Fall Organization: Your Complete Guide

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It’s time for fall organizing! From planning for parties to keeping your decorations contained, this fall organization guide is a must.

Summer vacation is over and the weather is cooling down. Life is about to get busier than ever! Are you ready for it? Fall organization is essential as you prepare for all the parties, events, and weather changes.

Fall Organization: Your Complete Guide

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Fall Organization: Your Complete Guide

Fall organizing is about prep work and changing from one season to the next. Goodbye summertime shorts and tanks, hello, sweaters and jackets!

This also means you’ll need to prep for winter weather too. Don’t let the number of things to do overwhelm you. I’ll break it down into simple steps in this easy guide. Check out how easy it is to organize everything from your closets to prepping your home and doing some fall deep cleaning too.

Table of contents

Fall Closet Organizing

Now, one of the biggest tasks you’ll face is changing your closets from summertime clothes to fall clothes. While you are switching clothes around, take this opportunity to completely organize your closets.

The following tips will help you switch from summertime to fall, but they can be used anytime you switch from one season to the next.

The Biggest Task on Your Fall Organization To-Do List

Sell What You can

First, try to make some money selling all the clothes, shoes, and accessories that you don’t want anymore.

As you take your summertime clothes out, put the ones you never wore to the side. Then, as you begin putting your fall clothes into your closet, pull out anything you don’t want to wear this coming season.

Make two piles – things in excellent condition that you can sell, and things that are more worn that you can donate.

You can either sell your clothes to a consignment shop in person or you can try to sell them at home. The best places to sell clothes online are:

Dry Clean Your Coats

Before hanging them up, you should get all your coats dry-cleaned. This will completely get rid of any dusty or funky smells your jackets picked up while they were in storage.

Just like I always suggest you clean things before organizing, you should also clean your coats before hanging them up.

Only Keep What You will wear

Before you put a single piece of clothing back, ask yourself if you will actually wear it. Be honest. You could do the KonMari method and touch each article of clothes – if it sparks joy, keep it! If not, give it away.

It is so much easier to store clothes when you are only keeping the things you love and wear.

Set A shopping Budget

Some organizers will encourage you to only bring in new things if you have room to store them. This is an excellent time to set shopping boundaries.

Make a list of clothes that you need and decide to only buy the things you need. After you put your clothes away, look at your closet and how much room you have left. Don’t buy new clothes if you don’t have room to keep them.

Use A Hanging Organizer for Fall Accessories

Finally, pull out all of your fall accessories and set up some organization systems to keep them organized.

One of the best ways to keep your autumn accessories organized is to store them in a hanging organizer. Find one that comes with tons of easy-to-reach pockets of different shapes and sizes. Buy the ones that match what you need to keep in them.

These hanging organizers are perfect for scarves, gloves, and even winter hats and thick socks.

How To Organize Fall Decorating

The next thing you’ll have to organize is the fall decorating. I love decorating for fall! Is there such a thing as too many pumpkins or burlap wreaths?

As you pull out all of your fall decorations, make notes about how you stored them last year and use these tips to effectively organize your summer and fall home decor.

It's time for fall organizing! From planning for parties to keeping your decorations contained, this fall organization guide is a must.

Store Summer decorations safely

As you store your summer decorations, make sure your tubs and bins still fit. Sometimes, using a tub that’s too big will cause you to stack things in a way that causes things to crumple and break.

Consider buying smaller boxes more suited for your decor.

If you have multiple decorations that belong in a set, store them together in a resealable bag.

Keep everything in a tote that has a lid so that way they are protected from dust and moisture. Then, don’t forget to label it!

Separate Decorations by room

It will be so much easier to decorate your entire house when your decorations are sorted by room. The smaller totes will also prevent decorations from becoming tangled up or scuffed.

Then, you could store the smaller boxes inside the large summer decor box.

Use Decor that doubles as storage

If you are short on storage space, then buy some furniture that has built-in storage. For example, buy some hollow ottomans with removable lids.

Other ideas include benches with storage and sectionals with storage inside.

This also makes it so you don’t have to go very far to get what you need!

5 Essential Tasks to Get Your Home Ready for Fall

Ready Your Home For Fall

With the new weather comes new issues for your house. There are lots of things you’ll have to do to prep for the wind, storms, and even snow and ice.

Just like when you prepared for spring and summer, you are going to go through your home and make sure it is ready for the new season.

Here are the most important things you should do around your home so you don’t run into any surprise issues when the cold weather hits.

Clean or replace your gutters

Your gutters are about to get a workout, so make sure they are ready for it.

To do this, first clean them out completely. I recommend using gloves, especially if you have pine needles or sticks.

As you clean your gutters out, look closely at them and make note of any cracks or holes. These will just get worse as the weather gets colder, so fix them while they are still small.

There are lots of gutters out there that have leaf-protection. This might be a really good investment, especially if you have tons of trees near your home.

Protect Your patio furniture

Next, wash down your patio furniture and then protect it from the upcoming weather. Your outdoor furniture will eventually wear down and break if you leave it out in the elements.

Instead, bring it into your garage or store it in your shed.

