It won’t be long at all until the leaves begin to change color and fall soon turns into winter. When it comes to springtime, the optimism that comes with lighter evenings and brighter mornings means that we have more motivation to clear our the cobwebs and junk from the previous year.
However, doing this in the fall is just as useful. Making time to look after your home and set things in order will ensure that your home is running as smoothly as possible during the time of year when we all get a little sluggish.
De-clutter
What starts out as a small pile of magazines or a few shirts slumped over a chair can end up turning into a pile of junk that we inevitably avoid tidying. Decluttering your home before the months get really cold and lethargic means your home will be in a good state for when you really need your home to be a sanctuary.
Having a tidy living room to spend time in, or a bathroom that is neat and organized will provide an ideal place to spend time in during the cold evenings. Here’s the best way to start de-cluttering your home:
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Return items to their proper storage containers or shelves. Keep an eye out for anything that has gone astray.
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Sort through items and decide whether they can be donated to charity.
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Recycle as many unwanted or unused items as you can.
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Be thorough: ask yourself whether you have any real attachment to the objects you are hanging onto.
Do a deep-clean
Mopping floors and vacuuming is important for a tidy home, but a deep clean helps to take your tidying to the next level. Running limescale remover and cleaner through your dishwasher and washing machine is a great place to start. Renting a professional grade carpet cleaner is another great way to get your rooms feeling like new.
Sorting your cleaning on a room-by-room basis will also help you to focus on what needs to be done. Here are a few examples:
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Kitchen: deep-clean the oven, empty the fridge and wipe it out, degrease the cooker hood and wipe down cupboards.
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Bathroom: clean the shower and tub, scrub the grout, wash bath mats, and wipe down tiles.
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Bedroom: wash the curtains and bedding, deep-clean pillows and duvets, dust the corners, re-arrange shelves, and wardrobes.
Have help on standby
Many people shudder to think of the possibility of their furnace going out during the winter period. Even worse is the possibility of pipes bursting in a cold snap. The last thing anyone wants on a cold evening is to be shoveling buckets of water from inside the house when the weather is starting to dip below zero. Searching “plumbing companies near me” online is one of the best ways to find a handyman that is local to you.
Protect your outdoor furniture
This can be one of the most heartbreaking phases of coming to terms with the approaching colder weather: it’s time to bring your outdoor furniture indoors. You will not only need to be realistic about whether you really will use it at all during the cold months but also be wary of furniture that could get damaged from the change of weather.
Wooden furniture, in particular, will not fare well in a cold, wet environment. Remember, too, to bring in any outdoor party equipment such as grills, small barbecues or decorations that might not survive the winter.
Clean out gutters
This is a task that many people forget about until it’s far too late. It’s a particularly important task if your home is sheltered by a large, non-evergreen tree. Getting your gutters cleaned out prevents any likelihood of overflowing – not a particularly urgent problem in the dry, summer months. Whether you do this yourself, or hire someone to do so, it’s a good idea to get it done before the rainy season hits.
The winter months are certainly much harder on our homes. Over the course of six months or so our abodes will feel the brunt of snow, rain, and wind. Preparing your home before winter is not just about keeping it tidy or presentable, either. It’s about preventing the worst from happening when the weather is hostile. Your home will only be able to bear the brunt of Mother Nature if you prepare it to do so.
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