Summer’s great for eating fresh produce, but with cooler temperatures, you might find yourself looking less to the vegetable crisper and more to the kitchen pantry for dinner ingredients. If you have a free moment, take some time to clean out and organize the pantry, drawers and cabinets in your kitchen to make things fresh and easy to find. In fact, you may find cans of nonperishables that you purchased on impulse and don’t actually plan to use; clear out these dry or canned goods, and either toss them if they’ve expired, or donate them to your local food pantry. (This time of year is ideal to donate food, so even if you don’t plan on parting with goods from your kitchen, you might consider purchasing a few extra items on your next grocery run to give to those in need.) Assess what’s left and write up your weekly shopping list accordingly to fill in the gaps!

We’re in the thick of tea season, meaning your teacups and mugs may be getting some more action than usual. While the saucers are a no-brainer to store in the cabinet, teacups can be a little trickier to stack. An easy way to solve this problem is to place a teacup on top of a saucer, and then place another saucer on top of the teacup. Add another teacup on top of that saucer, and continue stacking once or twice; this way, your teacups won’t topple and everything will be nice and organized when teatime rolls around!

Cobwebs can make for great Halloween decorations, but they can also be a frightful sight when they take over spaces in your home, like the basement, attic, etc. Fortunately it’s easy to remove them, though! If you don’t have a cobweb duster, you can also use a plain microfiber duster or even an old stocking stretched over a broom to get the job done. Sometimes it helps to wet the duster or the cobwebs first, so if you’re having a hard time you might want to try a few spritzes of water here and there. You can then either shake out your duster outdoors, or you can wipe off excess webs on your carpet, vacuuming up the resulting residue immediately afterward.

Whether you’re planning to paint your face or will be around someone else who has done this Halloween, it might be useful to know how to remove potential stains from your clothing items. Fortunately the process is pretty straightforward; wet the stained area and apply vegetable glycerin soap, and then, stretching the area as tightly as you can, run under hot water. Once the stain has been removed from the clothing, you may wash the garment as you normally would. So don’t shy away from face paint this Halloween, because now you know how to keep all your clothing looking BOO-tiful!

We’re exactly thirteen days away from Halloween, and it’s likely you’ve started thinking about carving some pumpkins to put on your front stoop. We’re ALL for being festive, but as cleaning experts, we know it can be a pain remove the pumpkin innards before you get started. To avoid that whole process, we vote you decorate the pumpkins instead of carving them! You can be as creative as you like; for instance, you can paint or draw faces on the pumpkins, or glue festive ribbons, buttons and other doodads to embellish the outside surface. This is a great alternative to the mess factor, plus your pumpkins will maintain a much longer shelf-life. AND it’s a great idea if you’ve got little ones who aren’t able to handle knives and other common pumpkin carving tools. Whatever you do, HAVE FUN!

Jumping into a pile of leaves might have fun written all over it, but cleaning them up from your yard just doesn’t have the same appeal. As the leaves continue to fall this October, we’ve compiled a few tips to help you stay on top of your lawn maintenance.

• First, make sure you’re working with a good rake; there should be some bend to the tines to help you increase the amount of leaves captured per rake.
• Similarly, if your rake is causing you back or shoulder pain, consider purchasing a sturdy ergonomic rake for more comfort.
• Allow some build-up before heading out for a raking session; you’ll quickly drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with every falling leaf.
• As you rake, make sure you’re downwind to avoid extra work.
• Make sure to wear long pants and sleeves to protect your skin as you work in the yard.
• Finally, make sure you’re raking in small motions rather than long, big ones; not only will this help to effectively pick up more leaves, but it’ll boost your comfort!

Now that we’re officially in October, it’s probably time to begin storing some of those summer clothing items away for fall and winter. Here’s how to go about it:

• First, sort through your garments and weed out any items you don’t think you’ll wear again; these can be washed and donated.
• Next, take up the remaining “keepers” and wash as instructed before storing.
• Place the laundered garments in clean, air-tight containers, like plastic storage bins or hanging garment bags. Then, put the filled containers in a well-ventilated, out of the way area of your home.

And now that you’ve got all that extra wardrobe space, you can treat yourself to some new sweaters and coats as an added bonus!

Back-to-school supplies aren’t just limited to the classroom; you can also use an eraser to remove scuffs from your walls should they appear! You’ll want to use a white nylon eraser for this task to prevent staining, so try to avoid the standard pink varieties if possible. All you’ve got to do is rub the eraser over the scuff in question, and typically the problem area will be removed as easily as that. This method works particularly well on walls and kitchen floors, so just keep an eraser on hand nearby to prevent having to resort to deeper cleaning methods!

Now that fall weather seems to have set in for good, it’s time to take advantage of the milder temperatures to get your home in tip-top shape for winter. If you’ve got some free time this weekend, get to work removing unruly vines from the siding of your home; these can cause water damage, either from creating cracks in the walls, or by simply retaining moisture for long periods of time, so you should deal with them now as this winter is predicted to be a rough one. Work from the top down, pulling them away from the walls and cutting them at the base. Then, remove any roots that remain in the soil. This is a fairly simple task that could end up saving you a lot of time and money down the road, so take advantage of these sunny fall days and hop to it!

We don’t know about you, but for us, fall feels like the perfect time to go antiquing. And while it’s always exciting to find a great piece of vintage furniture to complement your home decor, it’s not so great to bring back a musty odor. Eliminate unpleasant smells with these super simple items:

• Charcoal: This is an affordable, all-natural solution to getting rid of musty odors; simply place a bag of small pieces inside the furniture item and leave it to rest for 1-2 days.
• Kitty Litter: Not just for cats! You can pour some into a bowl and then place inside the item, allowing at least 24 hours to absorb the unpleasant smells.
• Coffee: You can also place dry ground coffee into bowls to place inside the item in question, allowing at least 1 day to absorb the odors.
• Baking Soda: This is an inexpensive option that’s tried and true. Just place an open box inside the musty-smelling item for a couple of days to get rid of the unpleasant odor.

See? Easy! You’ll be soon able to enjoy that fantastic find sans musty smell!