This post is in partnership with FilterEasy
When we lived in our last house, we were getting pretty good about keeping up with the regular maintenance. Or so I thought. Granted, it was a newer house so there wasn’t as much upkeep since most of it was in great new condition and we had updated so much ourselves. But with all houses, there are certain things you need to keep on top of or do on a seasonal basis. There are also tasks that are much easier to accomplish before the temperature and weather changes. And of course, there are the seasonal updates that are just for fun! The fun ones are my favorite :).
Fall is the perfect time to update the paint or stain on your front door and porch. As long as the rain holds off and the temperatures aren’t still too high where you live, that is! Paint and stain can protect the wood as well as make your home more attractive and ready for seasonal wreaths and decor!.
Our front door makeover is here and you can read about our back deck makeover here.
If you have window boxes or planter boxes, wouldn’t it be amazing to fill them fall foliage? I’ve always loved these window boxes on a house in my old neighborhood in Portland. I would love to have window boxes to change for the seasons!
I love planting seasonal foliage and cutting flowers outside, and its fun to bring the outside foliage in, too! A fresh bouquet will make your home so inviting and remind you of how much you love fall (you do love fall, right?).
Speaking of seasonal updates, one thing I have been striving to do over the years is to think ahead for outdoor holiday decorating! My goal is to hang my Christmas lights around the porch in October, when it isn’t FREEZING and POURING out. Yeah, it’s a little early perhaps for celebrating Christmas, but you’ll be so glad you got your lights up without freezing your fingers. So often I skip hanging lights because I don’t want to go out in the cold, so when I finish that task early I’m so happy in December when I see my twinkling lights. That’s a task worth doing early, I say!
Here’s a list of five important (but less fun) fall home maintenance tasks I think are easy to forget (or put off)!
1. Remove the hose and turn off the outside water.
2. Clean your gutters and downspouts.
3. Check your roof, driveways and walkways.
4. Fireplace cleaning
5. Replace furnace and air return filters (an important task year-round!)
As the weather changes, you need to make sure your home and yard are ready for the harsher elements and colder temperatures. You want to protect your investment in your home, save money, as well as keep your family safe!
I was the worst at remembering to clean the air filters at our old house. Ugh. How embarrassing is this? Truly horrible. {Shudder}. When you open the vent, it looks like giant furry rodents have made a home there. Ew.
Have you remembered to change your return air vents lately? Or your furnace vents? Go look at yours and come back to tell me if they look as yucky as mine. I bet they do! Did you know you are supposed to change filters every three months? It makes sense, just imagine breathing in that furry rat-hair like dust for months on end! Yuck. Surely your furnace can’t operate properly or efficiently with that much dust. YOU can’t operate efficiently with that much dust. Changing your filters every 90 days will save energy, keep your home clean and prevent expensive HVAC repairs so it really should be on our seasonal to do list.
Just as I was moving out of my old house, I heard about a new service called FilterEasy that will send you new filters regularly, taking the guesswork out of remembering to order and change your filters! FilterEasy filters cost the same or less than those in stores and there is free shipping, so you don’t have to spend your day driving around looking for the right sized filters (or forgetting what sizes you need!).
Lately I’ve been automating EVERYTHING I don’t want to think about, don’t like to do or forget to do. It’s been a huge time and stress saver for me. Since there are so many benefits to changing your air filters on time, I’ve signed up for FilterEasy in my new house. With each filter delivery, I’ll remember it is time to change them! No more furry rodents living in my filters, thank you. That’s one less thing I have to worry about.
Once you take care of all the fall home maintenance, you’ll feel so snug and safe and ready for the season.
GIVEAWAY & FREE SET OF AIR FILTERS FOR YOUR HOME!
The first 100 readers to enter the giveaway will get a shipment of FREE REPLACEMENT FILTERS for their entire house! Click here to enter FilterEasy’s $250 Target Gift Card Giveaway! (Submit your email address, and then you’ll be directed to FilterEasy’s homepage with a pre-applied promo code for your free set of filters.) **First 100 readers only!**
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. The winner will be announced on September 23rd.
Love all your tips for getting your home ready for fall… It is coming pretty quick. Fluffing my nest here in MO. Thanks ?
Thanks for the reminders! Fall just snuck up! I also like to give my windows a cleaning before winter. Since we will be stuck inside it’s great to have bright clear views of the outside. The pollen this year was terrible in NC so there is a bit of a haze on them and it’s been too dang hot to do anything about it til now.
Love the auto-filter idea too. We do the razor auto ship and its great. Plus receiving filters is a great reminder to change them. It’s one of those maintenance things that gets put off….
Autumn is defiantly the best season of the year
Love the idea of being reminded and prepared to home maintenence.
I’ve grown accustom to changing filters every 2-3 months. It really clears the air, but now I need some duct cleaning!
