Your tiny outdoor spot is actually an opportunity to get creative.

To live large with a small footprint, try these functional tweaks to make your minuscule outdoor space feel like a palatial retreat.

1. Divide the Space:

Wait, what? That’s right. Even if your square footage is relatively small, dividing your outdoor space into two areas can actually make it seem bigger.

“Creating a space within a space makes it seem larger because it gives you a separate experience,” says Joy Diaz, chief marketing officer at Land Care Inc.

Diaz recommends a small wood pergola, which you can purchase at home improvement stores or even build yourself without too much effort. You can also use walls to divide the space. We’re not talking about bulky concrete barriers here — try using short trellises, arbors, or vine-covered wooden fences to separate your loungers from your patio table.

“It says, ‘I’m in one place, that’s another place, and if there’s room for two places it must be big,’” says J. Scott Williams, a landscape architect at YardApes in New Milford, Conn.

As an added bonus, walls prevent visitors from walking in a straight line from one end of the patio to another, instead creating a winding path that makes your small space feel expansive.

2. Plant a Privacy Screen:

A peaceful space always feels roomier than one crowded with noise and other distractions — like the pressure to strike up an awkward conversation every time you lock eyes with the nice lady next door. Keep your evening soirées and morning coffee blissfully secluded with a few cleverly positioned plants.

There are a few ways to achieve this goal. Along the very edges of your space, plant a tall, wide bush, like the purple smoke bush, a fantastic, easy-to-care-for container plant that can grow six or seven feet every year. Just be sure to keep on top of trimmings to keep it from overgrowing your patio — you want it growing up, not out — but as long as you do so, it makes an excellent privacy screen.

“A larger plant in a small space is dramatic,” says Williams.

You can also privatize your patio without sacrificing any square footage with the oldest trick in the book: Install some climbing vines on a trellis to clearly tell your neighbors, “This is my special space.”

3. Add a Water Feature:

A dramatic focal point can really add some intrigue to a mini yard. And a water feature, like a bubbling birdbath or wall fountain, can do just the trick.

Williams suggests choosing an element with a black bottom, which will create a darker surface that reflects sky and trees, making your outdoor space feel bigger. Just make sure your water feature doesn’t overwhelm your porch — you can skip the long, vanishing edge-style pool.

“I wouldn’t put a longer element in a small space, which might make it look smaller,” Williams said. “Add a smaller water element into a small space, and make it seem larger.”

4. Use Vertical Space:

Distract from your lack of horizontal yardage by really maximizing your outdoor space’s most abundant dimension: vertical space.

Use your walls, fence, or railings as extra space by adding vines or a living wall filled with flowers, herbs, and other eye-catching greenery. For a simple change, prop an attractive ladder — think barnyard chic, maybe? — against the wall and use its rungs as shelving for plants or other decor. The internet is bursting with other vertical planter and shelving ideas, too, using everything from pallets to chicken wire.

“It draws the eye up and outwards, and gives it a green and completely different look,” says Diaz. “It can change the atmosphere of the area. You’ve walked into a different experience from your home — it’s a psychological and emotional change.”

5. Expand Space with a Mirror:

“Mirrors really make space feel more expansive,” Williams says. On a small porch, place a tall mirror on the ground behind a portico or a patch of greenway, which “makes it look like a doorway into another garden.”

You don’t need to go huge on the mirror to have a huge impact. Even hanging a normal-sized mirror, like one you might find over a dresser, can make a tiny space feel much larger. But whichever you choose, make sure to weatherproof your mirror first using a mirror edge sealer (you’ll also want to add sealant to the frame, especially if it’s made from wood) to prevent moisture damage — unless you like the weathered look, that is.

Small spaces don’t have to be limiting. With a little bit of creativity — and perhaps a reflective surface or two — there’s no reason you can’t feel like you’re living in your very own Versailles.