By ELIZABETH SCRUGGS
It’s finally here! Or it will be, officially, on Sunday, September 22nd. Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. The process of cozying up my home for fall makes me giddy. There’s nothing like the smell of apple cider on the stove, spice scented candles filling the air, and the crackle of a fire in the fireplace.
Along with the beautiful décor of the season, there is football, the beginning of school, (all the fresh school supplies on the shelves lure me in like a child to candy!), hayrides, homecomings, bonfires, new fall television shows, warm soups and stews- and did I mention football? So with the arrival of the season, let’s start out with a few easy ways to decorate your home. Create a display at your entry with stacked pumpkins and mums and throw in some cornstalks if you have the room. In your kitchen, fill some apothecary jars with pinecones, apples, or miniature pumpkins and gourds. Burlap is wonderful to decorate with in the fall- the texture and color are great. Bunch some in the center of your table, and place a large empty pumpkin in the center filled with mums and pansies. Bring out your fall cookbooks and put one on display on the kitchen counter, along with some fall scented candles.
If you go online or shop much at all, then you’ve noticed the craze of subway art. Subway art is the art of words combined in different fonts arranged in a 
creative fashion. There are tons of them out there, but I made a little fall printable just for our readers that you can download off my site and the Wilson Living Magazine site. Pop this into a dollar store frame and put it on your foyer table to greet your guests.
Along with decorating your home for fall, there are some maintenance items you’ll want to put on your checklist.
• If you have a cutoff, turn the water supply off to your outside faucets. After you turn it off, drain the last of the water out of the faucet. If you don’t have a cutoff, place an insulated cover over the faucet.
• Close the foundation vents.
• Have your heating system cleaned and inspected.
• Change the air filters in your returns at least once a month. This should be done all year long. Write the date you changed it on the filter so you will know when it is time for a new one.
• If you have a wood burning fireplace, keep the wood stacked off the ground on a rack and away from the house.
• Check the weather stripping around your doors and windows. If you can see any daylight or feel and drafts at all, replace the stripping.
Yet another reason to love this time of year is that school begins! Even if you don’t have children, or yours are already grown and gone, you have to love the fact that the hustle and bustle of traffic slows down during the day, the stores are less crowded, and things seem to take on more of a routine.
If you do have school aged children, here are a few ideas to help with your crazy school nights filled with practices and homework.
• Create a study area by having a space designated just for that. This doesn’t have to be a large area, even just a seat the kitchen table. Have a caddy filled with all the necessary supplies such as pens, pencils, notebook paper, glue sticks, scissors, rulers, and markers that you can pull out and put in the space when it’s time for homework.
• Create a lunch tray in the fridge by placing all the ingredients you need to get lunch ready for the kiddos in one spot. When it’s time to make lunches, pull out the tray and you’re ready.
• Create a landing space- a command central of sorts. This will be where you keep a calendar, all school information, schedules, and things needed to start and end your day stress free.
Go to my blog on www. wilsonlivingmagazine.com to print off “Subway Art” exclusively for our Wilson Living Magazine readers.
