I am new to this homeowner status. Mostly, I am getting used to all this space that is now ours to maintain. My husband, Tim, and I have settled into our new house fairly easily. We are enjoying meshing his things with mine and having the space we need to have all our belongings together.
After the first couple weeks of moving, we had things set up so we could live comfortably but not all of our boxes were unpacked. However, Tim and I reached a point where we had things stored out of the way to be unpacked slowly. My past goal of unpacking a box a day lasted for about a week before my busy summer schedule kicked in full force.
As our summer craziness has lulled, Tim and I took advantage of a weekend at home to get as much done as we were able.
Tim wanted to get the garage cleared out so he could begin organizing his tools. We had stacked boxes to the front of the garage, getting them out of the way and still leaving us room for our cars. I am happy to report we accomplished our goal. My biggest part in this was to organize our storage closet more efficiently. Having the under the stairs compartment was wonderful to tuck things away to be “out of sight, out of mind,” but it was far from usable. If we had needed anything, we would have had to take everything out to find it. So, I worked on that while Tim worked on the boxes.
Most of what was unpacked were decorations for Tim’s “man cave” in the basement. He has a wide array of fishing, pheasant and deer antler themed decor that fit perfectly in his space. It was nice Tim was able to find a place for everything.
He has also been wanting to work on his 1992 Chevy Silverado to get that back in running condition. It is one of his many vehicle projects he has on his radar, and with the garage all set up, he was itching to get started. I gave him the “OK” to get that done while I still worked in the house, not that he needed my permission. It was more of a game plan.
The only room that really needed attention was our second guest bedroom. We used it as a “staging area” for many things while bringing items into our house. With Tim’s decorations lining the walls of the basement, I was motivated to find and hang decor in our living room.
I had put up a few random pieces, mostly gifts from our wedding or the bridal shower, but I wanted to add our photos to bring life into the house. It doesn’t hurt. I cleared the main area of the bedroom so should we have more than one house guest, a second bed would be available to them. With a small one-bedroom apartment, these concerns were never on our radar.
As Tim and I get more settled in, we are beginning to prioritize our home improvement projects. Here is where my novice status to in the homeowner realm shows the most. I didn’t have to worry about such things in an apartment. We have it narrowed down to three: deck renovation, new gutters and fencing in the backyard. As you can tell, Tim and I want to focus on a few outside projects first.
We got an estimate on a new gutter system last week. Next we will have to price the other two projects and then figure out which one fits into our budget first. Tim and I have our work cut out for us, but we are so ready to make this home ours for many years to come.
Contact Pam Pratt at
pampratt@newtondailynews.com