5 Steps To Prepare Your Home for Fall

As the months go by and you feel the summer heat dissipate, the kids return to school and the fall season is in full swing. While it is fun to watch the leaves change as you anticipate the holidays, this is also a time when you can make some changes around the house and prepare for the cooler months to come. 

From making sustainable repairs to reorganizing your closet, there is a lot you can do to get ready. Here are five great steps to consider for an autumn-ready home.

1. Be Proactive About Pests

The funny thing about rodents and insects is that they are more like us than we realize. Many of them get dehydrated and most don’t like to be cold, so they will try to find a way into your house to stay warm during the fall season. It is essential that you are proactive to avoid the threat of pests, especially rodents. In addition to being annoying, a rodent infestation can be harmful to your health.

If mice and rats are able to get into your cabinets and food supply, then they can leave droppings and saliva in their wake. If they do and you make contact, then you can potentially come down with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome — a respiratory disease that has a mortality rate of 38%. Needless to say, you need to begin taking steps to prevent pests. Start by bringing in a pest control specialist to spray and tell you about any trouble areas. Then, make sure to seal all of your food in secure containers. Also, clean up any leaks in your plumbing as insects can congregate there for water.

2. Increase Efficiency Around the Home

When the cooler months come around, and you start turning on the heat so your family can stay warm and cozy, you will want to take the proper precautions to ensure that you are not wasting energy. To do so, consider implementing some budget-friendly, sustainable home upgrades and repairs. 

For instance, it is a good idea to apply weatherstripping to the perimeter of your doors and windows because doing so will eliminate the possibility that your heat can seep out through those spaces. Also, switch out your incandescent lighting for LED bulbs that not only last longer but will also provide more vivid light during those autumn nights.

3. Install a Smart Thermostat

Another way to fight wasted energy is to install a smart thermostat. While it is important to be warm during evenings and weekends when everyone is in the house, you don’t need to keep the temperature at the same level when you’re not at home. During the colder months, the best temperature to set your thermostat is between 68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit while you are at home. When you are away, you can lower it closer to 65 degrees so the heater doesn’t turn on as often to heat an empty house — and it’s not cold enough to freeze the pipes.

Since it can be difficult to remember to change the temperature every time you leave or come home, you can invest in a smart thermostat. You only need to program this device once, and then it will change the heat at those pre-set intervals so you can stay warm and also reduce your utility bills.

4. Check Out Your Roof and Gutters

Next, you should get out your ladder and take a trip up to protect the roof for the stormy season ahead. The fall and winter months can bring a higher chance of rain, snow, and storms, so it is a good idea to check out your roof and make sure that there are not any leaks or missing shingles that could lead to issues down the road. If you don’t know a lot about roof maintenance, then contact a professional.

This is also a good time to clean out your gutters. Since more leaves will be falling during autumn and many will be landing in your gutters, you will want to ensure that you don’t have a buildup of debris that will make your problem worse. If rainwater cannot travel freely through your gutters and downspouts then they could overflow, and the falling water could ruin your yard and the foundation of your home.

5. Get Organized

The fall season is also a great time to organize and clear the clutter from your home. You likely have a lot of stuff sitting around from your summer adventures, and it is time to put everything back in its place. In addition to being unsightly, a mess at home can also exacerbate depression symptoms and leave you feeling mentally drained because, subconsciously, we feel like we are losing control of our environment. Since you don’t want to feel that way as we head into the holiday season, find a place for everything and use a creative storage solution like an ottoman in the living room if necessary.

While you are getting organized and moving belongings, this is also a good time to rotate your warm and cold weather clothes. Put all of your summer wear away in storage or hang it up in your closet and bring out the pants, sweaters, and long-sleeved shirts. That way, you are ready when the cooler weather approaches.

As you can see, there are many steps that you can take today to prepare for the arrival of fall. Consider these tips, and you can take some stress off of your plate as the new season draws near.

