Now is the time to lift or move tender summer plants before that first, unexpected hard frost hits, then store them according to what they are. Dormant bulbs and rhizomes need cool, dry, frost-free conditions, while evergreen plants may need light and occasional water. Your location, first-frost date, and winter soil drainage all matter; soggy storage can be as damaging as freezing temperatures.

The reward for this small fall rescue mission is a stronger display next year, often from plants that have grown into bigger clumps or produced more bulbs. I check stored roots and containers at least once a month, as a quick inspection can catch rot before it spreads, and is far less melancholy than opening a box of garden compost in spring.

For the broader seasonal routine, the phrase 'overwinter a garden' is a useful starting point. To keep this particular job manageable, gather your winterizing tools before you dig, including breathable bags, labels, and shallow trays. These stackable storage baskets from Amazon make it easier to dry and sort small bulbs and rhizomes.

Tuberose (Agave amica)

Tuberose (Agave amica, formerly Polianthes tuberosa) earns its place in a summer garden with tall stems of waxy white flowers and a fragrance that seems to have been composed for a grand entrance. It is tender, though, and frost can finish it off. In colder regions, grow it in a pot or lift the bulbs before freezing weather.

Once the foliage begins to yellow, let the plant dry down and lift the bulbs gently. Brush away loose soil and let them dry in a warm, airy spot. Store them in a paper bag or ventilated tray somewhere cool and frost-free, checking occasionally for shriveling or rot. In spring, pot them up somewhere warm and bright to get growth underway before moving them outside after frost has passed.

Tuberose is often treated as a tender perennial in warmer climates, but its winter tolerance depends on drainage and local conditions. For more planting advice, see how to grow tuberose. Label bulbs by variety before you store them; waterproof garden labels from Amazon are a simple way to avoid spring’s annual game of 'what on earth did I plant?'

Pineapple Lily (Eucomis sp.)

Pineapple lily (Eucomis sp.) has a flower spike topped with a jaunty tuft of leaves, as if it has dressed for a tropical holiday and accidentally arrived in your border. It generally suits USDA Zones 7–10, but wet winter soil can be a problem even where temperatures are relatively mild.

In colder zones, lift the bulbs after the foliage dies back and dry them before storage. Keep them in a cool, frost-free place in a breathable bag or crate. If yours grows in a container, you can bring the pot under cover and let the plant rest; avoid leaving the compost waterlogged. In spring, replant once hard freezes have passed.

A clay-heavy yard can make lifting the safer choice, since winter damp may rot the bulbs. Our guide to unusual summer bulbs has more inspiration for next year’s planting. A breathable bulb-storage bag from Amazon lets air circulate around dry bulbs while keeping varieties separate.

Calla Lily (Zantedeschia sp.)

Calla lilies (Zantedeschia sp.) bring a clean, sculptural elegance to pots and borders. Their rhizomes can remain outdoors in milder regions, generally USDA Zones 8 and warmer, if the soil drains freely and winters avoid prolonged freezes. In colder zones, bring them in.

Wait until flowering finishes and the foliage begins to yellow. Reduce watering, then lift the rhizomes or remove them from their pots. Let them dry, brush off excess soil, and store them in a breathable bag or box in a cool, dry, frost-free place. Check them through winter and discard any that turn soft or show rot.

If your callas are already in pots, you can keep the containers somewhere sheltered and dry rather than disturbing the rhizomes. See how to winterize calla lilies for advice by climate.

For a fresh start next season, wide, frost-resistant pots from Amazon give rhizomes room without making them sit in excess water.

Agapanthus

Agapanthus (Agapanthus sp.), or African lily, sends up rounded flower heads that look particularly good in a sunny border or large container. Many varieties are hardy in warmer parts of the country, but gardeners in colder areas, often USDA Zone 7 and below, may need to protect or lift them.

Deciduous varieties can be cut back after foliage dies down and stored in a cool, frost-free spot. Always use clean and sharp pruning tools to do this, like these Fiskars bypass pruning shears from Lowe's.

Evergreen types need a different arrangement: pot them up, if necessary, and overwinter somewhere bright and sheltered, watering sparingly so the roots do not dry out completely. In milder zones, a thick mulch may be enough, provided the soil drains well.

The right method depends on the variety as well as the zone, so check the plant label before cutting everything back. Our guide to winterizing agapanthus explains the options. I’d use a sturdy nursery pot from Amazon for moving a clump under cover; the handles are a kindness to both you and your back.

Tropical Water Lily (Nymphaea sp.)

Tropical water lilies (Nymphaea sp.) bring bold color to a pond, but they cannot tolerate freezing temperatures. In colder climates, the tuber needs to come indoors before winter closes in. Hardy water lilies are a different group and can often stay in the pond, so check which type you have.

When the water cools and growth fades, lift the planting basket and find the small tuber near the crown. Clean and dry it, then store it in a sealed container with slightly damp sand or sphagnum moss in a dark place around 55–60°F. Check it during winter; the medium should stay lightly moist, not wet. Reintroduce it to the pond in spring once the water is warm enough.

This is one case where a dry shed may be too cold, so a basement or temperature-stable indoor spot can work better. Read our step-by-step guide to overwintering tropical water lilies for more guidance. A small lidded storage container from Amazon helps keep the tuber protected and the sand from drying too quickly.

Tuberous Begonias (Begonia × tuberhybrida)

Tuberous begonias (Begonia × tuberhybrida) can flower well into fall, their elaborate blooms brightening shady pots and borders when other plants are winding down. They are frost-tender, so lift them before freezing weather rather than asking them to endure winter outdoors.

As the leaves yellow and die back, reduce watering and let the tubers ripen. Lift them gently, leaving a short piece of stem attached, and let them dry in a cool, airy spot. Once dry, store them in an open tray or paper bag in a cool, frost-free place, checking occasionally for rot. Keep the tubers dry; trapped moisture is a common cause of losses.

In spring, pot them up somewhere bright and warm, then move them outside once frost has passed. Our guide to overwintering begonias explains how care differs between begonia types. Shallow seed-starting trays from Amazon make handy winter quarters for tubers, with enough space to keep them from pressing against one another.

What to Shop

The most reliable cue is your local forecast, not the calendar. Frost arrives at different times across the United States, and a plant that thrives in Zone 8 may need lifting in Zone 6. Keep stored bulbs and rhizomes labeled, dry, and easy to inspect. Then, when spring returns, you’ll be planting established treasures rather than starting from scratch.

