As soon as the winter weather slows, our minds inevitably seem to skip past spring and begin preparation for summer—or more accurately, where we’ll be going on our next summer vacation. Before you get lost in the planning and packing that goes along with every trip, though, it’s crucial that you make sure your home is ready to be on its own when you leave. At Riverside Homebuilder, we understand how important your home is to you, so we’ve put together a checklist for you to ensure that your home stays safe while you’re away. 

Save on energy where you can

On the matter of safety as well as energy consumption, it’s best to make sure you take the time and unplug all of your small appliances including any toasters, blenders, coffee machines and everything in between. Even when they’re not in use, when these items are plugged in, they are still consistently using a small amount of energy. To ensure that you’re saving even more energy wherever possible, you can also make the full rounds and unplug your televisions, computers and even your WiFi router if you’d like. 

Another way to save on energy would be to check your thermostat. Get in the habit of checking what the temperature will be like when you’re away and set your thermostat slightly higher than that to ensure that it’s not working harder than it needs to when you won’t be at home.

Give your home a quick clean

Even though you might have already gone through your spring cleaning checklist, that doesn’t mean your cleaning days are over and done with. To ensure that your relaxing summer mood isn’t spoiled as soon as you walk through the front door, it’s a great idea to quickly give your home an easy sweeping clean—you’ll thank yourself as soon as you return from your trip. 

If you don’t have time for a full cleaning routine, there are still a few places in particular that you’ll want to make sure you don’t glance over—and your fridge is one of those places. Fresh produce and any dairy products are typically the items with the shortest shelf life and the ones you want to make sure you don’t leave sitting in the fridge, waiting to expire while you’re away. Once you’ve finished going through each item, remember to take out the trash one last time to leave your home as fresh as possible.

Make plans for your houseplants

Having houseplants can sometimes take a turn for the worse when you forget to plan ahead for them before you leave for vacation—but there are a few ways you can ensure they are taken care of when you’re not around. For cacti, your planning can be fairly straightforward as they won’t need as much care as other plants. Watering them before you leave will usually ensure that they are in perfect health as soon as you return. Having a neighbor or family member stop by your home every few days to water your remaining plants or looking into some self-watering features or pots that are on the market today will ensure that your houseplants are getting all of the care they need when you're not around.

Enjoy your Riverside home this summer

While taking a vacation to a far off destination is always nice, there’s nothing quite like spending the summer relaxing in your Riverside home. If you’ve been thinking about building a new home throughout some of the incredible neighborhoods our team loves to build in—give us a call at (817) 601-6230 or fill out our online form today to start the journey to your dream home.