Tips For Storing Bedding In Your Home

Bedding can be one of the most difficult things to store in your home, as it can take up so much space! However, we’re here with a few simple hacks to help you get your bedding more organised and easy to manage. 

Use Vacuum Pack Bags

Our first tip for storing bedding in your home is to use vacuum pack bags! This is one of the best tips we can give you, as it is a super affordable way to make the most of the space you already have. 

You can get vacuum pack bags from most home stores, and also online. All you need to do is unzip the bag, place all of your bedding inside (this works particularly well for things like duvets and pillows you don’t use all the time), then you attach your vacuum onto the opening on the side, suck all of the air out to really squish the bedding down, and then reseal it. 

Your bedding will literally halve in size (if not more), so you will have so much more space in your cupboards. Plus, it’s much more manageable to find what you need and easily take it out of your storage. This is also great for out of season clothing that you don’t need in your wardrobe all year round. 

Store Your Whole Set of Bedding In One Pillowcase

Another great tip to help you keep all of your matching bedding in one place is to put all of it in one pillowcase. Fold up your duvet cover, fitted bed sheets and all but one of your pillow cases, then place them neatly into the last pillow case. 

When you next go to change your bed, there will be no digging through all of your bedding to find everything that matches, as you can simply pick it up and have everything in one place!

This also makes the actual storage look so much neater, as you can have everything piled up in one place rather than bits and pieces hanging out. 

Get An Ottoman 

Our last tip to help you keep everything in one place whilst also adding a unique design detail to your bedroom is to get an ottoman! This can sit at the bottom of your bed and all of your bedding can go into there, so it’s all easy to access and right by your bed for when you need to make it, or it will be easy to grab if you are having people round for a party. It is also a really neat storage solution. 

You can get organisers for your ottoman as well, so you can separate it into sections so that everything is easy to access. There are endless amounts of ottomans out there to choose from so you can choose something that will perfectly fit your aesthetic. 

3 Ways To Enjoy Your Outdoor Space This Fall

As fall approaches, the weather will start to get cooler and crisp. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying your time outside. You can have fun being outside all season long with the right tips and tricks. Here are three ways to enjoy your outdoor space this fall.

Incorporate a Heating Element

The first helpful tip for enjoying your outdoor space this fall season is to incorporate a heating element. As summer begins to disappear and the weather grows colder, you’ll want a way to stay warm while you sit in your backyard. There are a number of ways you can make your outdoor area warm and cozy for the fall. For example, you can add a fire pit to your backyard for some warmth, or you can put an outdoor space heater on your deck or porch. These heating elements are especially nice if you plan on having guests over.

Use Outdoor Lighting

Using outdoor lighting is another great way to make use of your outdoor space during the fall. We experience a decrease in daylight hours throughout the fall and winter months. The sun sets a bit earlier each day, and we get less of that beautiful sunlight to illuminate our evenings. With the help of a strategic outdoor lighting design, you can still enjoy your outdoor space to the fullest, even as it gets darker out earlier. If you love having family and friends over to sit out on the porch or patio, you can add some charming string lights to incorporate brightness to your space. There are all kinds of outdoor deck lighting tips to enhance your space, so consider them as fall comes around.

Make the Most of Blankets

The third way to appreciate your outdoor space in the fall is by making the most of blankets. Blankets will be your best friend in the colder months of the year. There’s no reason you have to stop enjoying your backyard just because the temperature drops a few degrees. You can still sit out on the deck and enjoy a meal, drink, or conversation with friends if you wrap up in a cozy blanket. You can lay some blankets out on your outdoor furniture for everyone to use. If you have a fire pit, you can also lay blankets down so that you can sit around the fire and tell stories or roast s’mores.

Now that you have three tips for enjoying your outdoor space in the fall, you can use these ideas at home today. If you incorporate these helpful tips, you will be able to create a cozy backyard getaway for yourself this season.

