Swap Your Way From Summer to Fall

Your iced latte served you well through the heat and humidity. Now it’s time to let it retire gracefully and welcome back its warm counterpart. Fill the tea drawer with chamomile and chai, restock the coffee and keep the hot chocolate within reach for the moment you want to wrap both hands around a warm mug and settle in.

Those crisp cotton sheets kept you from waking up in a human puddle all summer, now the bed feels a little too breezy when you climb in at night. Bring out the flannel sheets or heavier duvet and make your bed so ridiculously inviting that getting up becomes tomorrow’s problem.

That bright overhead light felt fine when the sun stuck around until 9 p.m. Now that darkness is clocking in earlier and earlier, it can make the room feel more like a fluorescent department store dressing room. Swap it for a warm lamp and let the room soften with the evening.

Those bright citrus and floral scents were perfect for summer, all zesty and fresh like you’d just walked through a garden. But they feel a little out of place once the air gets a little cooler. Reach for something woody and spicy instead, the kind of scent that makes pulling on a sweater and settling onto the couch feel like the only reasonable plan.

That folded throw you shoved into the closet the minute the weather warmed up a degree deserves a triumphant return to the couch. Swap the fan for the blanket and leave it somewhere within grabbing distance, because nothing says September quite like starting the evening in a T-shirt and ending it burritoed on the sofa.

Those bare hardwood floors looked all sleek and minimalist all summer, but the second the temperature drops they feel like tiny ice rinks that ambush your feet before you've even had your first coffee. Roll out a plush rug where your toes land most and give them a much warmer welcome.

Bare feet were footloose and fancy free for the past few months, but now your toes are cursing you every time they hit the cold floor. It’s time to reach for the big fuzzy socks that turn a quick trip to the kitchen into a full-on shuffle.

It’s time to relocate the tank tops to the back of the drawer and pull the sweaters forward. That oversized hoodie is about to see more action than half your wardrobe combined. It'll be the thing you throw on for coffee runs, couch marathons and every chilly moment in between. Don't fight it.

Summer anthems are loud, sweaty and fun, the kind you'd blast from a boombox hoisted on your shoulder at the beach. September wants something mellower, the kind of song that pairs with rain on the window. Put on a track with a little soul, pour yourself something warm and let the afternoon take its sweet time.

Your gauzy summer curtains let every ounce of golden light pour in but now that the evenings arrive early and the drafts sneak through, it's time for something with more weight. Heavier drapes keep the cozy in and the chill out, like tucking the whole room in for the night.

Your flip flops happily carried you through every barbecue, beach day and quick trip to the mailbox, but that slap-slap sound is ready to be replaced now that boot season has arrived. Tuck them away and slide into boots, because you can stay emotionally attached to summer and still admit your feet are cold.