Fall usually arrives too soon, sneaking in the back door while you’re still on the porch kissing summer good-bye…all of a sudden you find yourself indoors again, and WHOA!!-what happened to my house?

Instead of seeing all you haven’t done/should do, or striving to achieve overall semi-perfection…again… and making yourself crazy/cranky/etc in the process, how about taking care of  some oft-neglected corners of your home?

Here are the first few of my favorite high-impact, long-lasting,  quick fall fix-its that are easy, cost you less than $50.00; I guarantee any of them  will elevate your sense of personal well-being, and increase the enjoyment of your home. 

1. Paint your front door  Don’t remember how I stumbled upon this but am oh-so-glad I did! Susan Herin is an afficianado of all things house and home-oriented, living outside of Atlanta. Between Naps On The Porch is her blog, and whenever I read one of her posts, I am transported to a lovely, gracious world.

On it, Susan hosts 2 different blog parties, Metamorphsis Monday and Tablescape Thursdays, but here is link to an absolutely delightful blog post I found this summer about what the color of your front door says about you. http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-color-is-your-front-door.html May we all aspire to red front doors, and thank you Susan for sharing!

2  Get your closets in order. Purge with abandon. Holding on to clothes-things-that don’t suit us anymore is really quite a burden.  You’ll find a list of happy recipients for everything from kid’s clothes to old linens on the Good Turns page on my website.

Then, replace your hangers with new, matching hangers. Not going all Joan-Crawford on you here (remember, Mommie Dearest was not fond of wire hangers), but toss all those old and nasty hangers from department stores and dry-cleaners long gone.

Not saying you need new, hand-sewn silk paisley cushioned jobbies; but until you try it, you won’t believe the difference a few dozen decent hangers can make. BBB, Container Store, KMart all have very reasonably priced offerings.

Seal the deal by putting your clothes in color order, light to dark. Scoff if you want, but see how much more civilized you’ll feel.

3. Do some interior landscaping Cultivating indoor greenery was a novel thought in 1652, when Sir Hug Platt, an English country gentleman and horticulturist first wrote about it. Designing greenhouses and conservatories-bringing the outdoors in- quickly became a pursuit of the privileged.  Happily, you  need neither a staff or a trust fund to pursue this now.

Plants can scrub the air of certain harmful chemicals, as well as adding oxygen, now that our windows will be kept closed, it’s time to take care of our friends.

Replace plants that are not well, re-pot the overgrown, cut back the straggly, and fertilize them all. New dirt will add nutrients, and by supporting the base of the plant with a higher mound of dirt, you  encourage new roots to form, and stregnthen existing roots. 

Paperwhite bulbs should be available soon. Buy a bag-maybe $6.00 for 8?-place them in a bowl, supported by a layer of pebbles and add enough water to come to the top of the pebbles, and prepare to marvel. As the days get shorter, you’ll find new life unfolding-not to mention the wonderful scent-to be a wonderful boost.

NEXT: Viva la cucina, and sweet dreams!!

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