Don't forget to check your stored bulbs regularly through winter to ensure they aren't rotting. If you do find any that are soft and mushy, it's best to discard them.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

Dahlias are some of the final late-summer blooms we get to enjoy into fall, and by October they're past looking their best. Before the dreaded frost arrives, it's important to prepare your dahlias for cold temps – though you may also be able to get one last flush of flowers over the next couple of weeks.

Growing dahlias requires lots of particular care and overwintering dahlias can initially sound complicated. However, when you break it down, lifting, drying, and storing tubers is pretty straightforward. Doing these things now will keep these tender perennials safe over winter and ensure they can be planted again next year for another summer of showstopping blooms.

You'll need a few things to hand to tackle the list of what to do with dahlias in October, including these Felco F2 pruning shears from Amazon. Here, a garden pro talks through five dahlia jobs for the coming weeks.

1. Encourage a Final Flush of Blooms

Dahlias tend to bloom up until the first hard frost in October. This means you can deadhead dahlias this month to encourage one last flush of blooms.

Many types of dahlias will bloom through October, so removing spent flowers can encourage the plant's energy to go towards opening the last buds.

You'll know if your dahlia has more blooms to offer by looking for emerging closed buds. If you don't see these and the foliage is looking paler and wilting, your dahlia is likely done for the season.

To deadhead, look for dahlia spent blooms and seed heads (they're similar to buds but elongated). Follow the stem down to where it joins the main stem and make a clean cut (these Fiskars pruning snips from Amazon can be useful to have to hand).

2. Reduce Watering

Dahlia tubers can rot easily, so it's important to pull back on watering in October. This is especially true as the plants slow down and prepare for dormancy, no longer needing so much water.

'Reduce your watering and stop fertilizing. This encourages the plants to begin directing their energy toward their roots – and, more specifically, their tubers – instead of producing new leaves and flowers,' says garden designer Kate Schneider.

A soil moisture meter (like this from Amazon) can help you keep track of your dahlia's moisture level. The soil should be allowed to dry out and you generally won't need to provide supplementary water alongside rainfall this month.

3. Label Your Dahlias

Once your dahlias finish flowering and you're left with just the tubers, it can be really hard to identify the different varieties, especially if you have a sweeping cut flower garden of different types of dahlias.

'Label your dahlias while they're still blooming. This step is easy to overlook, but you'll be glad you did. There is nothing worse than cutting a gorgeous bouquet at the end of the season only to be left with a few leaves and no idea which dahlia was planted where,' Kate says.

You can use plant labels to do this, like these slate and chalk plant labels from Amazon, or repurpose popsicle sticks and pieces of wood from the garden.

4. Prepare and Lift the Tubers

You don't necessarily have to lift dahlia tubers to get them through winter – mulching can be enough frost protection in milder climes.

'If you're in Zone 7 or warmer, you may be able to leave your dahlias in the ground. Once the weather cools, apply a thick layer of mulch around the plants to provide additional insulation through winter,' Kate advises.

There are plenty of fall mulching materials you can gather from the garden for free, or you can pick up this bag of brown mulch from Lowe's.

'For gardeners in Zone 7 and below who routinely experience frost, wait for the first frost or until the plants have stopped growing. About two weeks after the first frost, cut the stalks back to approximately six inches and carefully dig up the tubers,' Kate says.

You can lift dahlia tubers using a long towel or a hori hori knife (like this from Amazon). Take care to dig a few inches away from the tuber to avoid damage.

5. Dry the Tubers for Storage

Before storing dahlia tubers, Kate says it's important to dry them out.

'Once you've dug up your dahlia clumps, let them dry before putting them into storage. A wet tuber can rot, potentially ruining it for next year's garden,' she explains.

Mushy dahlia tubers are caused by excess moisture and poor ventilation, making the tubers unviable for next year.

'Place the dug clumps somewhere cool, dry, shaded, and frost-free. A garage, covered porch, or barn works well. Let them sit for a few days to a week so the skins can dry and any cuts or damaged areas can callus over. Don't put your tubers in direct, hot sunlight to dry. The intense heat can cause them to shrivel,' Kate advises.

If any tubers have shriveled up, they're dehydrated and need a light misting to regain moisture (you can use this Amazon plant mister). If any have become brittle, discard them.

'Once they're thoroughly dry, you can safely store them in a cool, dark place for the winter. Check on them every few weeks to make sure they haven't become wet or begun to rot,' Kate continues.

You can store dahlia tubers in these wooden crates from Amazon. Use a dry medium to cover them, such as this vermiculite from Walmart, wood shavings, or newspaper. Ensure your storage container isn't airtight, as you want the tubers to have good airflow.

What to Shop

'You can also divide your dahlia clumps once you've dug them up. Dahlia tubers can be divided either in the fall after they've cured or in the spring just before planting,' Kate adds.

'Fall division gives you smaller, easier-to-store pieces, while spring division can be easier because the eyes are beginning to swell and are much more obvious. Both approaches work, so it really comes down to whether you'd rather tackle the job now or save it for spring,' she explains.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

October isn’t the right time for doing any major tree work. However, it is good for some light maintenance pruning to keep deciduous trees safe over winter.

Removing dead, damaged, or diseased branches, as well as any branches hanging over buildings or structures, helps prevent potential issues during winter storms. A few well-planned cuts in fall can keep your property safe for the months ahead. But save any larger shaping or removal for late winter.

It is important to plan your pruning this month. Only cut for important reasons, not just aesthetics. If you have trees to prune in October, think about your pruning tools, too, and make sure they are clean and sharp before you do anything else. If your tools have seen better days, this pruning kit on Walmart has all you need for trimming trees.

Oak

Oak trees can reach over 100 feet tall, and their canopies can stretch up to 80 feet. They need pruning for safety reasons, such as to prevent branches from falling onto people or buildings. If you have an oak tree that stretches over buildings, driveways, or walkways, it is good practice to assess the canopy before winter for any branches that need attention.

Knowing when to prune oak trees keeps them safe. They should only ever be pruned from late fall to late winter to prevent oak wilt, a devastating fungal disease spread by beetles in spring and summer. It would be a tree pruning mistake to prune live oak branches during the peak months for the disease.

It is OK to do light pruning in the fall once the leaves start to fall. A pole pruner can be used to trim higher branches without needing to climb a ladder. For example, this pole pruner at The Home Depot extends up to 14 feet and has both a pruner and a pruning saw head. However, professionals will be needed for very old, statuesque oak trees.

Birch

Birch trees can end up with dead branches in the canopy as a result of the bronze birch borer. The borer is a wood-boring beetle that targets all types of birch, and the first signs of issues tend to show in the form of dieback in the upper crown.

When the leaves begin to fall, it is easier to spot and remove any of these dying or damaged branches. Removing infected branches helps prevent the pest population from spreading and reduces the risk of dead branches falling during winter storms.

