Give your home a festive holiday air without running out of steam, and stay safe and snug as temperatures drop

The weather may be turning chillier and the leaves disappearing, but with Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approaching, you’re likely to have a bustle of activity indoors. Get ahead of things this November by checking these 12 items off your to-do list, and rest easy in a cleaner, cozier home.

Tired of your blank plaster walls because everything you try to hang just leaves a big hole? Stumped by how to put a picture on that brick accent wall?

Well, get ready to start decorating because Shutterfly has just the guide to solve these problems, explaining how to hang anything on every surface of your house.

Keeping yourself and your family warm during the winter months isn’t cheap, and we often wonder how we can keep the heat in the house and away from our bills. Here are a few simple tips that will keep you toasty, without burning through your cash.

The humble window treatment is stealing the scene with fresh patterns, color and pizzazz

In the past the roller shade has perhaps received second billing to window coverings such as draperies or Roman shades. Traditional white roller shades have been the humbler, less flashy option. But a new crop of shades is changing perceptions of the window treatment. These models are equipped with pattern, color and personality.

Get inspired for budget-friendly fall decorating by a resourceful stylist’s thrifty but sophisticated adornments

Sarah Macklem’s children have different ideas about Halloween decorating than their mother has.

“The kids love severed body parts and all that stuff,” says Macklem with a good-natured shudder. A home stylist based in suburban Detroit, she forgoes disembodied limbs for a seasonal decorating style that looks elegantly understated, but is sourced largely from thrift stores and discount retailers.

To keep things sophisticated, Macklem builds upon her home’s black and white palette, overlaying touches of autumnal color in things like dishes and towels, while rendering familiar objects in unfamiliar ways. (White ceramic pumpkins, anyone?) Her seasonal handiwork goes up around Labor Day and culminates in a neighborhood Halloween party at her house.

“Decorating is my life,” says Macklem, “and I take advantage of every opportunity I have to do it.”