Now is the perfect time to prepare a home inventory. It can help you when planning for replacement of furnishings and equipment, purchasing insurance, filing insurance claims, determining your net worth, planning your estate, and more.

If, like me, you’ve never created a home inventory it sounds like a pretty overwhelming task, doesn’t it? There’s good news – you’ll only have to do it once! In the future, you’ll just have to update your inventory when you purchase new and discard old possessions. If you’d rather hire someone to do an inventory for you, the National Association of Home Inventory Professionals can help you find a professional.

So, where to start?  You can take several different approaches to the inventory like going room-by-room, categorizing your possessions (electronics, furniture, appliances, etc.), newest to oldest, or most to least expensive.  Next, choose the method you’ll use to record all the information.  A simple notebook will suffice, or, you can download a worksheet, take photos, make a video, or even use a computer program.

Regardless of which method you choose, record information such as brand or manufacturer, date purchased, serial number, purchase price, and estimated replacement value.  You can also check with your insurance company to see what information they'll need about your property in the event you have to file a claim.  If you’re a receipt saver like me, now’s the time they’ll come in handy.

Record information about the following items:

• furniture, carpets, and drapes
• antiques, artwork and collectibles
• appliances
• clothing and other closet contents
• computer equipment and electronics
• musical instruments
• sports equipment
• garage, attic, and tool shed contents
• toys, books, and CDs
• silver and china
  
• jewelry and any other valuable items

Once you’ve completed the inventory, keep it in a safe place like a safety deposit box or a fireproof box.  It's a good idea to make a couple copies of the inventory and keep them in different locations. 

Post your stories about how having a home inventory (or not having one) affected your life.  They’ll help light a fire under me (and maybe others) to get one done!

When I was talking to some neighbors the other night, one of them mentioned that she composts and a light went off in my head. It sounded like a perfect solution for all our yard waste, banana peels, potato skins, apple cores and more. Composting will also give us the perfect fertilizer to put on our lawn, flowerbeds and garden in addition to reducing waste we put into the local landfill.

Composting is basically a way to turn yard and kitchen waste into a nutrient rich, organic material you can use to improve your soil.

How to get started:

1. Choose a location for a compost pile or bin.  If you choose to build or buy a bin be sure to install it 2 feet from any structure.
2. Start adding “brown and green” materials by beginning with 4 – 6 inches of brown materials like chopped up twigs or other coarse waste.  Then, add a green layer of scraps, lawn clippings, and leaves.  Alternate layers every 4 – 6 inches.  Remember that smaller pieces of material break down faster.
3. Now, its time for the bacteria and fungi to get to work.  Wait a week, and then turn your compost pile with a pitch fork or shovel.  As it breaks down the compost should have an earthy smell.  If your compost pile gets stinky something is probably off balance.  
   
4. Use your compost to fertilize flower beds, sprinkle it on your lawn or use compost “tea” to water house plants.

Materials you CAN compost (examples):

• Coffee grounds and filters
• Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
• Eggshells
• Fruits and vegetables
• Grass clippings and leaves
• Shredded newspaper
• Tea bags
• Yard trimmings

• Dairy products (e.g., butter, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, yogurt)
• Fats, grease, lard, or oils
• Meat or fish bones and scraps
• Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter)
• Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides

So, I’m sure that most of America is wondering how our painting went last weekend. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any done although my house is cleaner than it’s been in a very long time. Since, by the time Thanksgiving Eve rolled around all we wanted to do was veg out in front of the TV with some junk food we didn’t get furniture moved or take our planned final trip to the home improvement store Wednesday night. Then, Thursday morning, as we lolled around the house, we decided it would be so much easier to “just hire someone” to do the work for us.

Little did I know, “just hiring someone” is almost as much work as just doing it ourselves!

As far as I can tell, we’ll need to hire 3 separate contractors to help us complete the items on our checklist. One to replace our windows (we’ve still got the originals from the ‘40’s), one to fix our drywall (the last person did an AWFUL job), and one to paint. If we’re lucky, maybe the same person can fix the drywall and paint. Yay!

The first thing we'll need to do is find a few qualified companies to get bids from. I plan to start with:

• Yellow Pages,
• local newspapers, and
  
• radio stations.  

If, like us, you live in a larger metro area like DC, the Twin Cities, or San Francisco you have access to Consumers’ Checkbook, a great subscription service that rates and reviews local contractors. Another subscription service, Angie’s List, serves 124 communities in the U.S. and provides consumers with the opportunity to submit their experiences and also helps with resolving complaints. 

Of course, the tried and true “ask your neighbors” method also works well. 

We’re planning to start with the window replacement so once I find some qualified companies to do the work, I’ll ask at least 3 of them to submit bids. Stay tuned to see what happens. My husband and I are new to the home improvement game so I welcome any of your advice. Please leave tips in the comments!

I wouldn’t call myself a snow bunny.  In fact, I dread this time of year.  The bitterly cold walks to and from the metro, the howling wind, dressing in layers…I could just skip the next couple of months.  The only thing I really look forward to is the fashion.  Who doesn’t love a good pair of boots?

But as much as I would like to live in a tropical climate year-round, I must come to terms with Old Man Winter coming back into my life.  His unwelcome appearance means it’s time to get my home ready for the winter.  Thankfully, the ultimate home improvement guru Bob Vila has put together this handy home maintenance checklist.  There are plenty of great tips whether you live in a house, town home, or apartment.  Did you know a full fridge uses less energy than empty one?  Time to stock up!

With an average American spending $1,900 annually on energy bills and half of the energy going to heating and cooling your home, we can all take steps to reduce our energy use this winter, while still remaining comfortable.  Some things I try to do are change all my air filters before heating season begins, set back my thermostat when I’m away, use compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), power down my computer and other electronics, and open my shades during the day.

To help you get started, I’ve put together some of my favorite resources that give you easy ways to lower your energy bill and make a big difference in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

• Save Energy This Winter With Help From ENERGY STAR
• Energy Savers:  Tips for Saving Energy & Money at Home
• Federal Citizen Information Center’s Consumer Focus:  Heating Your Home-do-it-yourself tips, federal assistance programs, and safety concerns
• Sierra Club’s The Green Life:  On a Winter’s Day
• Consumer Reports: Save Hundreds on Energy Costs
• Treehugger.com:  How to Green Your Heating

Please share any tips that you have about how to winterize your home or lower your energy bill. 

This weekend, instead of traveling or shopping like crazy, we’ll be painting the bedrooms in our townhouse. I’m really excited to finish this project so I can focus on the other decorating and organizing that I’ve been putting off for about 6 months. Also, since I’m one of those people who can’t stand white walls, I’m doubly excited to paint! (I inherited this case of “white-wall-itis” from my mother…)

Although I’m excited to paint and do some other minor home improvement projects I’m also concerned about the quality of our indoor air, both since our townhouse is about 60 years old and because the Environmental Protection Agency reported that the air in America’s homes contains 2 to 5 times more volatile organic compounds (VOC) than the air outdoors.

Products like paint, carpet, building materials, cleaning products, and dry cleaned clothing all contain VOC’s which include chemicals like benzene (in glues, paints and furniture wax), methylene chloride (in paint strippers and aerosol paints), and perchloroethylene (in newly dry cleaned clothing). Obviously, products with lower levels of these chemicals are better for your health and home and they’re better for the environment, too, since they’re typically produced with more environmentally friendly processes.

Remembering back to how bad the fumes smelled after we painted in the spring led me to look into using low VOC paints this time since they release fewer dangerous and stinky fumes into the air. I think they’re a little more expensive but the difference in price is definitely worth the added comfort and peace of mind.