Fall is an acceptable time to lightly prune a birch tree to keep it safe. If you prune in spring or summer, birch trees bleed a lot of sap, which stresses and weakens them and they’ll be more susceptible to the borer.

Assess the canopy this month to carefully remove any dead or diseased branches. A pair of extendable loppers (like these Corona extendable loppers at Lowe’s) helps you safely reach higher branches and can be used to trim wood up to 1.5-2 inches wide. Anvil loppers are good for dead wood, while bypass types are the best loppers for live stems.

Honey Locust

The deciduous honey locust tree starts dropping its fine fern-like leaves in the fall. This creates a window to prune the open canopy to remove any dead, diseased, or damaged branches.

The tree bleeds sap heavily if it is pruned when actively growing, which attracts pests and stresses it. A honey locust doesn’t usually need major pruning, just a little attention to clear out any potentially hazardous branches. It won’t usually need trimming every year, but it is worth checking the tree to see any risks.

Do any trimming with a light touch. Follow the one-third pruning rule and never remove more than a third of the canopy in a single year. Cutting too much will stress the tree.

Tulip Tree

A Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a fast-growing flowering tree that reaches 30-50 feet high and 20-25 feet wide, depending on the variety. As the native tree grows so quickly, they require pruning every few years to keep it shaped and safe.

Tulip tree branches grow swiftly and, as a result, the long limbs are not as strong as other trees of that size. This leaves them at risk of snapping during strong winds and winter storms. If a tulip tree on your property has large branches above buildings, structures, driveways, or paths, it will need inspecting every 3-5 years to ensure the limbs remain sturdy and safe.

When the leaves have dropped and the tree is dormant, there is an opportunity to lightly trim a tulip tree. Use a pruning saw for any branches over two inches. You can get a strong folding pruning saw at The Home Depot.

Laburnum

A laburnum, also called a golden chain, can be grown as a shrub or tree and is adored for the yellow wisteria-like racemes of flowers that hang from the branches in spring.

When cultivated as a tree, it can reach 20-25 feet tall and 15-20 feet wide. This expansive growth makes pruning necessary when growing over driveways, paths, or garden structures, both to lift the canopy and keep it safe.

Laburnum is another tree that bleeds if pruned in spring or summer. However, the trees can be trimmed anytime between fall and midwinter to remove dead, diseased, damaged, or crossing branches.

A grafted tree is also likely to sprout from below the union, so trim off any suckers too to prevent these unwanted stems from taking energy away from the rest of the tree.

When pruning laburnum, always wear long sleeves and gloves as the sap from the branches can irritate your skin. A set of gardening sleeves like these on Amazon is ideal for protecting your arms from scratches, sunburn, or irritation while working in the garden.

Rowan

A sorbus, also known as a rowan or mountain ash, is a valuable deciduous tree for any wildlife garden. When you grow a rowan tree, it offers a glorious mixture of white spring flowers, which attract pollinators, and bright berries, which can be red, orange, pink, or yellow, that are food for birds in fall.

The trees can reach over 50 feet when fully grown. They are low-maintenance trees, but do need regular shaping and pruning to keep them healthy, safe, and performing at their finest.

As they bleed sap if pruned in spring or summer, the window to prune rowan trees runs from late October/early November to February.

The tree wants a bit of light attention to remove dead, damaged, or diseased branches, then any crossing branches or ones growing inward towards the center. This opens the canopy, helping increase the amount of air and light in the tree to help against fungal diseases.

As with all the picks of trees to prune in October, you always need sharp pruning tools. A handheld tool sharper like this on Amazon can fit in any pocket or tool bag and be used to sharpen tools before you get to work.

What to Shop

There are also likely to be other plants to prune in October around your garden. Fall is a time to trim back and tidy perennials, cut back and lift tender plants like dahlias, prune roses to protect against wind rock, and give your deciduous hedges a tidy. There are a lot of jobs to add to any fall gardening checklist.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

When we reach October, the assumption is often that the time for sowing grass has passed and you have to put up with bare patches until spring, when something can be done about it. However, that is not the case, as October can be an excellent time to overseed a lawn.

It comes down to your location and the type of grass. In many climates, the soil is still warm enough to germinate cool-season grass seeds, plus there is lots of helpful natural rainfall to make life easier. Provided the soil is at least 50°F and there are four weeks until a ground frost, you can sow grass seed.

I wouldn’t dwell, however, as it is best to start your lawn care earlier in October. It is better to have warmer temperatures and a longer timeframe for the grass to establish roots before dormancy. If you do want to plant grass seed in October, get yourself a fresh bag of seed (like this bag of perennial ryegrass at The Home Depot) and overseed sooner rather than later.

Is October Too Late to Plant Grass Seed?

October is not too late to overseed a lawn in fall, but time might be against you and the coming weeks may be your last opportunity. Whether you can plant grass seed in October, and how far into the month it is possible, depends on your climate and the type of grass. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking the window is closed for the season just because it's October.

‘October certainly isn’t automatically too late to overseed a lawn,’ reassures Guy Jenkins, Consumer Manager at Johnsons Lawn Seed. ‘In fact, it can offer some of the best conditions, with naturally higher moisture levels and soil that has retained warmth from summer.’

It predominantly comes down to temperature. Grass seeds need temperatures of at least 50-60°F to germinate. That means early October can still be warm enough in many regions, except perhaps in the coldest northern US hardiness zones.

Jonathan Davis, lawn expert at Lawnsmith, says that overseeding should be considered one of the ‘key priorities’ in October lawn care, along with aerating and fertilizing.

‘This is your last chance to overseed the lawn,’ he adds. ‘The soil temperatures are still high enough for germination; you must get the seed down a couple of weeks before the temperature turns too cool.’

When planning any fall lawn care, a good rule of thumb is to allow four to six weeks between planting grass seed and your first expected hard frost. This gives the seeds the opportunity to establish roots before going dormant for winter.

When to Plant Grass Seed in October

The most important factor to consider when overseeding later in the season is the temperature. Check your local weather predictions for the forthcoming weeks to see if any freezing weather is on the horizon.

Ideally, there will be a good stretch of mild weather ahead, which will be perfect for germination. But it is not just all about the calendar date and the air temperature; check your soil too before sowing any seeds.

Sourav Das from Yardener, a problem-solving website that has answered over 6,000 questions from gardeners, claims: ‘Soil temperature decides it, not the air. Seed needs soil at 50°F, so buy a soil thermometer and check.

‘Once the soil drops below 50°F, the seed just sits. Seed that sprouts right before a hard freeze is the bigger risk, because the seedlings have no roots to carry them through.’

