10 Feel-Good Household Tasks for Fall
Scrub, organize and inspect now to sail through the holidays with a light heart and a clean conscience
Tiffany Carboni
September 20, 2013
Houzz Contributor. I am a home design writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Houzz Contributor. I am a home design writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.... More
With cooler weather and the holiday season in sight, early fall is a great time for taking stock of household areas in need of a little TLC. Here are 10 home features you'll feel good about cleaning and/or organizing early in the season (while time is on your side), in anticipation of those longer nights and home parties.
1. Clean cabinet drawer and door fronts. Cabinets take their fair share of abuse, with all the splatters they collect daily. If yours have raised decorative panels, dust is also guaranteed to join the mess. Even though we may overlook dirt and grime on our own cabinets, guests are sure to notice. Wipe the fronts down with a mild cleanser suitable to your cabinetry's finish.
Tip: Cotton swabs make wonderful cleaning tools for crevices.
Tip: Cotton swabs make wonderful cleaning tools for crevices.
2. Launder pet bedding. If your family spent any part of the summer enjoying the great outdoors, the evidence is probably all over (and inside) your pet's bedding.
Clean slipcovers and pillows according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Continue to use a pest repellant to ward off unwelcome bugs. Rosemary, lavender, lemon and cedar oils in spray form offer natural protection and have a wonderful aroma.
Clean slipcovers and pillows according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Continue to use a pest repellant to ward off unwelcome bugs. Rosemary, lavender, lemon and cedar oils in spray form offer natural protection and have a wonderful aroma.
3. Edit your cookbook collection. If your bookshelves are packed too tightly, it will be hard find the holiday recipes you want. Pare down your library by photocopying your favorite recipes. Add them to a designated binder or upload them to a laptop or tablet.
Donate books you don't need to charity or give favorite ones to someone who is trying to build up a collection.
Why Your Kitchen Wants Its Own iPad
Donate books you don't need to charity or give favorite ones to someone who is trying to build up a collection.
Why Your Kitchen Wants Its Own iPad
4. Freshen up baseboards. Just like cabinets, baseboards get beaten up. Wiping down baseboards may be all you need to feel good about inviting guests inside your home. For high-traffic areas, however, paint touchups will restore baseboards to their original beauty.
5. Dispose of old paint. Aside from your much-needed baseboard paint, you probably have many other old cans of paint (likely colors that were painted over ages ago) lying around.
Over time paint can leak through rusting cans, leaving you with a big problem. Check with your local recycling or hazardous waste center about properly disposing your stockpile. Imagine how much more storage you'll have for holiday decorations with all those cans gone.
Tip: Consider using old cans to create unique planters.
More ways to decorate with a can of paint
Over time paint can leak through rusting cans, leaving you with a big problem. Check with your local recycling or hazardous waste center about properly disposing your stockpile. Imagine how much more storage you'll have for holiday decorations with all those cans gone.
Tip: Consider using old cans to create unique planters.
More ways to decorate with a can of paint
6. Clean out the sofa. Yes, you really should. You never know what you'll find deep inside those corners, especially if you've got children or guests who keep lots of coins in their pockets.
Confession: I routinely stick the vacuum hose deep inside the recesses of my family sofa, and it's a prolonged process in which lots of cereal and cracker bits make a terrible crackling sound. The good news is, we've found lots of socks, pencils and puzzle pieces we thought were lost forever. Nothing starts puzzle season better than a complete set!
Confession: I routinely stick the vacuum hose deep inside the recesses of my family sofa, and it's a prolonged process in which lots of cereal and cracker bits make a terrible crackling sound. The good news is, we've found lots of socks, pencils and puzzle pieces we thought were lost forever. Nothing starts puzzle season better than a complete set!
7. Clean your dining chairs. Don't spoil a lovely dinner affair by having your well-dressed guests sit on chairs covered in the remnants of a previous party. Now's the time to vacuum, steam clean or spot clean each chair.
Tip: If you aren't sure how to clean your chairs' upholstery, call in a professional. The pros have seen and cleaned it all.
Tip: If you aren't sure how to clean your chairs' upholstery, call in a professional. The pros have seen and cleaned it all.
8. Have your chimney inspected. If you burn wood in your fireplace, it's important to have a professional chimney sweeper check and, if necessary, clean your chimney annually. Doing so reduces the risk of a house fire and carbon monoxide poisoning due to creosote buildup or other obstructions.
How to get your fireplace cold-weather ready
How to get your fireplace cold-weather ready
9. Replace the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. This is the season when candles and wood-burning fireplaces increase the danger of home fires.
Keep your family and home safe by replacing batteries in all devices and performing a quick test to make sure they're still in working condition.
If you don't have any carbon monoxide detectors, this is the perfect time to stock up.
If you don't have any carbon monoxide detectors, this is the perfect time to stock up.
10. Update your emergency kit. September is National Preparedness Month. Make sure you have a safety plan for your household, including pets, and enough emergency supplies for three days. The Red Cross offers a complete list of what you'll need.
Tell us: How do you use this time of year to prepare for winter?
Tell us: How do you use this time of year to prepare for winter?
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OMG, Just died laughing. I need to "get a life"? Well..guess what? I HAVE one! It has time for clients, for family, for the gym, for friends, and a full eight hours of sleep every blasted night.
I don't need a weeks notice to get ready to make a dinner, to have a friend over. I don't need to cringe when I walk back in at the end of a day. I need order, the day is busy enough with clients and their problems .I want a shiny sink, a made bed, emptied trash, and fluffed pillows. Sue me! I wipe down the bath!
You think this takes time; this concept of maintenance of your own nest and the things within that nest? The save it up until it's so gross you can't even stand to look at it is far more difficult. And then you'll be here asking for a sofa or a rug, or carpet, that stands up to your lack of care. I will have no, none, and ZERO sympathy, because there ISN'T such a thing. High end or low end. You are "buying" your own household demise. My own sofa is over twenty years old........and it is WHITE, kiddos : )
saved this so I could finish reading it all..yeah JM.
Boy this is an old thread, good to see you still kicking around JM. Have to totally agree with you - a house does not look after itself but weekly cleaning means no huge, gross, heavy cleaning is necessary so you do have time to whisk through the house AND have a life, keeping the house clean and tidy to enjoy is part of that life. Every Monday is the start of my week, maybe the whole house gets done that day maybe it takes the whole week, it depends on what else I have planned with my life, but it gets done because nothing has been festering long enough to be a major effort, everything is a simple wipe down, dust or vacuum.
Do ensure you invest in a good quality vacuum cleaner, one with variable suction levels to cover all surfaces and with good basic attachments to get into all nooks and crannies. A steam mop is another good investment for fast cleaning of wet areas in the home and the steam sanitises the areas too. It is not necessary to take out a mortgage to buy top quality appliances either, shop around, there are some excellent brands that don't come with luxury price tags. Having efficient and versatile appliances goes a long way to making light of the heavier cleaning chores.
Take a leaf out of FlyLady's advice never go to bed before your sink is scrubbed clean for the next day. Of course you will not stop at just the sink, but there is nothing like coming out to a spotless kitchen first thing each morning to start the day on a high and the rest of the house just has to match it.