Getting your home ready for the holidays

For many, myself included, the upcoming holidays mean decorating, cleaning, shopping and entertaining. But the festive season can also motivate people to tackle maintenance and decor tasks before family and friends come to visit (read up on how to create the perfect guest room here).

In last week's poll, 13 per cent of Yourhome readers said they planned to complete some repairs around the house before the holidays, while 32 per cent said they aim to complete renovations and an ambitious 10 per cent said they would be doing both. The remaining 45 per cent said they have no pre-holiday home improvement plans.

Personally, I'll be doing some repairs —  fixing things like my drippy sink, which probably should be done anyway — before I go away for the holidays, but I'll be saving any painting or other work for a less stressful time of year.

For inspiration on working to a deadline, check out our Room For Improvement series, where writer Denise Holtby and her husband are documenting their efforts to complete a full bathroom renovation in two months.

And, be sure to vote in this week's poll, which asks when you start decorating for the holidays. Do you take a cue from the shops and pin up your holly besides ghouls and goblins? Or do you wait for December to polish up the ornaments?

Pets in the home

I love my pet bunny Allistair. He looks like a little cow and loves watching TV with me. My husband and I rescued him three-and-a-half years ago, and have since outfitted him with cages, flown him back and forth between Halifax and Toronto and even have enlisted help from bunny sitters on occasion to help keep him happy. But, having a pet doesn't help much in terms of cleanliness.

His adorable black and white colouring also means that his hair - and there is a lot of it - shows up on almost every surface.

The sawdust that makes his bedding spills out of his cage and gets tracked across the floor, leaving obvious signals to all visitors that a pet lives here.

And, let's not forget the chewing. Bunnies love to chew and throw things. If there's a cellphone, remote or cord hanging around in his view, he goes running for it. More than once, I've picked up the phone to find the signal dead, only to realize that Al had put his teeth to work on it once again. And, let's not forget the fateful visit to my parent's home, shortly after they completed renovations, when Al decided the newly painted baseboards looked like a good snack.

Keeping a clean home and a happy bunny means a lot of days chasing around the apartment with a hand vac, a swiffer and doing laundry whenever we pick him up. It also means diligent babysitting when he's running around, in order to keep that dial tone going.

What do you do to help keep a clean home and a happy pet?

Sofa shopping

I have spent much of my time over the last two weeks sitting on my butt. No - I'm not just being lazy (though since the mercury dropped a few degrees, an evening in with a movie and hot chocolate is heavenly), I've been engaged in that terrible experience of hunting for a new sofa.

A new sofa was a key part of my "Newlywed nesting" plan to make my apartment into a comfortable, happy and organized space in time for Christmas.

We've been making do with a schlumpy futon that creaks and groans whenever you sit on it, but as the pile of nuts and bolts falling to the floor grew, I started to fear for the safety of those guests brave enough to opt for it over the much safer, and more comfortable, floor.

So, I started doing intensive research, going into shops, measuring, asking questions about durability, warranties and delivery times. Once my mind was clear on what I wanted - a tuxedo-style in slate microfibre with block legs and tight, clean tailoring - I took my husband out to test drive them.

What started off as a one day expedition dragged out over weeks and weeks. We sat on sofa after sofa, some unbelievably ugly, others so uncomfortable that we couldn't bear them for five minutes in the store.

The sweet condo-sized sofas I had picked out made my husband - who is a fairly tall guy - look like a very uncomfortable giant.

The tall and lumpy, cottage-style sofas he gravitated towards offended my inner design diva and made me feel like a four-year-old as my feet dangled high above the showroom floor.

We reached a breaking point when my husband pointed out an enormous - far too large for our living room - beast with overstuffed cushions, loose fabric and an unfortunate choice of rope-style trim (unless you're into that nautical stuff, in which case, anchors aweigh for you!). It was like a beacon to all the despondent sofa shoppers, saying, "Just give in. I'm in stock and can end this horrible search for you."

Worse yet, I sat on it and, after all those bouncy, cute chesterfields, it was like sitting on a cloud. We even discussed purchasing it, just to get it over with. Luckily, I came to my senses and called it quits, saying, "We're not going to find a sofa today. Let's go shop for shoes."

Weeks passed and I kept hunting, looking for that perfect blend of comfort and style. A few options arose, but they either had delivery dates in the three months plus range or seriously broke our modest budget.

Finally, we had a breakthrough with West Elm's Goodwin, shown. It was not the chic slate grey option I had once imagined, but its mocha fibre, low arms and comfortable seating was enough to win both our hearts.

We're pleased to say it's now sitting in our living room - complemented by a divine selection of bright green pillows. It better weather the next few trends well. I have no intention of searching for another sofa anytime soon.

How's this for a space saver?

Lately, I've been struggling to find a place in my apartment where I could set up a second desk. The whole husband-wife sharing thing has been stretched to its limit while my computer has been in the shop, and it's time for me to carve out a niche away from my husband's office space.

Our guest bedroom/office/box and storage room will not fit a second desk. Which means I've been roaming the hallways with a measuring tape, looking for a corner to stow a desk for my soon-to-be-repaired laptop and a stack of home decor catalogues, magazines and books. The only acceptable space seems to be in my bedroom, and I worry about having to stare at my work while trying to go to sleep at night.

But, if I had this nifty room in a box - called Kenchikukagu - from Toshihiko Suzuki, I wouldn't be shopping for screens. They offer a kitchen, guest room and office.

Best of all, it only takes up space when you're using it! When you're done that article/meal/good night's sleep, you simply fold it back into it's handy storage box and tuck it into a corner or closet - what more could you ask for?

I stumbled across this Japanese company's "Architectural Furniture" - and the must-watch video - via the ISO50 blog - which also, incidentally, thought these rooms were super keen.

Obviously I'm keen on the office, because it would solve my current dilemma. The guest room would come in super handy for more than a few of my friends, and the kitchen is just too cool not to mention - can you imagine what you could do with all that extra space previously occupied by full-sized, fixed countertops?

The rooms are available on Amazon's Japanese site - but they're not cheap at 800,000 Japanese yen, or just over $9,700 Canadian.

Would you buy a haunted house?

Our Oct. 25 story on the family driven out of their Meaford home by inexplicable events garnered a lot of attention - and inspired last week's poll question, which asked readers if they would purchase a home connected to stories of ghosts, hauntings or other unexplained happenings.

The majority of readers - at 61 per cent - said no, while 26 per cent said they would and 13 per cent said they would consider the purchase.

Of course, this question assumes prior knowledge. As we learned from Bob Aaron's column, it's buyer beware when dealing with stigmatized real estate.

Personally, I think I would have difficulty buying a home connected to such stories - if I knew about it.

Living in older homes in both Halifax and Toronto, I'm accustomed to creaks and weird noises, and am not concerned by the fact that people have likely died in them. But I don't know any details, and I like it that way.

Being aware of a murder in the home or hearing stories of strange events would create a whole different situation. I would end up questioning every creak - has someone broken in? What's that noise? - and it would just create a very uncomfortable living situation.

Whether the stories had any truth to them or not, the power of suggestion would wreak havoc on me on nights at home alone.

And, in the case of weird occurences, like slamming doors and power outages, the practical side of me would also ask whether there are structural or wiring issues causing the problems, which could be expensive to fix.

So, even with a good deal, I'm not sure if I could handle the purchase of stigmatized real estate - mentally, emotionally or financially.