Guy Jenkins adds: ‘As long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged and conditions remain suitable, there is still an opportunity to repair bare patches, improve lawn density and establish stronger grass ahead of winter.’

If there is a cold snap incoming, an alternative is to think about dormant seeding. This is where the seeds sit dormant over winter to then sprout in spring. The ideal time is when the soil is too cold for germination, but not frozen. This technique provides an opportunity to plant grass seed in winter.

You can get a soil thermometer on Amazon

The Best Grass Seed for Planting in October

Not all types of grass seed are best for overseeding in the fall. October is a time for seeding with cool-season grasses, not warm-season grasses. It is too late for warm-season lawns typically found in southern zones.

Cool-season grass types like Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and fescues are common across northern and transitional zones. These fast-growing grass seeds are readily available in the fall and can be sown in October as they germinate at lower soil temperatures.

You do not want to sow warm-season grasses, such as St. Augustine, Bermuda, or zoysia grass this month. These are not actively growing in fall and are better suited to sowing in warm soils in late spring or early summer, as they need temperatures of 65°F and higher to germinate.

Shop for Grass Seed

When you plant grass seed in October, do you need to water it? Typically, in most climates, you should get enough rainfall that you don’t need to.

However, if the weather is unseasonably dry and warm, Sourav Das from Yardener recommends watering the grass ‘twice a day’ to begin with. He adds: ‘Short and light is enough. You only need the top quarter inch of soil to stay moist.’ A sprinkler isn’t usually an essential gardening tool in the fall, but keep one on standby in case of a dry October.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

As the desire for warmth and coziness in kitchens continues, cool gray schemes have fallen out of favor. But this misunderstood color isn't always cold, stark, and outdated; certain shades with green and blue undertones can feel warm and inviting – and Farrow & Ball's Pigeon is a perfect example.

Described by the brand as a 'cozy and nostalgic' paint, Farrow & Ball's Pigeon offers the perfect middle ground between lighter coastal tones and more neutral shades. And it's a kitchen color that should be on everybody's sample list this year. It taps into the desire for more lived-in, inviting spaces that feel more like a room than a functional space. Here's why designers love the color and how to introduce it to your own design.

If you look for the common denominator in many of this year's biggest kitchen color trends, it all comes back to a connection to nature. Earthy palettes that bring depth and interest to a design without straying from timeless principles remain key, and it's an ethos that Farrow & Ball's Pigeon taps into seamlessly.

'Pigeon is a soft, earthy neutral with green, blue, and gray undertones that brings warmth to a space without making the room too dark. It's also a very calming color yet adds depth and interest – the rich pigment means that it subtly changes color throughout the day,' says Fiona Parke of Johnston Parke Interiors.

'Pigeon is a wonderfully versatile color for a kitchen,' adds Emma Sims Hilditch, Founder and Creative Director of Sims Hilditch. 'It has a softness to it that makes a space feel welcoming and relaxed, while the gray undertones give it a timeless quality. It works particularly well in kitchens because it feels understated rather than overly colorful and can sit comfortably alongside both traditional and contemporary elements.'

The versatility makes it more appealing. So often, paint shades fall into specific style categories, but a chameleon color like Pigeon grows and evolves with your style, and broadens the opportunities for interesting application and color pairings. 'We often use it with School House White, and it pairs very well with antique brass hardware and lighting and natural wood and limestone flooring,' says Fiona.

Paired with white, such as School House White or Off-White, it brings a lighter, crisper feel, while richer wood tones alongside it feel more organic. And then there are the moodier colors, like Picture Gallery Red and Green Smoke, which bring a more alluring quality that feels warm and inviting, yet still filled with depth.

'Pigeon works beautifully with warm whites, soft creams and earthy neutrals, as well as natural greens and muted blues,' Emma adds. 'For finishes, I would pair it with natural stone countertops, aged brass or bronze hardware, and timber. These materials bring out the warmth in the color and help create a kitchen that feels layered and lived-in.'

And its versatility doesn't stop at style; it extends to where you use it. It's the sort of color that looks just as beautiful drenched across the entire kitchen as it does on the cabinetry alone or an accent island. It depends on the atmosphere you want to create, something classic and subtle or confident and moody.

'I particularly like using Pigeon on cabinetry, where its muted quality adds depth without overwhelming the room. It works beautifully across a whole run of cabinetry or can be used on an island to create a subtle focal point. In a country kitchen, pairing it with natural timber, stone and aged finishes helps to add warmth and character,' says Emma.

Using Pigeon as a statement color is a popular approach among designers, adding a charming contrast to more neutral schemes. 'We love using it as a statement, and letting it have its moment. We used it on lower cabinets and a range hood in a recent project, and it shone,' says Taylor Bates of Elliott Tate Design. 'We love using walnut and other earth tones with it. It creates a harmonious palette that promotes calm.'

But just because it makes a striking statement through smaller accents doesn't mean it can't be just as impactful when used in larger ways. Used as a wall color, it creates a warm, cozy base that instantly makes your kitchen feel more room-like. 'We tend to use the color on the walls, with a lighter color on the cabinetry,' says Fiona, who also notes Pigeon's appeal in smaller spaces, like pantries. 'It is also a very practical color for utilities and bootrooms, particularly in country projects.'

Shop Pigeon-Inspired Kitchen Buys

Whether you want your kitchen to feel bright and modern or moody and traditional, Farrow & Ball's Pigeon brings a beautiful warmth and character to kitchens of every style. Consider where you apply it and the colors you pair it with – it's the sort of color that reads differently depending on the finishes it sits next to.

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

Picking up fallen leaves can feel like a never-ending battle in fall, with new piles appearing just hours after clearing the last lot. That's why I don't bother clearing leaves from absolutely everywhere in my yard. Instead, I focus on the one spot where fallen leaves can cause big problems: my lawn.

Leaving fallen leaves on the ground is beneficial for the wildlife that use it as shelter, and it can provide some insulation in flower beds. However, it's a crucial part of fall lawn care to remove fallen leaves because they can smother grass and kill it, leaving bare spots come spring – something I learned the hard way.

Luckily, it's super easy to clear leaves from your lawn in fall (and there are plenty of leaf-clearing tools you can use, like these hand leaf scoops from Amazon). Here, lawn care experts explain why you should never skip this fall garden task.

Why Remove Leaves from the Lawn?

'A light layer of leaves can be beneficial when it is mulched finely, but thick piles should not be left on the lawn,' says Brian Feldman from TruGreenHeavy. 'Leaf coverage can smother the grass, block light and air, and contribute to matting and disease problems,' he explains.

