I love my house, no secret about it. It's such a great little house, just perfect for me.
But that doesn't mean it's perfect. It has a few flaws, for sure.
One is that the garage is not attached to the house. I have never ever understood why people would build a garage in the snowy northeast and not attach it to the house.
Another flaw is that there is no proper entry. When visitors come to the house, they are not really sure where to go. I usually stand out on the deck waving people up the garden steps and in through the kitchen door.
Through the long months of waiting to close on my house I thought of many ways I wanted to improve my home. Things I had always dreamed of having in my home like a sunroom, a proper foyer, a greenhouse, a beautiful entry. A screened porch and/or a covered porch.
I looked into adding a sunroom or four-season room to my house, with a doorway from the living room. The price was crazy, I couldn't justify it.
I tried to figure out how to make a proper entry in my living room using furniture - a bench, a hall tree, something.
But it's just too awkward.
And then one day the light-bulb went on over my head.
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Bingo - an enclosed breezeway between the garage and the house that would serve as the formal entry, the foyer, a small sunroom, and a bit of a greenhouse for all the plants I would like to overwinter.
It would have French doors that open onto my stone patio that is in between my house and garage. It would be like a secret garden back there!
It would need to be a multi-purpose space. It will give me the coat closet and proper entry/foyer I am lacking. It will serve as my sunroom/greenhouse in the winter months and my covered porch/screened porch in the summer months.
It needs to be big enough for a small table and chairs and have a source of heat as well as a ceiling fan.
I need to be able to sit there with my coffee in the mornings and my wine in the evenings.
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And the dream was born.
My contractor and I have discussed options on how to make it work best, given the tight space we are working within.
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We have tossed around ideas for months now.
I originally wanted it finished before the first snowfall. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a proper place to take off my boots and coat when I get home other than in the kitchen doorway?
When it came to October and my contractor was still finishing up the many other projects we took on, it was determined it needed to wait until spring.
I thought the Gods were stepping in and telling me to take a break. Six months of continuous construction and projects was a long time - it would be nice to have my house to myself for a little while.
And I also thought, let me live through the first winter in my new house and see how it goes.
How icy will the steps get leading down from the kitchen entrance to the garage door?
How hard will it be lugging firewood up those wooden steps and in through the kitchen?
How messy will things be when we are tracking snow into the house every single day?
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Well, our winter got off to a slow start but now it seems to be here to stay.
And although my daughters carry the firewood in from the garage I'm constantly telling them to kick off their snowy shoes by the kitchen door before they track snow and salt all over my house. It's a continuous battle.
The pups also bring in the snow on their little paws. My wood floors are a mess of little footprints constantly.
The treads I added to the kitchen steps do help with traction, but we still have to be extremely cautious.
And I absolutely hate not having a place to come in, take off my shoes and hang up my coat.
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So, the wheels are spinning again.
Too bad I didn't hit the Powerball. That would have made this a no-brainer.
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