Couched!

Furniture shopping is HARD. Like, geometry hard.

One of the things I love about my house is that it has a finished basement. We were super-hyped about this because it allows us to have more of a gathering room upstairs and then an entertainment room downstairs. (I refuse to call it a "Formal Living Room" because it's anything but formal.) However, I only owned one couch prior to buying the house, so we were completely lacking furniture for our entertainment room. Currently, there's just an unwatched TV surrounded by stuff we haven't unpacked yet.

So couch shopping was in order! We started the process a few months ago, thinking we'd have everything already unpacked and set up. Hahahahaha! *wipes tear from eye* From the start, I wanted either a couch with an attached chaise, or some kind of sectional.

Anyhow, our first stop was Crate & Barrel. They have lots of lovely sofas that aren't gigantic. This is important because we have a real size restriction on what will fit down our stairs. 1910 Victorians are not known for their roomy stairways and corners.

Our first selection was the City sectional. It came apart in all the right places to fit down the stairs, and it was comfortable, but ultimately I didn't feel it was right. I really wanted something with arms on the side (photo via http://www.crateandbarrel.com/):

So we continued our search. The next selection, the Sidecar sectional, also came from Crate & Barrel. I loved the fabric on this one, and it had arms just like I wanted. The downside? There was no way the long piece would EVER fit down our stairs. We even built a mock-up to try. (Photo via http://www.crateandbarrel.com/)

At this point we'd scoured Crate & Barrel so hard we left scuff marks. Obviously, our couch was not coming from there. So we trekked over to another great store, Room and Board. They had lots of great options! I was letting go of the sectional idea, but I still really wanted a chaise. That allowed us to immediately write off anything that was just a plain sofa. We walked the store a few times, sitting on almost everything. But the clear winner had greeted us as we walked in the door: The Reese (via http://www.roomandboard.com/):

It had a chaise. It had a good style. It was comfortable. It would fit down the stairs. And we could customize it with any fabric in the store!

We picked the Teton Ink. It's really hard to tell on the screen, but there are lots of blues and tans, which would stand out in our basement! Because of the custom fabric, it will take about eight weeks before we get it. But that will give us plenty of time to finish unpacking the basement....

Trying to Stay Warm

Preparing a home is slow-going, I'm learning. Unpacking, setting up, decorating...all of these things take a lot of time. For instance, we just hung a little bit of artwork two weeks ago, and there are still many rooms to go. All of these details take a certain education, and mine is coming fast and furious. But perhaps the thing that takes the most time and learning? Upkeep.

I'm very lucky in that my boyfriend, Ian, lives with me and is quite handy. We've had to make a lot of fixes and upgrades to the house so far since the prior owner, a guy who flipped the house just to sell it, took a lot of shortcuts. Grout sealer had to be added, closet bars needed to be reinforced, and drain pipes needed to be secured, just to name a few. Actually, we've (not so) lovingly started referring to the prior owner and his contractor as "the goons." But this is just the little stuff! I've already had all the gutters replaced, and just a mere two weeks ago...our furnace stopped working. We found a repairman who got it up and running again, but it could go out at anytime, meaning we need a new one.

So remember what I said about an education? I had to get one, FAST. How do you shop for a furnace? What brands are good? How do you locate a reliable company? And, of course, how much is this gonna cost me? I barely slept for two nights trying to wrap my brain around all of this. After checking with our parents on who they suggested we call, we set up three appointments: Home Depot, Costco, and a smaller, local company. And after all three were said and done, Costco came out the winner.

Here's what I learned:
- There are furnaces available now that are as high as 98% efficient. Compared to the 80% efficient furnace of 20 years ago, this is impressive.
- A 98% efficient furnace will pay for itself in five years.
- If I buy the 98% furnace, Costco will sell me a new AC unit at 50% the regular price. Considering that my current AC unit is in just as bad shape as the furnace, this is a no brainer.
- My AC unit is breaking code in its current location and will have to be moved.
- Costco will throw in a free modulating, electronic thermostat.

Next on my list is to schedule up the install and reap the warm rewards!

Four Walls of my Own

I turned 30 this year. I didn't expect it to be the year of big events, but it was.

I bought a house:



I'm no longer a renter. I'm a homeowner. It has a nice taste, and I like to say it. Homeowner. Try it. Feels good, yes?

My parents divorced when I was five, and I lived with my mother the rest of my years until I went to college. We moved more times than you'd want to count. The only place I really called home was my dad's home (that was sold and demolished after I went to college). I never really figured I would be in a place where I could buy my own home. Well, after investigating the all-time low interest rates and seeing that a mortgage would actually be less-expensive than a "luxury apartment," I took the plunge. Suddenly, my little savings account that I'd been working on for a number of years was about to buy me four, independent walls of my very own!

I wake up happy every day in my 100 year old gem.