Last year I made the mistake of leaving leaves in a corner of my lawn where a tree overhangs. In spring, I found the whole corner to be nothing but bare soil where the grass had died from suffocation of the leaves over fall and winter. It ends up leaving you with the bigger job of having to repair patches in grass.

As Brian notes, this isn't the only potential risk of leaving leaves on the lawn. You also risk the leaves trapping moisture and harnessing an environment for disease, including powdery mildew on your lawn and red thread.

'Leaves trap moisture, acting like a mulch over the lawn. Even though leaf mulch benefits planting beds, it doesn't work for lawns because trapped moisture can cause diseases to thrive,' says Hillary Thompson, horticulturist and director at Super-Sod.

For this reason, the experts say it's important to remove piles of leaves from the lawn, though you don't need to be worried about a few scattered leaves.

'The preferred method is to mulch the leaves with a mower, chopping them into pieces about the size of a dime. The small pieces can return nutrients to the soil and serve as a sustainable form of lawn nourishment,' Brian suggests.

You can also use a leaf blower (this cordless one from Amazon is a good choice), rake, or if you have a larger lawn to clear, invest in push lawn sweeper (like this from Lowe's).

'I advise blowing or raking the leaves straight into beds or natural areas to decompose on the property and cycle those nutrients back into the soil for the plants to take up again,' says Hillary.

'Leaving the leaves on the property saves money and reduces waste. Even though the leaf mulch piles seem very deep in the fall, by the end of summer the leaves have rotted down, having added organic matter and nutrients to the beds,' she explains.

What to Shop

There are lots of things you can do with fallen leaves and other garden waste this fall. Our guide to eco-friendly ways to clear yard debris in fall has more information on how to compost, create wildlife habitat, make mulch, and more.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

Meet the Experts

There’s a point every fall when, as I’m making dinner, I look up at the kitchen window and realize the sun is already setting. I usually notice because, at this time of year, it starts shining directly in my eyes, so it’s hard to miss. It happens right around 6:30 p.m., and it’s a confirmation of a new routine.

During the warmer months, our evenings often happen outside. We make dinner on the grill, eat on the patio, and let the kids play until dark, which conveniently coincides with bedtime. But as the days get shorter and the first real chill sets in, we naturally start moving the end of the day indoors.

As much as I love the coziness of this time of year (last week I wrote all about how I love adding extra layers to my home), I always find it a little melancholy when the days start getting shorter, especially knowing the clocks will soon change, and darkness will arrive even earlier. So instead of fighting it, I try to lean into the best parts of the fall season: warm lighting, music playing, and the kinds of dinners that make staying indoors feel indulgent instead of like a compromise.

Getting there doesn’t take much – just a few small tweaks to the existing routine.

It starts with the lighting. As the sun goes down, I walk through the house, turning on lamps and sconces and lighting a candle or two. I avoid the 'big lights' whenever I can, since they tend to flatten the atmosphere.

Soft layered lighting is the single easiest way to make a house feel warmer and more inviting, which is why I have at least one lamp in almost every room, including the kitchen. Once it’s dark outside, even the fairly mundane task of making dinner feels atmospheric in soft lighting (though I do flick on the under-cabinet lights if I’m chopping or peeling something – safety first).

The next thing I do is turn on music. In the summer, we often have music playing outdoors, too, but it tends to be more upbeat and fast-paced. In the fall and winter, we turn to a more relaxed, background style of music. My husband loves to play jazz or Frank Sinatra, which makes it feel like we’re in some sort of Nancy Meyers movie. My kids actually call all of this music 'Christmas music' because they associate it with the fall and holiday season.

Once the mood is set, I start making dinner, something that also shifts with this time of year. Like most people, I trade out summer staples like grilled chicken and pasta salads for warmer, richer meals that suit the season. Soup is my go-to for fall, and this year, I started with French onion soup. It’s simple, but because it simmers for a while, it fills the house with that unmistakably cozy smell of onions, broth, and herbs.

Instead of serving it with a baguette, I make an easy Dutch oven bread, then slice it, top it with Gruyère, and lightly broil it. If it’s a weekend, I usually add a glass of red wine, and at that point, it’s officially one of my favorite fall meals.

We also start to shift the spaces in our home we use on dark evenings, though this is more of a natural gravitation than a conscious shift. In summer, as I mentioned, we often eat outside or at the table in the breakfast nook. But once the weather turns, we start eating in the dining room again.

We host a lot of holidays there, so I think my family associates it with that time of year. It also feels more enveloping after dark than our breakfast nook – a little moodier, a little more intimate – especially with candles lit and dinner on the table.

The other room we start spending more time in is our living room. My husband likes to call it our 'winter room,' and he’s not wrong. We all prefer the sofa in the family room, so that’s where we tend to spend time when it’s warm. But the living room has the only wood-burning fireplace in the house, which is enough to make us choose it over the more comfortable sofa once it gets cold.

We have a gas fireplace in the family room that we use during the week, but if we have more time, especially on weekends or when friends and family are over, we always prefer a 'real' fire. I love the whole ritual of it: bringing in the wood, getting the fire going, and especially the smoky smell – it’s a smell that I instantly associate with warm childhood memories of holidays and ski trips, and I love that it’s imprinting those same associations for my own kids.

None of this requires much. The lamps were already there, the music takes thirty seconds, and the soup simmers on its own. The house hasn’t changed – the season has just given you a reason to use it differently.

Shop My Early Evening Essentials

I have spent more than a decade writing about homes and interiors, but My So-Connecticut Life is personal. I live in a 1937 Colonial in the small town of Easton, Connecticut, with my husband, three children, and our dog. Seven years in this house have taught me which farm stands and vintage markets are worth the detour, how to set a table without stress, and the small routines that make a home feel like home. Every other Saturday, I’ll share a glimpse into life in Connecticut – where I’m shopping, how I’m hosting, and the seasonal rituals that shape the year.

Love the latest product news and helpful shopping advice? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

October has a lot of potential for propagating new plants. What makes it somewhat unique is that it is a transitional time of the season, when you can take both soft and hardwood cuttings. It means there are lots of opportunities for plants to propagate in October.

You can take softwood cuttings of tender plants that will overwinter indoors. These can be taken as an insurance policy in case you lose any plants or as a way to expand your collection. As well, taking hardwood cuttings of hardy shrubs gives you a chance to root new plants you can add to the garden next year to add structure, color, and texture to your borders.

It can be a busy month. There are trees, shrubs, perennials and spring bulbs that you can plant in October, but also save some time to take plant cuttings. What will be crucial are clean, sharp pruners (such as these Japanese pruning shears at Amazon), rooting hormone, good potting mix, and a little care and patience. Trust me, all these new plants are well worth the effort. Let’s take a look at a great selection of plants to propagate in October.

