Fall is a favorite season for many people. It is the time of year when weekends are spent apple picking, visiting the local pumpkin patch, and making the home warm and cozy once again with fall decor! Decorating for fall can be easy and pest free. Here are a few easy to use decoration tips and ideas for your fall decorating:

• Use lots of natural elements, like flowers, leaves, corn husks, hay etc., which not only look pretty, but are economical!

• Use a lot of warm natural colors- oranges, reds, browns, greens, and yellows to bring a touch of warmth to both the inside and outside of your home.

• Use hay bales, corn husks, pumpkins, and mums together to decorate any outdoor space. They are relatively inexpensive and can generally be found at any local store or nursery. Planting mums in a hollowed out pumpkin is a simple way to dress up a front porch or walkway.

• Create simple centerpieces to bring the feeling of fall indoors. A simple centerpiece idea for your table is to take a tall glass vase and place a colorful pillar candle inside, then surround the candle with dried corn kernels. Another centerpiece idea is to take a few small pumpkins and paint them white, gold and silver and place in a decorative bowl.

• Simple fall wreaths or rustic banners can be created, or if you are not the crafty type, purchased to add some life to a front door or to a fireplace mantel.

• Place fall themed decorative pillows and throw blankets in rooms throughout your home to bring a bit of the outside inside.

Here at Thomas, we want your home to look great for fall, but we also want to make sure that you are taking the necessary steps to prevent pests from invading your home. If precautions are not taken pests may use your fall decorations as a place to feed and hide in.

• Inspect items like flowers, hay, and pumpkins for insect or rodent activity before purchasing and introducing the items to your property. Regularly inspect outdoor fall decorations for signs of pest activity or mold and if any is noticed get rid of the items immediately.

• If any DIY decorations were created using edible items-acorns, cranberries, gourds, or like items, discard them after you are finished with them. Don’t store edible items in your home until the next fall, insects and rodents will infest these types’ items to use as a food source.

• Place any decorations that you will be saving in plastic containers with tight fitting lids. This will keep pests like rodents, roaches, and ants from invading and nesting in them.

• Use dehumidifiers in storage areas like basements, attics, and crawl spaces to keep humidity levels low and deter pests.

We hope that these tips help you to decorate your home for fall and enjoy the season with your family pest-free. If pests do happen to make your fall decorations their home, give us a call and our technicians will be happy to eliminate them as quickly as possible!