It’s officially Fall (can you believe it?) and here in Wisconsin that means leaves are (or will be) changing colors, temps start to cool, the apple orchard and pumpkin patch are open for business, and your house needs to be tweaked for the changing season. There are many quick and easy things that you can do inside and outside of your home to prepare for fall and winter. Here are a few to get you started:

Put the storms on your windows and doors. Once the temps spiral downward you don’t want to let precious (and pricey) heat escape needlessly.

Clean your carpets and area rugs. Your house is about to be closed up a lot more than usual and you want to get as much dirt and dust that’s been dragged into the house all summer outside where it belongs.

Reset your thermostat timer. here at our house, we have settings conducive to our air conditioning needs and they differ from our furnace needs. Check the settings and be sure your heat turns on when you really want it to.

If you have a fireplace, get it prepped and checked for safety. For natural fireplaces this may mean making sure it’s safe to operate. For gas fireplaces you will also want to ensure the unit is still safe to operate and you may also need to turn on the gas to the unit (if you happen to turn it off in spring).

Bring in the patio furniture. if you have patio furniture that is not all weather and will likely dry out and/or crack during the cold months, bring it in and put it into storage (like your garage, basement, or shed). If you have furniture that can stay outside year round, make sure you bring in the accents like cushins and pillows.

Pack away the garden hose.There is nothing worse than discovering you left your hose out all winter and then in spring it’s cracked. Disconnect from the source and put it in the garage, basement, or shed. You may want to shut off the water to the spiggut while you’re at it too.

Plant your bulbs. Come spring you will be very, very happy that you took a little time to do this in the fall.

Clean out the gutters. Depending on when most of the leaves fall in your neighborhood you will want to time cleaning out the gutters. Be careful, and you may want to consider hiring someone to take care of this for you if it requires a high ladder.

There is plenty more that you can do, but these tips will get you started. If you ever have questions about what’s best for your home in any season, be sure to email heidi@glassslipperhomes.com!