Pelargoniums

Pelargoniums, also known as tender geraniums, are hugely popular tender plants adored for vivid blooms in a range of colors and shades as well as varied and fragrant foliage. They look lovely in terracotta pots or in hanging baskets during summer, but pelargoniums are not hardy, so they need to be overwintered indoors.

Taking pelargonium cuttings is a simple task and a great way to get new plants identical to the parent one. If you’ve got your favorites, cuttings are an ideal way to start new plants to cover any losses over winter, or to start off replacements, as pelargoniums get woody as they age.

Take 3-4 inch cuttings from firm new growth and cut them below a leaf node. Remove the leaves from the lower half and leave the cutting somewhere bright for a few hours to dry out. Then dip the cut end in rooting hormone (such as this rooting powder on Walmart) and put it into pots filled with well-draining potting soil.

Place the container somewhere bright and warm, but out of direct sunlight, and keep the soil moist. Once the cuttings have developed good roots, you can put them into individual pots. This should take 4-6 weeks. You can test this by tugging gently on the plant; if you feel some resistance, it is time to pot it up.

Coleus

These bold, flamboyant plants certainly make an impact. The sheer range of bright foliage colors and different shapes ensures they stand out in beds or containers.

Coleus are tender plants, though, and only hardy in US zones 10-11. This means most gardeners grow coleus as annual plants, but you can overwinter coleus and keep them going as indoor plants through winter to provide a pop of color over the colder months.

Whether you are propagating coleus to replace this year’s plants or want more of a variety you get particular joy from, it is quick and easy to take softwood cuttings this month.

Take 4-6 inch cuttings, remove the lower leaves, and dip the bottom in rooting hormone. Now you have a choice: either put the cutting in soil or water. Both are reliable ways of getting coleus cuttings to root. Whether you opt for small pots filled with compost or a jar of water, place the container in a bright, indirect spot – such as a windowsill.

Once there are signs of healthy root development (which is more obvious in water, but you can test in soil by gently tugging), the cuttings can be put into individual pots filled with a well-draining potting mix, such as this organic potting mix on Burpee.

Fuchsia

Tender fuchsias bring a bounty of bright blooms to hanging baskets, containers, or flower beds throughout summer and early fall.

The sheer range of fuchsias available means there should be one for any garden, but don’t confuse tender and hardy fuchsias. The former won’t survive winter anywhere, but in US zones 10 and 11, you need to overwinter these fuchsias indoors to ensure they make it through to next year.

If you don’t have the space to care for fuchsias indoors all winter long, you can take cuttings to get a new generation of identical plants. Of course, cuttings are also an option if you just want more of a particular fuchsia you adore.

The right material for fuchsia cuttings this month will be healthy, soft growing tips 4-6 inches long. Remove all but the top two leaves, cut the base below a node, and dip it in rooting hormone. Three or four cuttings can be put around the edge of a small pot.

Cover the cuttings with a clear plastic bag to retain moisture and humidity, which helps with rooting. A heat mat can be beneficial in fall to provide a little extra warmth that will speed up rooting, and you can get a heat mat on Amazon.

Pothos

In the introduction, I said there was a wealth of choice for plants to propagate in October. One type of plant I missed was indoor plants. You can propagate many houseplants in October, and pothos is potentially the easiest and most reliable.

There are so many different pothos varieties to choose from with different foliage colors and textures. Any of them are suitable for cuttings in the fall to expand a houseplant collection, or to get new plants as gifts to friends, family, or neighbors.

To propagate pothos, cut 4-6 inch stems that ideally have 2 or 3 leaves. Use a pair of sharp pruning tools, such as these pruning snips on Walmart. Make a cut just below a node, which is evident as a small bump where the foliage meets the stem, and remove the bottom leaf from the cutting.

The pothos cutting can be dipped in rooting hormone and placed into a glass container filled with water. The bottom node and stem should be submerged in water, but the leaves should sit above the surface.

Keep the container somewhere with lots of bright, indirect light and remember to change the water every few days. Once the cutting develops roots 1-2 inches long, pot the young pothos into a container filled with soil.

Other easy houseplants to grow from cuttings in fall include spider plant, monstera, philodendron, and mother of millions.

Dogwood

Dogwoods offer gardeners a fantastic double win, with both beautiful spring flowers and bright winter stems. The attractive winter bark comes in fiery shades of red, yellow, or orange and is guaranteed to be a striking addition to any space.

The glorious architectural plants look great when planted in groups, so that sounds like a great excuse to take cuttings so you get more for free. Many of the best native dogwoods, including the red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea), can be propagated by hardwood cuttings in fall or spring.

Pick healthy pencil-thick stems that have developed this growing season. Cut the stems to 6-10 inches long, making a flat cut below a node at the bottom and an angled cut above a node at the top to allow water to run off the cutting.

Remove any leaves and dip the bottom into rooting hormone. Put the cutting into a deep pot filled with cuttings compost, then place this pot into an unheated greenhouse or cold frame for winter. You can get a portable wooden cold frame at Wayfair to protect plants and cuttings over the colder months.

Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged, and the cuttings will root over the coming months.

Viburnum

These diverse, fast-growing shrubs are popular for their clusters of flowers in spring or summer, the bright fall foliage, and ornamental fall berries. It is such a wide genus that there are evergreen and deciduous types of viburnum with different shades of flowers, leaves, and fruits.

When you grow viburnum, they are a low-maintenance flowering shrub for sun or light shade. The plants can be happy in many soil types, unless the soil sits very wet for long periods. If you fancy more shrubs for year-round interest, you can propagate new viburnums from hardwood cuttings this month.

Take 8-10 inch cuttings, remove the leaves, and apply rooting hormone to the base. Place the cutting in a pot filled with a well-draining mix and put it in a greenhouse or cold frame.

Be patient, as hardwood cuttings take longer than their softwood counterparts, and it may take a couple of months for them to develop roots.

Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged, as overwatering risks the cutting rotting before it establishes a strong set of roots and is ready to pot on or plant out. A soil moisture meter (available at Amazon) can help you avoid overwatering your new cuttings.

Forsythia

Any gardener wanting to add more color to their garden for the leaner time of year needs more of this cheery spring-flowering shrub. The bright yellow blooms in March are a sign that spring has arrived.

Forsythia is one of the best hardwood cuttings to take in fall to increase your collection of colorful spring shrubs at no cost. Even if you don’t have one in your yard, ask a friend or neighbor for a cutting from theirs and you can enjoy its impactful spring display.

