The weather is getting warmer – rejoice! Don’t forget you need to transition your house for warmer weather along with your wardrobe. I’ve got you covered if you don’t know where to start.
I did a post on Sara in Season a few years ago about transitioning your house for cooler weather that I think was pretty helpful for folks. For some reason, I never did the opposite post. That hole in the blog ends today, though. Today we are going through all of things you should do to transition your house for warmer weather.
You need to pay attention to different things around your house in the warmer months than you do in the cooler months. Some of these things may be obvious, but some you may not even think about. Don’t put these tasks off until summer hits. Now is the time to think about what you need to focus on to transition your house for warmer weather before it gets really hot. Come transition your house for warmer weather with me!
Transition Your House for Warmer Weather
HVAC
When the weather warms, you’ll need to switch over your HVAC system from heating to cooling. This is one of the most obvious changes that you’ll need to make to transition your house for warmer weather. Even though it’s pretty obvious, let’s go through two things you should do with your HVAC system here in the Spring before the weather really turns.
Tune-up
Spring is the time to call in your HVAC service company to come take a look at your system. An air conditioner does you no good if it’s not working! Don’t wait until it’s 90°F outside and you can swim in your house to call in the professionals. This is especially true if you have little kids at home and you don’t want to have a sweltering, sleepless night.
Filter
You need to change your filter. Make sure that you’re breathing clean cool air when you start up your A/C. Keep those allergies and asthma attacks at bay!
Thermostat
Most of us nowadays have fancy thermostats that you can program to different set temperatures for different days of the week and/or times of the day. When you switch your system from heat to cool, you’ll need to re-program those set temperatures on your thermostat. Go ahead and bump them up a few degrees so you’re not living in a meat locker.
Windows & doors
When you transition your house for warmer weather, just like when you transition your house for cooler weather, you want to go around and check the weather stripping around your windows and doors. In the winter you don’t want cold air coming in, but in the summer, you don’t want it going out! If you see cracks or holes, head to the hardware store and buy yourself some new weather stripping and get busy! This is a project that will pay dividends, friends!
Ceiling fans
A sneaky helpful thing you can do when you transition your house for warmer weather is grab the step ladder and get to work on your ceiling fans. If you switch their direction (to counter-clockwise!) to push air down, you’ll create a wind chill in your room. While you’re up there switching your fans’ directions, give them a good dust. They need it.
Fireplace
If you have a fireplace that you used during the winter, now’s the time to get it ready to be dormant for the next several months. For wood burning fireplaces, remove any ashes that may remain and store your fireplace tools (or else risk your kids impaling one another). Have a gas fireplace? You’re not off the hook. Now is the time to extinguish the pilot light or turn off the gas that runs to the unit.
Clean
There’s a reason that Spring Cleaning is a thing. It feels so good to purge winter and transition your house for warmer weather by starting fresh with a clean space. If you don’t know where to start with Spring Cleaning, here are my Spring Cleaning priorities, in order.
Indoor swaps
In addition to the bigger changes you can make indoors to transition your house for warmer weather I just discussed, there are lots of smaller indoor swaps you can make to help get ready for summer. We’ll handle these pretty quickly.
Bedding
It’s time to pack away the heavy duvet and the flannel sheets. Unless you are my husband, you don’t want to be sleeping with all this thick material moving forward. Instead, bring out the quilt and the cotton or linen sheets. This simple bedding swap will keep you cool while you sleep, which will lead to much better sleep all around. Who doesn’t need better sleep?
Kitchen
You could probably do with a kitchen transition too.
Fabric
It’s time to brighten things up in your kitchen. Swap your darker colored kitchen towels and placemats or tablecloth out for something a little lighter and brighter. Heck, throw in a floral if the spirit moves you!
Appliances
You probably don’t stop to think about this, but you probably use different kitchen appliances in the warmer months than in the colder months. Take a few minutes now to reorganize a bit so the warmer weather-friendly appliances are more easily accessible. Shove your Dutch oven to the back of the cabinet and bring the ice cream maker forward, for example.
Store winter accessories
If your mud room looks anything like mine, there are winter accessories everywhere. Coats, gloves, hats, and boots are strewn everywhere. Now is a great time to gather up all these winter-specific items and store them away. We stash our smaller accessories in a bin that lives in our basement closet, we launder and store our coats in the coat closet, and line up the boots under the basement stairs. Out of sight, out of mind!
Porch
Get ready to use your porch again, people!
Furniture
It’s time to return to outdoor living, which means you’ll need somewhere to sit on your porch. If you cover your patio furniture for the winter, take the covers off and store them. We move most of our patio furniture to winter in the garage, so we will be shuttling it back to the patio. If you have young kids who have larger outdoor toys that will live outside over the warmer months, now is the time to get those out too!
Clean
Your porch probably looks a little nasty right about now. Before you are going to be living out there more often, give your porch a good clean. Sweep or leaf blow the debris off the floor, wipe down the furniture, and make sure your grills or other outdoor cooking devices are sparkling and ready to go!
Pest control
It’s time to call your pest control company! The humans come out when it gets warmer, but so do the bugs. Don’t let bugs ruin your ability to enjoy the great outdoors. Call your pest control company to come do their annual service.
Lawn maintenance
One of the bummers of the weather warming up is all the lawn work you need to do. Have a plan and suck it up, buttercup.
Service lawn equipment
Every year at this time, my husband’s main job is to service the lawn equipment. He changes the oil all of his tools, and makes sure everything is gassed up and ready to go. If the lawn equipment is in your husband’s purview too, give him some time to check this item off your list to transition your house for warmer weather.
Plant maintenance
Your plants and grass might need some love right about now too. Clean up any debris that might have accumulated over the winter. Top off your topsoil and add some mulch. Now is also a great time to fertilize your plants and your grass.
Garden
If you plant a garden of either flowers or edibles (fruits and veggies) in the Spring, now is the time to get it ready. The garden is not my area of expertise, but I have watched what my husband does in the Spring, so I will share what he does. First, he clears out the garden beds. Then, he tills the soil to ready it for planting later in the Spring. That’s it!
If you’re starting seeds for veggies, this is also the right time to get that process started.
Gutters
Next up on the list of things to do to transition your house for warmer weather is to deal with your gutters. Spring showers have started and will continue for a while, so you want your gutters to be in good working order. To make sure they are working well, it’s imperative that you clean out your gutters. Take a leaf blower to your gutters, remove the debris by hand, or hire a professional if you have serious clogs.
Store snow removal items
If you live in a place that got snow this winter, it’s time to clean up the snow removal mess. We put away our snow shovels/rock salt, drain the gas in the snowblower, and put the sleds away. This doesn’t take long, but it will really make you feel like winter is in your rearview mirror. It’s a huge help to your mental health!
Other posts
If you’re interested in other around-the-house tips, check out these posts:
I hope you’ve found this a helpful guide for how to transition your house for warmer weather this Spring. What else do you do to get your house ready for summer? Let me know in the comments down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason.