warm and cozy

snowy house
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

As all homeowners know, when you purchase a home, you also become the owner of a never-ending "to-do" list for your home. We are no different.

Parts of our list include major things that can wait for a while (new deck on the back of the house, patio doors from our bedroom leading to the new deck, finishing the basement, new flooring throughout the house). Other things are small and we're working on them ourselves (installation of dimmer switches in some rooms, unpacking of boxes, organizing of closets and shelving units).

Of course, there are a number of "medium sized" things that we need to get done. Some of these things we can do ourselves but many of them require a little more expertise than either Mark or I possess. For these things, we turn to professionals. Recently, we had a new humidifier unit installed on our furnace. Two weeks ago, we had four new windows installed in our basement. These types of things we leave to professionals who not only know what they're doing, but who will guarantee their work.

Today, I'm waiting for Pat, our handy-person, to arrive. A few weeks ago, we sat down with Pat and made a list of things that he's going to help us out with. I'm sure it'll take him at least a couple of days to get through the list which includes:

- new steps for the back deck (he has built these already and we'll be able to use them again when our new deck is constructed

- repairing some of the furnace duct work in the basement (the folks we bought the house from did it themselves and, let's just say it wasn't done properly)

- installing additional heat vents into our master bathroom and the kitchen (these areas are both in an addition to the house and we think that the previous owners used baseboard heaters to supplement the heat in these areas)

- installing ventilation fans in both our master bathroom and in our fish tank area

- mucking about with the insulation in the attic (I'm not 100% sure what he's doing but I know it's to do with the ventilation issue - Pat and Mark have it all figured out)

There are some other things too but off the top of my head, those are the main things. These aren't cosmetic things, rather they are functional things that need to be done to keep the house warm and cozy for the rest of the winter. We have a very good furnace but the heat isn't being properly distributed so we're getting that sorted out. It's not sexy but it is practical.

In the spring, if money permits (after all, we've had to pay for windows, furnace stuff and now this), we'll think about the deck issue. Right now, I'm just quite enjoying being the house, finally.

Last week, I rearranged the living room furniture, again. We also hung a bunch of photos in the living room and it's feeling really "homey."

Once I get my Christmas decorations put away, I'm planning to get seriously organized. I'm tired of seeing boxes piled up in the basement and in my office. For once and for all, I'd like to get things sorted out and put away (or chucked out). If I do it a little at time, by spring I should have it all done.

Of course, once that's done, I'll have found something else to work on, painting and such I'm sure (I'd like to paint our 2nd guest bedroom and the smaller bathroom) but for now, today, I'm just happy to be here, sipping my coffee and enjoying the house!