Take forsythia cuttings once the fall foliage has started dropping. These stems need to be around 6-8 inches long and cut below a node at the base. After being dipped in rooting hormone, the hardwood cutting can be placed in a pot and kept in a greenhouse or cold frame, or placed directly into a trench in a sheltered, well-drained corner of the garden.

Whichever option you go with, two-thirds of the cutting should be below the soil line, and the soil should be kept consistently moist over winter to encourage rooting.

Alternatively, you can root grow forsythia cuttings in water. Simply prepare the stems as outlined above and place them into a container filled with water. Place them somewhere with bright but indirect light, change the water regularly, and watch for white roots to appear from the cuttings.

What to Shop:

Another way to get free plants for your borders this month is by dividing plants. There are lots of perennials to divide in October, including bee balm, coneflower, hostas, daylilies, peonies, black-eyed Susan, yarrow, and more. As long as you can give new clumps four weeks from planting until the first ground frost, the time is right for dividing older perennials to reinvigorate them and get new clumps for no cost.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

October is the time to prepare your Christmas cactus for its holiday display. A few simple adjustments to light, temperature, and watering can help encourage a beautiful flush of blooms in time for the holidays.

With its arching stems and colorful flowers, a Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) brings welcome color indoors as the days grow shorter. Native to the Brazilian rainforests, this tropical houseplant needs different care from desert cacti, preferring bright, indirect light, well-draining soil, and consistent moisture.

Good Christmas cactus care in October is all about creating the right conditions for flowering. Longer nights and cooler temperatures help trigger buds, while steady watering and a stable environment help prevent them from dropping before they open.

1. Give Your Christmas Cactus Longer Nights

One of the most important steps in October is giving your Christmas cactus enough darkness to encourage flowering. Shorter days help trigger bud formation, but artificial light in the evening can interfere with the process.

For the best results, give your plant 12–14 hours of uninterrupted darkness each night for around four to six weeks. If you're wondering where to place a Christmas cactus, choose a spot with bright, indirect light during the day and move it to a naturally dark room overnight if your home stays brightly lit. Alternatively, cover it with a lightproof covering, removing it each morning to allow the plant to receive daylight.

If your home lacks natural daylight, a grow light can help keep your plant healthy during the day. The top-rated SANSI 10W LED Puck Grow Light, available on Amazon, features a timer and dimming settings, making it a practical option for a dimmer room. Just be sure to switch it off well before the plant's nighttime darkness period begins.

Getting your Christmas cactus in the dark at the right time is key to encouraging a festive display. You can also use a simple blackout plant cover to block evening light, removing it each morning and ensuring adequate ventilation.

2. Keep It Cool, but Protect It From Temperature Swings

Cooler nighttime temperatures can help trigger flowering, making October the perfect time to reassess where your Christmas cactus sits. Aim for nighttime temperatures of around 55–65°F and daytime temperatures of 65–70°F to encourage bud formation alongside long, uninterrupted nights.

Avoid placing your plant near heating vents, fireplaces, or drafty windows, where sudden temperature changes and dry air can cause stress and encourage buds to drop. If your home is particularly warm, a cooler bedroom or guest room may offer a better environment.

A simple indoor Digital Hygrometer Thermometer from Amazon can help you monitor both temperature and humidity, making it easier to maintain consistent conditions as the heating season begins. Choose one with a clear display and a built-in humidity monitor for an at-a-glance check.

If you live in a warmer part of the country, focus on finding the coolest suitable indoor spot and maintaining consistent nighttime darkness. Bring your Christmas cactus indoors before temperatures drop too low, and never expose it to frost.

3. Adjust Your Watering Routine

As temperatures drop and your Christmas cactus prepares to flower, it may need less frequent watering than it did during summer. However, unlike desert cacti, it shouldn't be left in completely dry potting mix for extended periods.

To know when to water a Christmas cactus, check the top inch of soil. If it feels dry, water thoroughly until excess moisture drains from the bottom of the pot, then empty the saucer to prevent the roots from sitting in water.

Overwatering is one of the most common Christmas cactus care mistakes. Soggy soil can lead to root rot, while prolonged dryness can stress the plant and cause developing flower buds to drop.

Your watering routine will depend on indoor temperatures, humidity, pot size, and the potting mix. A plant in a warm, dry home may need water more often than one in a cooler room. The XLUX Moisture Meter from Amazon can help you check conditions below the soil's surface, particularly if you're unsure when to water.

Use it alongside a fingertip check rather than relying on a reading alone, and always make sure your pot has drainage holes.

4. Find a Bright Spot Away From Harsh Sunlight

Although Christmas cacti need long nights to flower, they still require plenty of light during the day to keep their segmented stems healthy and support bud development. An east-facing window is ideal, offering gentle morning sunshine and bright, indirect light. A north-facing window can also work in a bright room, while south- or west-facing windows may need a sheer curtain to filter intense afternoon rays.

If your cactus has spent summer on a shaded porch or patio, bring it indoors before fall temperatures drop too low, and check for pests before placing it near other houseplants.

Also, if your home doesn't get much natural daylight, a GE LED Grow Light Bulb from Target or Amazon is a practical option. Use it to provide additional daytime illumination, but switch it off in the evening to preserve the long, uninterrupted nights the plant needs to encourage flowering and ensure your Christmas cactus blooms year after year.

5. Leave the Plant Undisturbed When Buds Appear

Once tiny flower buds appear at the ends of your Christmas cactus's stem segments, keep changes to a minimum. Sudden shifts in light, temperature, or watering can lead to buds falling off before they have a chance to open. Keep your plant in a stable position, maintain a consistent care routine, and avoid repotting while it's preparing to flower.

Indoor heating can also dry out the air during fall and winter. If your home feels particularly dry, a small DREO Smart Humidifier from Amazon can help maintain more comfortable humidity levels around your plant. Position it nearby rather than directly against the foliage, and ensure the potting mix drains freely to prevent root problems.

There's also no need to encourage fresh growth with heavy fertilizing at this stage. If you've fed your plant throughout spring and summer, focus on consistent care instead. With the right conditions, the buds should gradually swell and open over the coming weeks, although flowering times vary by variety and growing environment.

The necessary attention in October can make all the difference to your Christmas cactus's holiday display. Prioritize long, uninterrupted nights, cooler temperatures, bright, indirect light, and careful watering, keeping conditions consistent as flower buds develop.

With the right care now, your plant will be well on its way to producing a vibrant flush of blooms, bringing welcome color to your home for the holidays and for years to come.

The definition of 'neutrals' in the interior design world is always shifting. We have spoken with designers who say blue is a neutral, and green can be treated in the same way as you would cream. The shift right now seems to be that 'neutrals' are getting darker – deeper tones that instantly add a more immersive, luxurious feel.

