Wow! It only seems like yesterday we were celebrating a New Year and here we are almost ready to begin the summer!

If you’re like most of us, we’re sure the winter months have been tough on your home. Things may have fallen into disrepair — or are at least a bit of a mess — so to get your home ready for summer check out these four simple steps!

Clean or repair broken window screens.

When you closed out the season last year your screens might have seemed as if they were in good condition, but a harsh winter can lead to tears and holes in old screens. But no worries…. there are some easy fixes to this very common dilemma!

To fix a small hole in the screen push the mesh back into place and then seal it with clear nail polish. If your screens have a rip or tear in them, take a trip down to your local hardware store and look for a screen repair kit. Follow the directions provided by the manufacturer and your torn screen(s) will be back in tip-top shape in no time at all!

If your screen is badly damaged and beyond repair you’ll need to look at replacing it completely, but you can always salvage the material from parts of the old screen to repair other damaged screens in the future.

Organize your kitchen cabinets.

Kitchen cabinets can become a cluttered mess in the blink of an eye. If this is the case with your kitchen cabinets take a little time to get organized.

At TheRTAStore we have a wide variety of inside cabinet storage solutions from our Pull-Out Shelving system, which can be used to store glassware or spices, to our Woven Baskets, which can be used to store food products like onions and potatoes. Stop by our Inside Cabinet Accessories and take a look!

Change the direction of your ceiling fans.

Are your rooms feeling a little too warm when you run your ceiling fans during the summer? If so, that’s another easy fix! Flip the switch on your ceiling fan and change the direction the blades rotate.
Making this easy change will help to keep you and your rooms cooler during the long hot summer months.

Prep your backyard.

Things can become quite messy and grimy over the winter months, and if you didn’t take the time to do a little outdoor cleaning during the spring, you still have time to get it together before the middle of the summer is upon you.

A few things you can do to get your yard ready are:

• Prune your yard for any weeds that might have grown up in between your plants.
• Power-wash your deck, patio or concrete areas.
• Get your grill ready by giving it a good cleaning.
• Clean your gutters and down spurts.
• Bring out your patio furniture and clean it.

These are just a few suggestions, but we’re sure once you get into the grove of pulling things together, your backyard will have gone from an utter mess to a true oasis for the summer.