Fall Home Checklist

Welcome, Fall! (A little late). Who else loves cleaning up in the fall and reorganizing? And I always love a good checklist. We are moving into a new house and busy cleaning, organizing and all that jazz. I've been behind on posting because of the move - but I'm back with a great checklist of things to do when Fall arrives so your prepared for the cooler days and longer nights.

We've been doing this stuff and a lot more over the last few weeks.

1.) Tidy up the entry area. This is were we keep shoes and bags that we are using. Since sports change with the seasons, it's a good time to put away the swim team gear and keep out the soccer gear. Or whatever your sport of the seasons might be.

2.) Unpack winter sheets and blankets. It always seems to sneak up on me - that time when one minute you need the A/C and the next you are looking for a warmer comforter. It's a good time to get out flannel sheets if you have them.

3.) Clear the heating vents of dust. This is a biggie for us because of Gus' asthma. We like to change our filters a fair amount and make sure the area that the air is coming out of is dust free. A quick vacuum of the vents is the easiest way to do this.

4.) Winterize your garden. This means different things for different areas - but for us it means making sure exposed pipes are covered and any trees that might get frost damaged get covered on the cold nights. It means more for places that get really cold.

5.) Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Test and replace batteries if needed. It's good to do this twice a year -- so put it on your Fall and Spring lists.

6.) Adjust your sprinklers. With the shorter days and cooler temperatures your grass needs less water from your sprinklers. Remember to turn them off completely when it's going to rain. Or invest in a smart controller that can do it all for you. (P.S. so many local water agencies and city water providers offer rebates for these if you are interested - check with them first.)

7.) Start your holiday gift list. It may seem early, but I'm buying gifts year round for people - so this is a good time for me to get that organized and concentrate on the people I still need ideas for. It gives me a few months to do my thinking and shopping and I feel less stressed.

8.) Pack up summer clothes and pull out the sweaters. It is hard to do this sometimes as the weather can really fluctuate from warm to cool. I just like to make sure my winter layers are easily accessible so when I need them - I don't have to go digging through storage. I probably don't get the summer clothes fully put away until the end of the month.

9.) Rake leaves and trim dead tree limbs. This keeps your yard healthy and it provides a great addition to your compost pile. You also want to make sure to get any widow makers down from the trees so that you don't have anything crashing down during a winter storm.

10.) Plant spring bulbs. I haven't done this before - but I am hoping to do it this year. It would be nice to have some color surprise us in springtime.

11.) Clean and restock bird feeders. Many birds have actually come to rely on birdfeeder food to help them through the winter. So if you enjoy seeing birds in your yard a feeder or two well help keep them around during the fall and winter.

12.) Start decorating! This is probably my favorite thing about this time of year. I start by decorating for Halloween and then I remove all the scary stuff but keep the Fall stuff for Thanksgiving. Then you get to take all that down and put up the Christmas lights. It's also probably my husbands least favorite thing about this time of year. But he does it for me.

What else do you do in the fall to prepare for the colder days and holidays? Share in the comments!

{I’m probably linking this post up at one of the awesome link parties that are hosted by some amazing blogs. Check them out!}