Preparing Your Home For The Summer

As the warmer months roll around, many of us are probably in our homes right now, thinking of what we can do to improve our properties. And like anything issues we face as a nation or as a world for that matter, it’s important to always look forward and plan ahead. There are lots of things that you could be doing for your home to make sure it’s ready for the warm weather. Here are some tips for preparing your home for the summer.

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Pest-Proof Your Home

Firstly, you want to ensure that after months of weather conditions that might not have been so kind on your home, that you’re secure both inside and out from pests. It’s worth getting in Mosquito Control if you’re an area that’s quite common to mosquitos being a regular and annoying occurrence. As with any pests, they can carry germs, bacteria and even diseases, none of which you want to have in your home. Make sure that you have been around your property to check whether there are any current locations that might have gaps or cracks within the foundations. These can be ideal points to which pests can get in, and if you’ve not been looking after the tidiness of your home or leaving food out, for example, this can provide them with even more of a reason to set up shop in your home. You want to reduce these at all costs, so make sure you’re putting in the preventative measures to help with keeping those pests away. Keep your home clean and tidy, making sure to keep any easily opened food, locked away and out of sight. 

Check Your Air Conditioning Units

Air conditioning can be a life-saver in certain states, and when it comes to the warm air, it can have an impact on everything we do in our daily lives at home. And should you get to a point where half-way through the glorious summer weather, the air conditioning units break down, you might be kicking yourself for not getting them checked sooner or ignoring the need to get them checked on an annual basis. Filters can get clogged up, and older models can end up running to the end of their service at the most inappropriate of times. Therefore, make sure you check on your air conditioning units and look out for any signs that might suggest it’s in need of some maintenance. You should be aware of what a healthy unit sounds like, and if not, it’s worth checking in with whoever provided you with the units in the first place.

Do A Deep Clean

During the summer, it’s likely that you’ll spend less time in your house and more time socializing outdoors and with friends and family. However, you’re still going to get plenty of time in your home and a new season can be a good excuse to have a proper clear out. We end up hoarding so much just as individuals, let alone as households and you might have a lot of stuff in and around your home that could do with chucking out. When it comes to doing a deep clean, it’s something that you might not do very often to your home, and there are often certain areas in particular that get avoided in any general cleans that you do throughout the year. A deep clean once per year is good to do, and this is best done just before the summer months hit. That way, you can enjoy a fresh and clean home for the rest of the year. 

Start by creating a list of things that need doing and list them by room. Try to get the whole household involved where you can so that it’s a group effort and not simply one person doing all of the work. Seeing as you all share the space together, the responsibility of keeping everything clean should be done collectively. It also speeds up the process so you can spend less time cleaning and more time having fun and enjoying the sunshine.

Marie Kondo Your Wardrobe

Marie Kondo, for those of you who aren’t aware of her book or Netflix series, is someone who has made a career out of the way she cleans and tidies her home. She’s influenced many households to find joy in the things they own and to get rid of stuff they no longer find value in. When it comes to your wardrobe, it’s a thing you need to address at the start of every season. Fashion changes, but so does temperature and it can be annoying to have a mixture of all your clothes together. It can often make for a stressful time in trying to pick out your outfit for the day.

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Marie Kondo’s method is to take out all of your clothing and pop it on the bed. Then you can go through each item and check if it something you enjoy wearing or if it’s something you’ve not worn in months. There might be outfits that only suit special or specific occasions, but at the same time, there’s going to be clothing that you just never wear. Keep what sparks joy and throw out what doesn’t.

Tend To Your Outdoor Space

Your outdoor space is an important area to pay attention to because it can easily be ignored and dismissed as being something that doesn’t need any care. However, on the contrary, you’re likely going to spend more time outdoors, and so it’s even more important to tend to your outdoor space, whatever that might be. Be sure to trim back any hedges or trees that might be overhanging or looking a little bit untamed. Your outdoor space is something that can also attract a lot of wildlife, and as mentioned previously, that includes pests. By keeping your outdoor space maintained as best that you can, you can help prevent any unwanted wildlife from getting into your home and making a mess of your backyard.

If you have a decking area, you might also want to focus on protecting that where you can. Try to do a bit of a clean up by brushing it down and giving it a wash. You might then want to find a protectant that will provide additional coverage for the decking over the summer to stop it from fading in colour but to also keep it going for the next year and throughout the colder months too. 

Do Paint Touch-Ups

As it’s warm outside, you’re likely to have your windows open for a lot of that time. It’s, therefore, a perfect opportunity to do some painting and any touch-ups that might have been caused through bumps or scratches on your part. This general wear and tear is something that’s always likely to happen, but it can end up making your property look quite aged and tired. So try getting the same paint that was used originally as well as the method in which it was applied. You could always go for a complete change and try a different colour of paint or wallpaper. This is the perfect time of year to do it though because otherwise, painting in the winter and having to leave your windows open, is not a good idea.

Preparing your home for the summer is important because you don’t really want to be bothering with it when you have all of the social activities to enjoy and take advantage of. So get it done now if you can!