In our neck of the woods, Fall is finally here and the temperature is getting lower. With Fall decorations, pumpkin-flavored everything, and warm sweaters, it’s time to switch gears to be prepared and more fully able to enjoy the colder months.
Here are some things you can do to prepare your home and family for the Fall and Winter seasons.
1. Set the Mood
Put away all the Summer decorations and start bringing out Fall flair! I am not very skilled at decorating, but I do clean up my porch and add some mums and eventually pumpkins, along with a few other things. I also put up similar decorations in the house, bring out the Fall-scented candles, set out snuggly couch blankets, and let the kids put up window clings.
It’s also good to think ahead and prepare for rainy indoor days with the kids. Sprucing up your bookshelves and book baskets, keeping a good book rotation, and rotating toys is more helpful now than ever. I’m also working on some busy bags and a bucket list of games and activities we can do together when cabin fever hits or we just need a brain break from school.
2. Rotate the Clothes and Bedding
I keep thinks pretty simple in our home so there’s not a lot of fuss in this area, even though it takes a while with all the kids’ clothes to go through and put away. We bring out their heavier coats and sweaters and put away the lighter clothes, save a few for those random warm NW days. The master bed gets flannel sheets and heavier blankets.
2. Stock Supplies
Canning is in full swing this time of year, so many of us are busy with that! Beginning to stock up on food items while cleaning out the pantry and freezers is a good thing to do in the Fall, as well as setting up some basic emergency kits for home and travel.
3. Winterize the Home
- Consider checking/servicing furnaces, stoves, and fireplaces. Not only will it help prevent a problem in the middle of cold weather, but it is safer and can save you money!
- Reverse direction of ceiling fans. Many of them have a switch. One setting functions to cool down in summer and other other changes direction to help circulate warm air during colder months.
- Clean gutters and check roof. Clear out leaves a few times during the Fall and check for missing or loose pieces on the roof. One year the flashing in one area of our roof was loose and caused leaking into the kids’ room during a heavy rainfall! Not fun.
- Winterize windows. You can add caulking around doors and windows to prevent leakage, replace them or add double-paned windows, or make your own draft stoppers (or draft snakes).
4. Tend the Garden
- Rake and mulch leaves. As you clean up leaves, make them into piles and mow over them a few times to chop them up, then use them in compost bins or just spread them over gardens as a mulch.
- Harvest and mulch. Harvest the last of your summer crops and whatever won’t last the colder rainy Fall months. If you are going to leave a bed empty until Spring, plant cover crops or mulch with leaves and grass clippings.
- Plant a Fall garden. There is still time to plant! See this great article from Black Fox Homestead about planting you can do in September. You can also see my series on Fall gardening for more information.
More Resources:
- Beautiful Fall Decor on a Shoestring from The Dollar Stretcher
- Rainy Day Activities at Family Fitness at About.com
- Basic Fall Cleaning Checklist from Homemaker’s Challenge
- Organizing Your Entry for Cooler Weather from My Way Home
- Your Home’s Fall Checklist from Better Homes and Gardens
- How to Fix Drafty Windows at House Logic
- 20 Adorable DIY Draft Snakes Fight Chills at The Daily Green
What do you do to transition your home into Fall?
Tauna loves her family and loves God. She is a homeschooling mama that has been married for 8 years and has 4 young children. She writes about family, faith, homemaking and homeschooling. You can find her at ProverbialHomemaker.com, so named because, as she says, “me becoming a wife, mom, and homemaker proves that anything is possible with God.”
