It’s sort of like driving back to childhood — an idyllic setting. And that’s the case, quite literally, with Laurie and Glenn Nilsen, who live in the Berrywood neighborhood of Severna Park along with their children, Brent, Lauren and Garrett.

“We kind of grew up around here,” Ms. Nilsen said. “My husband grew up in Severna Park; I grew up in Arnold.”

Adding to the allure of the neighborhood are two marinas, a community swimming pool, tennis courts, clubhouse, a nice mix of older and younger families, and great schools. In other words, it seems to have it all.

“Both the middle school and the elementary are blue ribbon, and of course the high school has been good,” Ms. Nilsen said.

The Nilsens’ 2,400-square-foot, raised-ranch style home features four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and spacious front and back yards.

The couple has made a few changes to the home, especially in the kitchen area, but that goes without saying when you have a neighbor and friend who’s a kitchen designer.

“She was just getting started in that business and I just thought, ‘I’ll have her do up a couple of designs,’” Ms. Nilsen said of her neighbor, Peggy Jaeger, who works for Annapolis-based Design Solutions. “She’s really great at what she does.”

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The first order of business for the kitchen redo was putting it where the dining room had been located.

“We sort of swapped the kitchen with the dining room, which made a much bigger space, and we were able to put a large window in the kitchen, which really opened up the space,” Ms. Jaeger explained.

Sure enough, it is a big, open space that now incorporates the kitchen, with an informal dining area which flows to an outside living area via a screened porch. A wet bar between the screened porch and inside dining area is the perfect addition for entertaining.

The kitchen features cherry-finished birch cabinetry that reaches to the ceiling, earth-tone granite counters, a large, waved granite island, a flat-top stove, recessed lighting, stainless steel appliances and, of course, that largewindow overlooking the beautiful backyard.

The screened porch, framed in white, is a particularly welcoming spot, with tan wicker furniture with tropically themed upholstery, raised white wood ceiling with fan, a television and a dining table. From solitary reading to entertaining, the space is well suited for just about anything.

“I love this room — it’s so nice to come out and sit,” Ms. Nilsen said.

Add to that, it’s a mosquito-free zone. What more could you ask of an indoor/outdoor space?

“Believe me, that’s why we got it,” Ms. Nilsen said. “I’ve never seen anything like it — you walk out and they’re all over you.”

A family room at the front of the house, off the kitchen, provides an abundance of natural light and a nice-size room for hanging out.

Short of one room, the rest of the house features a lot of earth tones — yellows, greens, blues and browns. Upstairs, the master bedroom, with its rich, dark wooden furniture, is further enhanced by alternate wall colors of chocolate brown and sky blue. A fringed, jacquard spread in the same colors lends sophistication and comfort. The flowing chocolate silk bed skirt ties it all together.

The boys’ rooms pay homage to all things sporty — pennants, trophies, posters, helmets, hats, team spirit stuff; it’s all here. Brent, 17, a lacrosse player, is getting ready to leave the nest and head for college. Apparently, his room may be up for grabs by his 7-year-old brother.

“We always tease him — we say Garrett is going to take it over,” Ms. Nilsen said with a smile.

And though Mom may be a bit sad, she’s ready for her oldest to fly the coop.

“I’m going to miss him, but the lifestyle they (teenagers) like to live, I’m done with it — the waiting and the worrying,” she said. “They’re just like crazy at this age.”

Granted, there are two more she’ll be contending with soon enough, but this reporter wasn’t about to ruin this clearly needed mom-at-peace moment.

vThis brings us to the only non-earth-toned room in the home. With a four-poster, dark wood bed dressed in pink, pink walls and a pink swag hanging above the window, the bedroom of Lauren, age 15, is as pinkalicous as it gets.

An office overlooking the beautifully landscaped front yard completes the house and provides another space for Mom or Dad to escape from the kids, not something they usually do.

“Our kids are our life right now,” Ms. Nilsen said, explaining the full circle she’s been living.

“We met in high school,” she said of her and her husband. “He was at Severna Park, I was at Broadneck. We met at a party and we went to college kind of close together.”

As for her neighborhood, it wasn’t Ms. Nilsen’s first choice, but clearly she likes it, even if it does mean raking leaves.

“I do like it, but I’m a new home person,” she said. “A lot of the new neighborhoods don’t have the marina, the pool. I used to swear I would never move back into a community with all these oaks. It’s crazy raking and, of course, it’s me that always does it.”

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Donna L. Cole is a freelance writer living in the Annapolis area. If you’d like your home considered as a “Home of the Week,” e-mail her at writerdle@aol.com.