The air is crisp, the days are getting shorter and the leaves are just beginning their transformation to vibrant colors before they fall to the ground. These are signs that fall is here. It’s a time to enjoy the last vestiges of warm weather and attend football games, bon fires, and hayrides before we retreat to our homes to wait out the winter months. It’s also a reminder to make some changes in our living spaces in preparation for this seasonal change.
The lists below are examples of some of the things that need to be done. Tailor these lists to your specific situation and let us know what you do to prepare for fall in the comments section below.
Working through these tasks doesn’t have to be a daunting endeavor, if you pace yourself and do a little at a time. Get the whole family involved to make memories as you go! And remember, if you schedule these tasks in your planner, you are more likely to get them all done so you can truly enjoy this fabulous time of the year!
Outdoors
• Trimming – Perform a final trimming for the year on all bushes and shrubs that have gotten shaggy. Also trim away ground cover that is creeping onto driveways, sidewalks and patios.
• Lawn care – Perform aeration, fertilizing and put down more grass seed.
• Patio furniture and garden decorations – Put away all garden decorations and cover patio furniture.
• Fall planting – Now is the time to plant bulbs for next years blooms. Chrysanthemums are a popular fall flower for in-ground planting or to put in planters.
• Hummingbird feeders – If you feed these fascinating little birds, take down their feeders, give them a thorough cleaning, and put them away when you don’t see them coming to the feeder any longer.
• Pumpkins – Select your pumpkin from a local farm to carve for Halloween!
• Decorations – Put out seasonal decorations, first fall, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving.
• Garage – This is a good time to clean and organize the garage before it gets too cold. Take everything out, sort, and discard broken items and donate unused items or items you no longer want to keep. When you put the keepers back, you will be amazed at how much more space you have now.
Indoors
• Decorations – Put out seasonal decorations, first fall, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving.
• Costumes – If you have little ones, or if you are dressing up for Halloween for a party, or just because, determine what everyone will wear for costumes. Begin shopping for costumes, or if you sew, or are creative, start putting together homemade costumes.
• Seasonal clothing – If you have the room and rotate seasonal clothing items, now is the time to switch from summer to fall/winter clothing.
• Clothing donations – As you rotate seasonal clothing items, this is a good time to weed out the items that don’t fit, you don’t wear or no longer love. Donate them to your favorite charity.
• Furnace maintenance – Change out furnace filters depending on the longevity of the filters you use. Some are good for 3 months, others just 1 month. Putting the due date on the filter is a good reminder. It’s also a good time to have your furnace checked and cleaned to ensure proper function for the winter months.
• Time change – Mark your calendars if they aren’t already, for November 2nd. This is the day that daylight savings time ends. Fire departments also recommend that you change the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Both types of detectors should be tested weekly.
• Water heaters – If you turn down the temperature on your water heater in the spring, now is the time to turn it back up.
