Patch Picks: Fall Cleaning

The summer is over. Windows have been open letting in dust for three months. Kids have been running back-and-forth to baseball, softball, swimming and everything else and it's time to get the house in order and setup for fall.

1. Phase Out Unsued Items: Make sure anything you keep is something you use. Give away things you haven't touched in a while to a charity. You're doing a good deed and de-cluttering your home.
2. Rotate Toys: Rotating toys keeps younger children interested in new things and keeps you from stepping on a hard piece of plastic.
3. Dust Off Ceiling Fans: They've been going and if it looks like they are lined with a fuzz, it may be time to clean them off.
4. Carpet Cleaning: If you can't remember what color your carpets were when purchased it may be time to clean. Summer dust and allergens soaked in the carpet can cause everyone in the home to be miserable.
5. Digital Copies: Keep digital copies of important things you don't have the space to display or room to store. Make sure there is also a remote copy either on a "cloud" or on a removable drive.
6. Touch Up the Paint: The kids have been running around all summer and it's ok to admit there are more marks on the wall than when they were in school. Grab a gallon and touch up those scuff marks on the walls.
7. Switch Out the Home Accessories: Put up the summer throws and pillows and pull out the fall home essentials and scents ie. cinnamon and spice, evergreen, pine cones and all the warm things.
8. Clean the Oven: If you cook during the holidays, there's a lot of cooking that's about to go on. Clean out the oven now and it will save you vital time when the holiday's approach.
9. Update the Picture Frames: Instead of crowding the wall with photos taken during the spring and summer, rotate out older photos to an album and update a few existing hanging frames. Remind you, digital photo albums can hold more than 5,000.
10. Wash the Curtains: They collect dust just like anything else. Take a Sunday afternoon and bring down, wash and press them. The house just might smell a bit better afterwards.