I just signed up! We are always forgetting about the filters and end up changing them out every 5 months, lol. This just seemed like a no-brainer!
I know to change the furnace filter on a regular basis but a filter for the air returns is new to me. Obviously this is something that would be quite useful for me! Thanks.
I’d love the freebies, but think I might sign up either way. SUCH a great idea. Not to be gross, but I wonder if there is a similar thing for septic treatments? I’m always forgetting to do that…
My heart starts getting ready for fall as soon as the calendar turns to September! But it is slow to come to north Texas and so we savor every small sign of changing seasons along the way.
Amazing!? My air return filter looks like yours and it is only a month old. Thanks for the friendly reminders for fall home maintenance. Some I remember and some I just forget, like cleaning rain gutters. Thanks
Gosh, it was a great summer for painting in the PNW and this year we got the front under the porch done at the city house repainted and the outer deck parts stained at the Island home. Curb appeal is wonderful now at both. Added some new plants, fancy wind chimes, better lighting, new door colors, storm doors over, new mats, and (wait for it) welcomes signs since both homes do not have purely dedicated front doors, we thought this would help. And it does…
PS we use heavy metal reusable screens in the city home so I guess someone else will need to have these. We clean them the beginning of each month to reduce allergies and toxins. Country home does not have central air but that new small heat (AC too) pump that does not use the air filter system. Hurrah~~~
Our cold air returns don’t have filters. Just the furnace unit. I wonder if it is a regional thing? I like in Chicagoland. area.
Amazing, PODS to move house, we have large vans or rent smaller self drive vans and air filters in your homes! We, in England, have airbricks in some rooms but not with filters. love the site look forward to seeing you settle in to new home, best wishes.
Good idea. My husband has been automating as much as possible, I’m sure he will be on board with this too!
Thank you
I don’t have filters behind my vents…is that terrible? After seeing yours, I’m thinking I should! I will definitely look up FilterEasy!
I love fall decorating because it can stay up so long and it’s so cozy. The furnace filter delivery is a wonderful idea!
I am embarrassed to admit we haven’t changed our air filter since we moved in two years ago! But considering its just for our heater and we only use for a few months out of the year, I’m hoping that makes it less gross ha!
But I just ordered my first filter and it was free! So thank you! And I set up the auto shipment so I don’t have to think about it again!
This would be an awesome service to have. My furnace & AC stop working properly and then I am reminded that I have not changed the filter in time. Thank you for all the great tips… love this blog!
Thanks for the reminders. I love Fall ~ my favorite time of year!!!
Check with your furnace manual or your hvac tech before you add filters to your system. I’ve been told by our service provider that you are to only have one filter in the furnace. Apparently additional filters create additional resistance that is too taxing on the furnacesystem. It sounds like many people have never had a problem, but I want this furnace to last as long as possible.
Love fall but not the winterization projects. We heat with wood so I change filters once a month, very expensive but better than dust and breathing issues.
I love the idea of the automatic reminder to change the filters.
Time to steam clean the carpets and start following the Organized Christmas countdown! I always do the countdown so I am sure to get at least most of the things done and I can enjoy the holidays. I look forward to getting started every year!
We of course change the filters and batteries in our smoke detectors. We also winterize our pipes and cover our outside faucets with insulation. Thanks for the tips!
I love your idea of automating home maintenance especially if it doesn’t cost me anything extra! Thank you for another great idea. I’m always amazed at how dirty those filters get. Yuck!
Every fall, I look for sales on flower bulbs. Living in Minnesota, I like to have new tulip bulbs planted by the end of October. I usually forget what colors of tulips I planted; so I love it when they are blooming in April and May. This is one of my favorite fall jobs around the yard.
We have a glass wall and ceiling solarium… lovely, but a huge heat sink in the winter. So every late fall we get out the plastic wrap and insulating panels and close it up. I hate losing the sun and the view, but I hate the huge heating bills more!
With 3 hairy/always shedding dogs I wish the filters changed themselves, this might be as close as I get.
here in the PNW, cleaning the rain gutters and moss off the roof is what we’re working on.
With four cats and a dog, I have to try to remember to change the filters every month. It is very necessary!
Thanks for all the wonderful Fall tips. A reminder to change our filters would be wonderful!
Would love to try the filters!! We try to change ours often to help with ac/heat output!
Now that fall is here, it’s important to get ready! For many of us, this means not only getting ready for winter, but also changing the décor so that it fits with the seasons. I like to buy bouquets of fresh fall flowers, like mums, once fall hits.
It’s a good idea to be consistent with changing out your air filters. I’m bad at remembering to do that without some kind of notification or reminder. I added calendar events every 3 months on my iPhone so I don’t forget!
The automated filter replacements are a lifesaver! Good on you for adding the more practical advice along with the more fun decoration tips. Awesome post!