Protect Your Home from Winter's Chill

Simple Household Fixes for the Cold Weather Season

As fall rolls in with winter close behind, home improvement experts say homeowners should take preventive measures and prepare for cold weather. Protecting the outside of your home can lower energy costs, while updates to the interior can warm up spaces where friends and family will gather for the holidays.

With seasonal projects that are both cost effective and improve the look of your home, there are plenty of options for do-it-yourselfers. Here are a few project ideas -- from easy to moderately difficult -- that'll help get you started.

Go Green All Year

Plants and gardens can suffer during the change of seasons if not properly cared for. "All perennial and annual flowers will eventually die off when it's cold," says Suzy Bales, garden editor for Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Save what you can of such plants, she recommends, by storing them outdoors in weatherproof containers made from metal, fiberglass or wood with lots of soil. You may also want to add some evergreens, which maintain their green color all year long and will last throughout the fall and winter months.

For a decorative touch, suggests Bales, hang your potted plants outside around the front door or along walkways.

For yard gardens, says Bales, do not cut down all of your plants: Leaving some foliage will protect the tops of smaller plants. To keep your garden looking lively throughout the colder months, she suggests using the fall to add greenery that thrives best in those conditions, such as pines, spruces, conifers, evergreens and azaleas.

In areas where your garden becomes bare, Bales recommends scattering compost recycled from trees or leaves. Doing this helps protect and nourish your garden.

Block Blustery Conditions

Two outdoor fixes you should perform during cold-weather months are gutter cleaning and caulking, according to America Online Home Improvement Editor Tom Kraeutler.

The former can protect your home during extreme conditions: Debris from trees and other items passed along by blowing winds can clog drains and create draining problems, explains Kraeutler, while clean gutters help homes' foundational structures because they keep excess rain water away and prevent the surrounding ground from becoming oversaturated -- which can cause your foundation to sink.

Caulking, meanwhile, is something else homeowners commonly neglect. Before winds pick up and snow starts to fall, Kraeutler recommends caulking to block air leaks around doors, windows and electric outlets. Doing this, he explains, prevents cold outside air from seeping into the home, thus lowering heating costs.

Gloom Be Gone

With the cold-weather months often bringing gray skies, repainting your interior walls can have a huge impact on the dynamic of your home, suggests Taniya Nayak, interior designer and expert for HGTV's "Designed to Sell." It's a fairly simple project you can do on your own, she says, and can be done in days or even hours depending on the number of rooms you plan to tackle.

When selecting colors, Nayak says to mix it up -- and don't match the wall color with the furniture. She also recommends staying away from dark, bold tones like reds and blues. Instead, suggesting neutral shades such as greens, beiges, and taupes that will brighten things up.

What's Old Is New Again

Do-it-yourselfers can also spruce up rooms in need of new life with simple tweaks. In the kitchen, suggests Nayak, consider updating the hardware. Replacing the knobs on cabinets and drawers can really modernize a room; be sure to stick to simple designs and remember to keep the same spread or distance between each. Nayak recommends stainless steel, which she likes for its clean lines and "sparkle."

Other rooms can be refreshed even more simply. Repositioning furniture will always revamp your home's look, says Nayak. This can be done practically anywhere -- experimenting with different angles can open up space and make a room more inviting. Winter is also a good time to reevaluate existing furniture, she suggests, removing unused pieces or replacing worn and tired ones.