§         Prepare the outdoors. Bring in your garden and lawn care equipment and outdoor toys and sports equipment to protect them from harsh winter weather. Drain your garden hoses before you bring them in, and treat the gas in your lawnmower with gas stabilizer fluid (available in hardware stores) to keep it fresh. You can store these seasonal items in your garage, shed, or basement. Don't worry about them being particularly reachable. You'll want to reserve your most accessible storage areas for items you use more often. If you can't bring your patio furniture or grill inside, clean and cover them to protect them from the elements.

Be prepared for snow and ice by putting snow shovels and de-icing compound in an easily accessible place. Put your shovels where you can get them without opening the door in case snow drifts prevent the doors from opening. Make sure your snow blower is ready to go with fuel and oil, and give it a tune-up if necessary. And now that the leaves have stopped falling (except for a few tenacious oak leaves), make sure your gutters are cleaned out.

§         Prepare the indoors. Make sure your home is ready to handle winter's arrival by installing a clean furnace filter, and having your furnace serviced if necessary. If you have a fireplace, clean it and have your chimney cleaned so they're ready to add warmth safely. Also, make sure you have firewood on hand or on order. You may want to put out area rugs and boot trays for the inevitable mess that will be trekked in once the snow starts flying. Remove and store window air conditioner units to prolong their life and prevent heat from escaping. If your storm windows have been removed for summer, it's time to put them back on duty. Now is also the time to see if you need additional weather stripping. 

§         Prepare for emergencies.  Although power outages can occur any time of year, the heavy snow and ice that are part of the winter experience can make power lines more susceptible to damage. Be ready for an outage by having a working generator (be sure it's used only in a well-ventilated area) that can run your furnace and refrigerator, at a minimum. Also, be sure to have available non-perishable food that doesn't require heating, a manual can opener, and 1 gallon of water per person per day (experts say to plan for 3 or 4 days). The following website provides more information about how to be prepared for any emergency, and can be helpful in preparing for a power outage: http://www.americaprepared.org/

§         Prepare your car. We've all seen news clips of cars stranded on highways during heavy snowstorms. Don't assume this could never happen to you; be prepared. Make sure your car has a thorough winter checkup, including a check of the battery, fluid levels, and tires. A bag of sand, road salt, or regular (not clumping) cat litter in your trunk can provide weight for better traction, and can also help if your tires are slipping as you try to move from a parked position. Be sure to have an ice scraper and snowbrush, jumper cables, and a small shovel to help move snow away from your tires. Have emergency supplies in your car in case you do break down, including flares or a reflective triangle, blankets, hats and gloves (enough for all potential passengers), a flashlight and batteries, non-perishable food, drinking water, and a first aid kit. You may even want to keep some of these items in a backpack in your trunk so you can take them with you if you have to abandon your car and travel by foot. 

Clearing the Garage Gives Cars a Home

The Situation: Andrew, a busy working dad, kept promising his wife he'd clean out the garage so they could actually park their cars in it. The garage contents, which at one time included only tools and gardening supplies, had mushroomed to include toys, bicycles, sporting equipment and camping supplies. Despite his best intentions, Andrew's late nights at work and weekends filled with family activities left him no time to organize the garage. As winter approached, his wife called me to help move the process along.

The Solution: After a telephone assessment with Andrew to make sure he was agreeable to getting our help, we spent several hours cleaning out and organizing his garage. We cleared out items his family no longer used, created logical groupings of the remaining items so similar things were kept together, and made the most of the vertical and ceiling space to store the remaining things. 

The Outcome: "From Piles to Smiles really got me out of a bind," joked Andrew. "My wife kept reminding me that I'd be scraping the ice and snow from her car if she couldn't park it in the garage, but the project seemed so overwhelming and time-consuming I just couldn't bring myself to get started. Sue helped me stay focused and her clearly outlined process moved us along very quickly to our goal of getting both cars in the garage. I'm glad to know I won't be spending winter mornings scraping windshields!"