Home Improvements and Chatter

We have owned this place for about 5 years now and it was a new construction when we bought it.  We have been fortunate to not have to do anything major other than the repairs to the air conditioner, which was under warranty for parts.  However, we have decided it is time to do some updating on things.  We are picking on project a month to keep things manageable.

On my list are:

1. storm door added to front entrance
2. painting -- which will be a big job and we will have to hire someone to do it because of the open stairway.  The hospital bill if I fell from that high would be more than the cost of labor...lol.
3. a new stove -- the contractor put a cheap one in here and we have had nothing but trouble with it for the last year.  It does things like that 30 to 40 minutes to preheat, etc.  This is despite our attempts at repairing it.
4. a sleeper sofa -- since I don't want to give up my craft room for a guest room, we feel this is our best option.  I'm searching the local yard sale sites first, but if I dont find something I love, I will buy new as an investment piece.
5. new living room curtains -- I cannot decide if I will sew these or buy them
6. refinishing my dining table top -- I want to try my hand at this
7. having someone re-stretch the hallway carpet that seems to be wrinkling slightly
8. new wreath for the front entry
9. refinish the whicker dresser I keep by my recliner (it holds my current hand projects, my journal, etc.)
10. large multi photo frames for the living room -- I need two and so far I can only find black finish.  I want a deep brown.

Yesterday we had someone install a storm door for us.  The townhouse layout is one where the front door opens into a foyer and it always feels kind of dark in that area to me.  Allowing the natural light in during the morning, when the sun isn't shining on that side of the house is nice.  In the winter, I will open it to allow sun in in the afternoon.  So that is one thing off of our list.