Fall resolve

November 1 is the new January 1. To many homeowners, the extra hour added early this morning means more than turning back the hour hands on their collection of clocks.

It means new resolutions to decorate, maintain and repair their homes inside and out for fall and winter.

A neutral foundation works best when spicing up a living room with orange or red, said David Christopher Smith, owner of David Christopher's, a gift and decor store in Florence.

"Browns are probably the most popular color right now as far as it becoming a neutral for everyday, but it's also more popular during fall and holiday seasons," he said. "For Christmas, you can also use your reds and golds with browns."

Brown works good in a sofa or wood accent piece, too, he said.

If a large change to home interior is out of budget, pillows are inexpensive in comparison. But steer away from fussy designs.

"The pillow trend has definitely gone more toward less fringe and decorative accents," Smith said. "It's more of a very plain woven pillow. It's more of a clean style. You can have a little pattern but it's not an over-the-top-pattern."

Table centerpieces are another way to accent minimal fall decor.

Low and compact arrangements with pumpkins, feathers and dried flowers contrast with tall pieces that spill over their containers, Smith said.

Christmas centerpieces go a step

further, adding glitter to natural

concoctions.

"Everyone still wants it to have that bright cheery look especially during this season because it's a down economic time," Smith said. "They want it be cheery. "I think it makes people remember their childhood more."

For those with more green tendencies, a house plant adds more than the wispy, feather patterned leaves of a peace lily or the creeping foliage of English ivy. Such plants filter air of impurities from everyday living such as toxic household cleaners. Just be sure to place them in rooms with access to sunlight.

"As long as you've got the adequate light for them, I don't think you can have too many," said Chris Becker, regional extension agent of home grounds for the Colbert County Extension Office.

He recommends one 6-inch plant for every 100 square feet.

Besides their aesthetic and purifying values, house plants add another chore to the list, but it often turns out to be a calming one.

"There's different benefits -

they'll give you the psychological benefit of taking care of something," Becker

said.

Perhaps saving on utility bills also leaves a psychological benefit. Regardless, Danny Lipford, home improvement expert for The Weather Channel, likes to save during cool months.

October, before temperatures regularly dip below freezing, is the time to winterize your home, Lipford said. He suggests weather stripping spaces that air escapes through including windows and door frames.

Lipford advises homeowners to remember less obvious spaces, too, using peel and stick tape.

"One of the things that is often neglected is the disappearing stairway that goes to the attic that most of the time is not weather stripped properly," he said. "If heat rises, it penetrates into the attic, you lose money."

To find hard to see openings, use a hair dryer around the perimeter of a door frame and have another person on the other side of the door to see if air escapes outside, said Lipford, who's based in Mobile. Seal the space with expandable foam.

If heating systems have not been serviced in a year get them checked and replace furnace filters every few months.

Heat hiked to 75 degrees or a furnace going full blast isn't always necessary if you take advantage of free energy - the sun.

"During sunny days when it still may be cold, open curtains to let the sun's heat warm the house and close them at night to trap heat," Lipford said. "That will help keep your house warm without spending so much money."

Prepping for winter goes beyond thinking of inside heat. Protect lawn mowers used in warm months by draining gasoline to prevent it from condensating inside the engine and causing rust. Don't forget other lawn equipment.

"Certainly any of your tools that you will not be using in the winter ... it's great to spray some kind of lubricant on them so they won't be in the garage rusting away," Lipford said.

Jennifer Crossley can be reached at 740-5743 or jennifer.crossley.timesdaily.com.