How Clutter Can Affect Your Mental Health

Yes, we know, you'll clean up the mess in your room in a second. As you've been doing all this time, right? Don't worry; we're not here to judge. We solemnly swear - we've all been guilty of leaving clutter in our living spaces for a long time, at least once. Sometimes, just the pace of life gets too quick to keep up, and something has to suffer (like the aesthetics of your living room). But did you know that clutter can affect your mental health? It may seem harmless at first glance, but there are some adverse effects you should be aware of.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today

People wiser than us said this, and we can't agree more. Procrastination is a vicious circle you don't want to get in. When you put off cleaning, you'll put off studying, for example. Once you find yourself on that train, it's hard to get off. According to research, individuals who live in untidy houses are more likely to put off doing crucial activities. It's possible that to pay the bills, you'll have to search through mountains of paperwork. Or, you'll have so many stacked-up piles of filthy clothing that doing the washing will seem like an insurmountable task.

You'll be less productive

If you're not a fan of cleaning and decluttering - it's understandable. But, you might want to change that point of view. If we take a closer look at the bare cells of your endocranium, we'll see that they're all put together in a way that allows you to do multiple things at once. Without that kind of architecture, you wouldn't be able to listen to the radio while you drive, for example. But that ability is not without its limits.

Take care of your working capacity

There is a limited amount of things your brain can process at once. That is a protective mechanism to avoid overstimulation with all the triggers in your surroundings. But, if you keep clutter in your sight, you're distracting your brain with unimportant stimuli that take over its working capacity. That's why it will take you more to accomplish a simple task that wouldn't be a problem if you were in a clean and decluttered space.

It will stress you out

Even though you might be able to convince yourself on a conscious level that it doesn't bother you, clutter will bug your unconscious self until you make a fair attempt to solve it. Too many stimuli in the space supposed to be relaxing and comforting will increase your cortisol levels through the roof. This vital but sneaky hormone will make you feel that silent anxiety daily, even when you're far away from home. You won't feel like coming back only to find a cluttered environment. And even after decluttering, there might still be that bitter taste of cortisol that will make you fill on alert.

The good thing is that you can do something about it. The answer is meditation. It can help in many situations, including dealing with emotions after rehab. You might not know it, but meditation is a great way of controlling this problem and many other anxiety-inducing situations. Calm and peace you can achieve, and complete unity with yourself can help you regain total control of your emotions in difficult times. This can be life-saving in unique situations, such as returning from rehab and starting your life over.

Clutter can affect your mental health on a memory level

Have you noticed how you forget your keys more easily in a messy kitchen? When the clutter is outside you, it's in your brain simultaneously. The brain is the most sensitive receptive thing in your body. If you get too much junk in it, you won't have the space to receive new, important information. And that received is the start of the mechanism and cascade of analyzing, storing, and reproducing crucial stimuli. In other words, your memory will be fairly compromised by the cluttered space you live in. 

It can be harder to turn a new leaf

Have you heard an inspirational speech by a US Navy Amiral, Wiliam McRaven, when he said: ''If you want to change the world, start by making your bed?" This is a mantra to live by if you want to do something good about your habit of leaving clutter all around. It's crucial if you're going through a significant change in your life and you need to take a step further in the right direction. Cluttering is an addiction in a way. So, take three golden pieces of advice from experts in addiction treatment and recovery at Bright Futures Treatment Center Florida and:

1. start decluttering little by little

2. don't beat yourself up

3. star decluttering now

The sense of achievement is important

It may seem simple, but small victories win the war. When you do something nice and turn a new leaf into such a simple habit as cleaning and decluttering, you'll feel a sense of achievement that will help you battle more serious issues and demons. So, making a safe and organized environment can help you in the process.

Final thoughts

A simple everyday task like decluttering does not get enough attention in our efforts to improve our mental health. Getting junk out of your living space can influence the overall clarity of your mind. It doesn't have to be a task worthy of being called a spring cleaning. Taking baby steps will be just fine. It will do the trick and help you keep repeating it until you make it a good habit. Now that you know that clutter can affect your mental health, we hope you'll consider making a few steps toward becoming regular in cleaning and decluttering. Keep it up; we're rooting for you!