This Weekend: Spruce Up Your Reading Spot, Pick Apples and More
Visit an orchard and make a pie with your bounty, cozy up your book nook or plan your next home project
Laura Gaskill
September 13, 2018
Houzz Contributor. I cover decorating ideas, Houzz tours & the monthly home maintenance checklist. My favorite pieces to write center around the emotional aspects of home and savoring life's simple pleasures. Decluttering course + discount for Houzzers: https://www.lauragaskill.com/welcome-houzzers
Houzz Contributor. I cover decorating ideas, Houzz tours & the monthly home maintenance... More
With the official start of fall arriving soon, this is a good weekend to tidy up the yard and then get cozy indoors with a good book (and maybe a slice of apple pie). Seven could-dos for a satisfying weekend are ahead, including apple picking, garden journals, desk organizing, reading nooks and rainy day essentials.
1. Set Up a Cozy Reading Nook
Take some time this weekend to declutter the space on and around your comfiest reading spot. Then bring in a few cozy comforts to make your reading experience a little sweeter — like a footstool, a soft throw blanket and a small potted plant or bud vase filled with flowers. Pour yourself some hot tea or cider, curl up with a good book and savor your spruced-up nook.
15 Cozy Book Nooks and What They Want You to Read
Browse footstools
Take some time this weekend to declutter the space on and around your comfiest reading spot. Then bring in a few cozy comforts to make your reading experience a little sweeter — like a footstool, a soft throw blanket and a small potted plant or bud vase filled with flowers. Pour yourself some hot tea or cider, curl up with a good book and savor your spruced-up nook.
15 Cozy Book Nooks and What They Want You to Read
Browse footstools
2. Price Out a Home Project You’ve Been Dreaming Of
Wishing for custom storage to corral entryway clutter, beautifully refinished floors or a media wall to tame the TV? Go on a fact-finding mission this weekend and see if you can fill in a few specifics, like how much your project may cost and how long it will take to complete. Browsing home improvement articles on Houzz can be a good place to start. And when you’re ready to take the next step, call a few local pros to get estimates for the work.
Find home pros near you
Wishing for custom storage to corral entryway clutter, beautifully refinished floors or a media wall to tame the TV? Go on a fact-finding mission this weekend and see if you can fill in a few specifics, like how much your project may cost and how long it will take to complete. Browsing home improvement articles on Houzz can be a good place to start. And when you’re ready to take the next step, call a few local pros to get estimates for the work.
Find home pros near you
3. Organize Your Work (or Homework) Space
With back-to-school energy in the air, September is a good time to give your home office a little love. Sort through the piles of paper, toss out dry pens and wipe down the surface of your desk. Then bring in something pretty to keep you inspired as you work, like a green plant, a vintage globe, artwork or found treasures from nature. Have kids at home? Work together to tidy up their homework zone too.
Stylish Makeover for a Garage Office in Colorado
With back-to-school energy in the air, September is a good time to give your home office a little love. Sort through the piles of paper, toss out dry pens and wipe down the surface of your desk. Then bring in something pretty to keep you inspired as you work, like a green plant, a vintage globe, artwork or found treasures from nature. Have kids at home? Work together to tidy up their homework zone too.
Stylish Makeover for a Garage Office in Colorado
4. Go Apple Picking
It’s apple season, which means many orchards are open for picking. Search Local Harvest to find a U-Pick orchard in your area, then head out for a day of apple picking and farm fun. Most orchards stock a shop with apples and fresh cider, so there’s no need to pick in the field unless you want to. And if you bring home more than you can eat, consider making homemade applesauce or apple pie. Bonus: It will make your house smell like fall.
Warm Up Fall With an Apple Pie Party at Home
Find canning supplies
It’s apple season, which means many orchards are open for picking. Search Local Harvest to find a U-Pick orchard in your area, then head out for a day of apple picking and farm fun. Most orchards stock a shop with apples and fresh cider, so there’s no need to pick in the field unless you want to. And if you bring home more than you can eat, consider making homemade applesauce or apple pie. Bonus: It will make your house smell like fall.
Warm Up Fall With an Apple Pie Party at Home
Find canning supplies
5. Get Ready for Rainy Weather
Outfit your entryway for rainy days with a sturdy umbrella holder and doormats both inside and outside the front door.
Also stock the entry with a tray for holding dripping boots and a basket of old towels for mopping up puddles on the floor.
While you’re at it, check to be sure you have a properly working umbrella and a raincoat for yourself too.
Outfit your entryway for rainy days with a sturdy umbrella holder and doormats both inside and outside the front door.
Also stock the entry with a tray for holding dripping boots and a basket of old towels for mopping up puddles on the floor.
While you’re at it, check to be sure you have a properly working umbrella and a raincoat for yourself too.
6. Do an End-of-Summer Cleanup
The tail end of summer is a good time to clean up and maintain your outdoor spaces before wintry weather arrives. Give your grill a thorough cleaning, disconnect the propane and put on a cover to protect it from the elements. Clean and seal wood decking if it needs it. And if you won’t be using your outdoor spaces any more this year, roll up and store outdoor rugs and furniture cushions.
10 End-of-Summer Cleanup Tips for Outdoor Spaces
Find outdoor storage boxes
The tail end of summer is a good time to clean up and maintain your outdoor spaces before wintry weather arrives. Give your grill a thorough cleaning, disconnect the propane and put on a cover to protect it from the elements. Clean and seal wood decking if it needs it. And if you won’t be using your outdoor spaces any more this year, roll up and store outdoor rugs and furniture cushions.
10 End-of-Summer Cleanup Tips for Outdoor Spaces
Find outdoor storage boxes
7. Take Garden Notes for Next Year
What worked well in your garden this year and what would you like to do differently next time? Sit down with your garden journal (or start one if you haven’t yet) and take note of what you have learned. If you’re not sure what to record, here are a few ideas for getting started:
More
10 Reasons to Start Keeping a Garden Journal
Welcome the Turning Season: Advice for Your September Garden
10 Ways to Get That Back-to-School Feeling (for Grown-Ups)
What worked well in your garden this year and what would you like to do differently next time? Sit down with your garden journal (or start one if you haven’t yet) and take note of what you have learned. If you’re not sure what to record, here are a few ideas for getting started:
- List the best-tasting veggie varieties from your garden.
- Make a sketch of where spring bulbs are planted.
- List flowers you would like to add to your garden next year.
- Note major projects or changes you would like to make, such as adding an edible garden or redoing the patio.
More
10 Reasons to Start Keeping a Garden Journal
Welcome the Turning Season: Advice for Your September Garden
10 Ways to Get That Back-to-School Feeling (for Grown-Ups)
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beverlynn, I'll spend some time reading Sudden Sea about the New England hurricane of '38, an old article in Yankee about that same hurricane and Isaac's Storm about the hurricane of 1900 that hit Galveston, TX and killed about 12,000 people. I might even pick up Al Roker's book on the Galveston hurricane tomorrow at Barnes and Noble. If the hurricane reading gets too grim, I've always got Crazy Rich Asians and Mansfield Park to read.
Hoping to enjoy the sun while it is here, last night was as foggy as wet cotton balls. And then pick pole beans and greens and enjoy the wild bees on the sunflowers. And make blueberry/huckleberry jam.
My heart goes out to the Carolinas.
Here's a prayer for those in the Carolina's as well.