Lubricating your garage door and cleaning windows are easy chores to tackle during downtime when you’re home for the holidays. (knowlesgallery, Getty Images/Manuel-F-O, Getty Images)
In this special Ask Danny podcast, Danny talks about some simple home maintenance tasks to do during the downtime of the holidays.
Lubricating your garage door is a great way to help it run smoothly and reduce noise. (knowlesgallery, Getty Images)
Lubricate Door Hinges
An easy chore to tackle while you’re home for the holidays is silencing squeaky doors.
With just a few simple steps, you can easily lubricate your door hinges and keep them running smoothly!
To lubricate door hinges, you’ll need some lubricant like WD-40. Use graphite lubricant on exterior hinges, like fence gates.
Start by opening the door and spraying the lubricant onto the hinges. Next, close the door and use a clean rag to wipe away any excess lubricant. Finally, open and close the door a couple of times to make sure the hinges are properly lubricated.
Don’t forget about your garage door! Lubricating a garage door with lithium grease is a great way to help it run smoothly and reduce noise.
To start, you’ll want to make sure the garage door is completely clean and free of dust and debris.
Once the garage door is clean, you can apply a thin layer of lithium grease to any metal-on-metal contact points on the door.
Make sure to avoid any plastic or rubber parts, as the lithium grease could damage them.
After you’ve applied the grease, you can test the door to make sure it’s working properly.
Gutter downspouts should carry water at least 10 feet away from the home. (ziggy1, Getty Images Pro)
Direct Drainage Away from Your Home
Proper home drainage is incredibly important for keeping your home safe and preventing damage to the structure.
Poorly drained homes can suffer from issues such as foundation damage, cracked walls, and mold or mildew growth. Additionally, poor drainage can lead to flooding, which can be both costly and dangerous.
Depending on your situation, there are a few options you could consider for directing drainage away from your home.
If you have rain gutters installed, simply direct the downspouts away from your home.
Another option is installing a French drain, which is a gravel-filled trench with a pipe that diverts water away from the area.
You could also install a sump pump, which pumps the water away from the area.
If you’re looking for a more natural solution, you could consider planting vegetation that can absorb water and direct it away from your home.
A great way to get started on organizing your garage is to divide the space into sections and designate a purpose for each. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Organize Your Garage
Organizing your garage can save you time and energy in the long run, so it’s worth making the effort to do it when you’re home for the holidays.
It can help you to find items more quickly, as you’ll know exactly where everything is located. It can also free up more space for storage, making it easier to store items that need to be kept out of the way.
Furthermore, it can help to protect valuables from the elements and make your garage look more presentable.
Cleaning windows with microfiber cloths is a great way to get a streak-free shine. (Manuel-F-O, Getty Images)
Clean Windows and Doors
Cleaning house windows is a relatively straightforward task that can make a big difference in the overall appearance of your home. Here are some tips to help you get started:
Start by using a soft cloth to wipe away any dirt and dust that has accumulated on the windows.
Once the windows are free of dust, use a mild cleaning solution (diluted dish soap, a store-bought cleaner or a combination of white vinegar and water) to clean the glass. Don’t forget to clean the tracks too!
Use a squeegee or a soft cloth to wipe the windows clean. Start from the top and work your way down in overlapping strokes.
For extra sparkle, finish by wiping the windows with a cloth dampened with distilled white vinegar.
Draining some of the water out of your hot water heater annually removes sediment that settles in the bottom of the tank. (C5Media, Getty Images Pro)
Drain Water Heater
Draining your water heater can make your water heater more efficient and extend its life by draining the tank and flushing away sediment at least once a year.
A perfect time to do it is after all your guests have left your home for after the holidays.
Here’s all you have to do.
For electric heaters, turn off the power at the breaker box. For gas units, turn the fuel control to the off setting.
Next, turn off the cold water inlet valve, and attach a garden hose to the outlet valve at the bottom of the tank. When you open the outlet valve, be careful; it is hot water, after all.
To get the water flowing, you also have to flip the pressure relief valve near the top of the tank to break the vacuum inside.
