Hello, you homeowners!

We don't own a house, yet. But here are my questions:
1) What should we plant in the big bare space under the window in front of the house? It's on the west side of the house, shaded by the porch just to the south of it. It should be attractive, low-maintenance, and hard to kill.
2) What colors should we paint the interior? This is a whole new world for me. And it turns out that Cook and I disagree. He thinks that my orange-y-red kitchen plus yellow breakfast nook combination isn't very palatable. Help us not get divorced!
3) What do we really, really need to know?

Comments

az said…
I have found it helpful to keep track of stuff I am supposed to do semi-regularly but try to forget - cleaning gutters, checking fire alarms, replacing filters, etc. Also, it is very easy to just put stuff off like, say, painting a room or hanging photos. We may or may not still have blank walls almost 2 years later.
aimee said…
Dear lord. I don't even know. We're still overwhelmed by the house we bought in August, and its attendant repair.

I'm with az on the blank walls. Nothing is happening with that for at least another year!
s* said…
if we learned anything from owning a house, it's that it would have been better for us to not paint the walls immediately, but rather to live there a while and get smarter about paint than running out immediately to buy a rainbow to antidote the white walls we'd lived with for all our renting years.
oy.
also, the other thing we learned is that it makes no sense to at least me to plant landscaping plants that don't bear fruit/vegetables. fruit can be easy and low-maintenance, sort of. shade might make it hard, and i don't have any really good suggestions for actual plants. vegetables, on the other hand, are decidedly more time-consuming. if you can stand needing to water plants periodically, fruiting currants might be a great idea. Sunset Magazine's "Western Garden" book is an excellent resource for just this sort of question. hands down, one of the best housewarming presents we received.
Jemima said…
keep all receipts for home projects/repairs.

join angieslist.com. its always good to have a plumber, electrician and heating person to call. bc shit never breaks on monday at 8am. no, it breaks fri night before a long weekend. every time.

replace your roof before it leaks

get a handy friend to assess your home & tell you what needs to be done and in what order. for general maintennce and safety.

dont paint dark rooms in dark colors.

paint ceilings white.

annual tasks:
- furnace cleaning/maintenence
- gutters
- air filters (I have to do this in my oil furnace, dont know if its universal)
- vacuum behind fridge
- batteries in CO and fire detectors

occasionally:
- duct/vent cleaning (again, for oil, not sure if you need it for gas)

once:
- learn how to shut off furnace, flip back breakers

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