If you don’t have room, you can buy some patio furniture covers that will keep everything dry and safe too.

Is Your Home Ready for Fall?

Check for drafts

Air drafts or leaky windows will cost you money this winter, fix them early. According to Energy.gov, the easiest way to check for drafts is to use a damp hand near your closed window. You will be able to feel a breeze if any is getting through.

If you discover a few drafts, fix them early. It will save you the most money. Use caulk, weather stripping, or even shrink film to cover your windows and keep your heat inside and the cold outside.

Check Fall and Winter Equipment

Before they sell out in the store, make sure you have plenty of rakes, shovels, and that all of your yard tools are in working condition.

It’s always best to fix things before you need them.

While you are doing this, get rid of anything that is taking room and you don’t use. This includes any broken tools, weed wackers, or yard equipment.

Store Your Garden Hoses

Finally, don’t forget to take care of your outdoor faucets and garden hoses. This is a great time to contact a plumber about a freeze-safe outdoor faucet, if you don’t already have one.

You definitely want to remember to remove the hoses from the outdoor spigots. Drain them completely and store them indoors – like your garage or shed.

Prepare for fall parties

I think winter is probably the busiest time of year for parties, don’t you? If you have kids, then you know all about the fall back to school parties, Halloween parties, and various activities in between.

This might not be as busy as winter time, but it will still have you catching your breath. While you have a minute, use these tips to stay ahead of the game and prepare yourself for all that’s to come.

How to Plan Now for Fall Parties

Avoid being double-booked

First of all, keep track of all your plans. Avoid being double-booked by either using a paper planner or a calendar app.

In fact, I compiled the best paper planners if you still need one. Some of them come in undated versions, so you can buy one at any time of year!

If you prefer to keep everything organized electronically, check out these calendar apps.

For a busy family, I recommend setting up a command center. This will help you maintain control over your fall organization and family activities. It will help everyone see each other’s schedules so they don’t plan things at the same time.

Host a Party

If part of fall organization that stresses you out is leaving the house to attend parties, consider hosting them yourself!

I have a guide that will take you step by step through holiday party planning. It’s actually easier than you might think.

When you are the host, you can control when it starts and when it’s over. Plus, you don’t have to leave, it’s pretty nice!

Buy Host gifts ahead of time

Think back to last year and the years passed. Did you attend any gatherings where a host gift was appropriate? Create a small stockpile of appropriate host gifts right now.

This way, when it comes time for the party, all you have to do is grab the gift and go! No shopping required.

Fall Organization: Cleaning

The final step in fall organization and preparation is to deep clean your house. This is just like spring cleaning. In fact, as the weather finally cools down, you’ll want to open your windows and soak up the chill air as you clean out your home.

There are tons of things you can do to deep clean your house. In fact, I have an entire deep cleaning house schedule that is really helpful. It even has a free printable checklist!

Fall Cleaning and Organizing: 7 Chores That Are Just as Important as Spring Cleaning

As you go from summer to winter, focus on the following tasks.

Declutter and prepare for Winter Holidays

Now is the perfect time to go through your home and donate or throw away as much as you can. With the winter holidays comes the influx of new gifts. The worst time to try and organize your home is when you are the busiest with holiday preparations.

Do it now, while you have some time. Create room for the new gifts you might get so that when you’re ready, you have places to put everything.

Change air filters

Next, you need to check your air conditioner filter. Your heating and cooling system will work harder (and cost you more money) if the filter is full of dirt and debris.

These filters should be changed every 6-12 months. So if you last changed them in the spring, the fall is the perfect time to check on them.

Wash windows

Next, wash your windows while the weather is still warm enough. You won’t want to wash them when it is freezing outside.

Wash both the outside and inside of the windows while you are doing this.

Clean under your refrigerator

Take the opportunity to clean out from under your refrigerator and freezer too.

This is a task that you should do at least once or twice a year. It’s hard work when it’s hot out, so the cool fall weather provides the ideal time to do this difficult work.

While you are focusing on your fridge, clean it out and organize it too, so you are ready for the fall baking you are going to be doing.

Add Cold Weather blankets and sheets to the beds

Next, go through and add warmer blankets and sheets to all the beds. Bring the blankets out of storage and put some snuggly blankets on the couch for movies.

If some of your sheets or linens are wearing out, replace them.

Clean and dust all electronics

When you spend more time indoors, you will probably be on some sort of electronics. Go around and dust and clean off your computers, TV, and tablets. Wash your remote controls with antibacterial spray too (these are the dirtiest electronics in the home).

Wash the walls and floors

Finally, go through and wipe down your walls. Pay special attention to the areas behind the doors, around the stove, and behind the sink.

Any areas that you normally ignore – wipe them down. Your home will look and smell amazing!

The Essential Guide to Fall Organization

Fall Organization: It’s about Prep

There you have it! Just follow these easy steps and you’ll be ready to thrive this fall! Autumn is my favorite time of year, and it can be yours too. With just a little bit of storage, organization, and prep work, you will be ready to welcome fall!

Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!

More Home and Closet Tips

Here are some more helpful tips for keeping your home organized.

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