Once the hot water drains, open the cold water valve to flush out the tank, and then simply reverse the process to restore normal operation.
Autumn brings to mind some of the best memories for me, like the crunch of leaves underfoot, the crisp, fresh air and the trees ablaze in brilliant shades of red and yellow.
It’s only natural to want to bring some of those elements indoors, and one easy way to do this is by making a fall leaf garland to show off those fantastic fall colors.
This is a nice, quick project for an afternoon indoors, so grab a hot chocolate and a pair of scissors and let’s get crafting!
Download the fall leaf template, print it out onto white card and cut out the leaf shapes.
Trace around the leaf template shapes onto the back of your colored paper. Trace as many leaves as you’ll need to fill the length of your fall leaf garland.
Step
Cut out the leaves you traced with a pair of scissors.
Step
Punch two holes in each leaf with a small hole punch. You’ll use these holes to attach the leaves to your garland.
Angle your holes in various ways to make your leaves hang in different directions:
Two holes straight across will make your leaf point straight down.
Having one hole higher on the left will make your leaf point to the right.
Having one hole higher on the right will make your leaf point to the left.
Step
Cut a long length of twine and tie a knot in one end.
Step
Get the opposite (unknotted) end of the twine and start threading your leaves onto it. Alternate between leaves of different colors, shapes and directions.
Step
Once all your leaves have been threaded on, tie a knot at the end to secure them in place.
It’s easy to tweak this fall leaf garland to suit your fall decorating – just use alternative colors and maybe other types of leaves for a completely different look!
There are a lot of fall activities and flavors that I can take or leave, but one thing I get excited about when the summer heat subsides is tea. On a cool, rainy afternoon, drinking a hot cup of tea is wonderfully cozy. (I think I just realized why tea is so popular in the British Isles.) My growing tea collection was a mess until I figured out the best way to store tea. If you’re a fellow tea-lover with an unruly stack of boxes and tins of tea, here are some guidelines and ideas for how to keep your tea organized.
Tea Storage Guidelines
First, let’s go over the basics of how to store tea. The enemies of tea are light, heat, moisture, and oxygen. So that means the best place to store your tea is cool, dry, dark, and airtight. The airtight part might not be a concern if your teabags are individually-sealed, but it’s important for loose-leaf tea. Fortunately many teas come in their own airtight tins or resealable bags.
Even if you aren’t storing your bagged tea in an airtight container, you at least want to try to keep it away from strong smells. Nothing would ruin a good cup of tea than having it taste like the garlic and onions you cooked up last night for dinner.
Also, it won’t keep forever. Tea does degrade in quality over time, so if you haven’t touched that tea you don’t especially enjoy in months or years, it is unlikely to have improved in flavor. Go ahead and toss it out!
Tea Organization
I have to admit that while I love a nice cup of tea, I’m not a tea snob, and I like to try different kinds. Before I figured out my tea storage, I had a large collection of boxes of tea stacked on top and in front of one another in a cabinet, and I had to shuffle them around to get to the ones in the back.
My life improved when I discovered that the best way to store tea is in a drawer! With a drawer, there’s no perilous stacking, shuffling, or reaching on tip-toes to get to that tin on the top shelf in the back. Everything is flat in front of you, easy to see and access. And maybe I’m the only weirdo who feels this way, but there’s something strangely satisfying about neatly fitting all of your tea and tea-making accessories in a drawer.
Once you have a drawer picked out, the first choice you need to make is whether you want to keep your teas in their boxes, or take them out and only store the packets. If you’re taking the tea out of the boxes, you’ll need drawer organizers. Cutlery/silverware organizers often fit tea bags perfectly, or you can use something like these adjustable slotted drawer organizers to make custom-sized tea compartments in your drawer.
The other option, and the one I chose, involves Tetris-ing your boxes and tins into a drawer. You can also combine the two approaches, keeping some teas in the containers they came in, and sorting individual tea bags.
I also like to keep my tea-making tools and accessories in my tea drawer, so mine contains a matcha whisk, timer, strainers, a measuring spoon, and soy sauce dishes, which make perfect tiny plates for spent tea bags. My electric kettle is on the countertop above the drawer, and my mugs in the cupboard above, so everything I need for a cup of tea is all in one place. In general I consider myself “organizationally-challenged,” so my organized tea drawer makes my daily cups of tea even more satisfying.
Even if the weather where you live is still summer-like, the calendar is telling us that now is the time to transition into an autumn mindset. Use the fresh start of this new season to reset and plan. Make yourself an autumn bucket list and have the best fall ever!
Relishing pumpkin-spiced drinks, wearing plaid, and finding new places to display decorative gourds are important, but your autumn bucket list can be more than a catalog of happy fall activities. It’s a tool to help you be intentional about what is most valuable: the relationships in your life, the beauty around you, new experiences and familiar traditions. Read on for a few suggestions.
Play Pumpkin Fairy
This time of year, pumpkins and gourds are for sale at every turn. Take the opportunity to buy one for a neighbor, co-worker, or friend. It is a low-key and unexpected way to do something nice. Every time they see it on their porch or desk, the reminder will brighten their day.
Engage your Nose
Harness your sense of smell to send a signal of change to your brain. Make stove-top potpourri, buy a new candle, or use a fall essential oil blend around your home.
Visit an Apple Orchard
It is a festive outing, for sure, but there is something more to be gained from picking apples than great Instagram pictures. Most of us don’t have much of a connection to harvesting in our everyday lives. There’s something very special about picking your own food, and it’s a great opportunity to make memories with those close to you. Take advantage of this time of year and visit an orchard!
Host a Potluck
Don’t let the season pass without making time for the relationships that are important to you! Invite friends, neighbors, and/or family for a potluck dinner. Consider a pumpkin food theme or a flannel dress code. With everyone pitching in, the gathering doesn’t have to be a chore.
Cheers to Gratefulness
Photo: Raw Pixel
Buy some apple cider and be intentional about making a toast to the abundance in your life. You can do this alone or in a group, at a feast or just a Tuesday dinner of leftovers. Thankfulness is worth cultivating.
Be Practical, and Check in on Your Home
Photo: Tomo Nogi/StockSnap
Take some time to change your furnace air filters and schedule a furnace check to avoid the inconvenience of meeting the first cold snap of the season with no heat. Also, think back and if you cannot remember the last time you changed the batteries in your smoke alarm do it today. Start the process of getting your home ready for winter. Once the leaves have fallen, take some time to clean your gutters or schedule someone to do it for you. Come spring, you will be so glad you did.
This is a classic autumn bucket list activity that needs little explanation. If you’re looking to do something different, a quick internet search will give you plenty of ways to carve or decorate pumpkins. Any effort you expend is worth it. Let your creativity shine!
Get Lost
Make plans with your most entertaining friends to meet at a corn maze. There is not a clear explanation why wandering around in a corn field generates hilarity, but it does. It always does.
Now that you have harvested your crop of apples, turn some of them into apple butter. This is the easiest of recipes and nearly impossible to mess up. If you haven’t tried it yet, homemade apple butter will elevate your oatmeal, yogurt, toast, or bagel to new heights of enjoyment!
Display an Autumn Memento
Go into your photo archives and find a picture from a past fall that makes you smile. Don’t worry about composition or if it meets the standards for a technically impressive photograph. If the picture brings you a happy feeling, it doesn’t matter if the subjects are squinting or out-of-focus. Print it out and put it somewhere you will see it all season long.
Share this list on Pinterest!
What else will you be adding to your Autumn bucket list? Leave a comment and let us know!
Halloween can get cheesy fast. Just look around your local craft stores, and you’ll see ghosts and goblins and witches galore. But there are ways to decorate your home for the holiday in a more sophisticated way… and we set out to find 15 of the very best. Click through to check them out.
5. For an oh-so-spooky tablescape, use black dishes and a black tablecloth and add a few pops of color in the form of orange flowers. Learn more here. [Photo: The Decorista]