As room we are really noticing this change, is one that was once all about the pale neutrals – whites, creams, grays – but now bathrooms are having a moody makeover with a noticeable trend for rich browns.

It's a color that brings a new layer to neutral bathroom ideas, transforming these small spaces into warm, cozy zones that you actually want to spend time in. Instead of choosing between light whites and vibrant hues, brown offers a middle ground that's still inherently neutral, just with a little more depth and moody appeal.

And according to designers, this isn't a fleeting color trend. Here's why brown bathrooms are back at the top of everyone's renovation wishlist, and how you can bring this revived hue into your own space for a beautifully cocooning yet utterly stylish design.

White has long been the go-to color in bathrooms. They're often one of the smallest rooms in the home, so painting them a light neutral is the default to make them feel bigger. Plus, standard bathroom suites are usually white, so decorating the whole space the same color is a simple way to ensure cohesion.

But just because a white bathroom is the safest option doesn't mean it's the best one. Most people want a neutral design for a calming, tranquil atmosphere, but brown is actually a far better choice if you want to layer warmth and coziness into the design brief.

'The appeal of brown in bathrooms comes from the warmth and sense of calm it brings to a space. Since brown is rooted in nature, layering shades of brown, cream, and beige will create a room that feels warm, relaxed, and inviting,' says Amy TerMarsch of Amy Elizabeth Designs.

It's also the antithesis of the colder, starker colors of past trends that often leave a bathroom feeling function-first and slightly sterile. 'After years of crisp black-and-white bathrooms, we are seeing a shift away from that stark contrast toward warmer, more inviting and cozier spaces. Browns naturally help create this look and feel,' she adds.

Bathroom finishes and materials are naturally cold and hard, like tiles, sinks, and glass screens, and they are emphasized when cooler colors are introduced elsewhere in the room. But brown counteracts a stark atmosphere without completely changing the style of your scheme.

'Brown brings an incredible amount of warmth and depth to a bathroom, which can otherwise become a very hard or sterile space with all of the tile, stone, and plumbing fixtures,' Maggie Vollrath of Provision Studios adds. 'We love that it feels grounded and natural. Depending on the shade and material, it can also read completely differently, from earthy and organic to rich and sophisticated.'

3 Ways To Introduce Brown to Your Bathroom

1. Paint and Tiles

There are plenty of ways to bring shades of brown into your bathroom, depending on where you are in the design process. Paint is an easy place to start. 'If you are hesitant to go all in on brown, consider pairing it with white wainscoting or beadboard for a softer look, like Silhouette AF-655 and Swiss Coffee OC-45,' suggests Arianna Barone, Color Marketing Manager at Benjamin Moore. 'A dark, moody brown can also make a bold color statement in powder rooms. Try Smoked Oyster 2109-40 which blends brown, violet, and gray, bringing an intriguing and unique color to the space.'

Bathroom tiles also offer a stylish but practical way to bring in brown tones, but specifically designs with a more irregular, organic finish. 'Part of the reason we are seeing brown return now is that there is much more appetite for surfaces with variation and character, and less interest in everything looking perfectly uniform,' says Lesley Taylor, Founder and Creative Director at Baked Tiles, who says grout is just as important as the tiles themselves.

'Think about format and grout just as carefully as the color itself. A deep brown in a small-format gloss tile can feel rich and decorative, whereas the same shade in a larger matt format becomes much calmer and more monolithic. Grout can shift the look again: a close tonal match will soften the surface and let the color take the lead, while a paler grout will emphasize the geometry and make the pattern much more graphic.'

2. Bathroom Furniture

If you want to introduce brown in a more unique way, why not swap out the white bathroom furniture for a deeper tone? A bathroom vanity in a rich brown paint or dark wood stain instantly feels elegant and timeless, and offers a unique opportunity to play with texture.

'The easiest, most classic way to introduce brown is through natural wood,' says Leah Hook, Founder and Principal Designer at Gray Oak Studio. 'A natural walnut vanity will instantly elevate and add depth to space, while a brown grasscloth in a powder room would be utterly timeless.'

But a brown bath, even if it's just a painted or tiled side panel, brings a new layer of interest. 'If you are using brown on a bath, I would resist matching it elsewhere. Let the bath be the strongest expression of the color and then repeat only its undertones – perhaps in veining through a stone tile, a warmer timber, or the finish of the brassware. That repetition is enough to make the room feel coherent without making it feel themed,' says Keeley Sutcliffe, Design Manager at BC Designs.

A vanity is the most impactful way to bring brown into your space through furniture. For dark brown wood tones, Anthropologie's Isla Marble-Top Vanity adds a deeper color and playful texture, or consider the Darla Bathroom Vanity from Wayfair for a deeper tone.

3. Decorative Bathroom Details

If you want to bring new life to an existing bathroom (perhaps it's currently all white and needs a deeper color to add warmth), introduce smaller decor pieces and accessories, like a bath rug, shower curtain, or even small storage solutions. They add a practical layer, but also an incredibly stylish one.

'Layering varying shades of brown in accessories is a great way to introduce the color into a bathroom. Strong examples include a medium-toned wood tray or a chocolate lacquered drink table by the tub, or a patterned brown area rug. Varying the shades of brown keeps things looking collected vs. too matchy,' says interior designer Liz Williams.

Think about the pieces you use daily in your bathroom to bring in a new color. Things like the Slowtide Koko Plush Bath Towel from Anthropologie, a Steele Bourbon Rolling Laundry Hamper from Crate & Barrel, and the Carmen Bath Mat from Lulu and Georgia all perform a function while adding a warmer color to the room.

Shop Brown Bathroom Decor

Brown is the new way to create a neutral bathroom that balances timeless style with cozy design. It doesn't have to be the whole bathroom either – small infusions through accessories and decor make a big difference in a plain scheme.

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

October and early November are typically when gardens in zones 5-8 get their first frosty nights. This means, for many, the time to take action and protect the most delicate of your plants is already here or not far off. Ideally, this should be done a few weeks before an anticipated frost.

Before freezing temperatures arrive, prioritize tropical plants and any houseplants that spent the summer outdoors. Their time has come for them to retreat indoors for winter. They are the most at risk around your yard and will thank you for the special attention. It won’t take long to protect plants from frost and ensure they live to see another season.

Here we reveal the first plants you should protect when the frost threat is imminent. This includes bringing houseplants indoors for the winter and protecting tropical plants in your garden. A plant caddy with wheels, like this two-pack of rolling wooden plant caddies at Amazon, can help you effortlessly move container plants indoors over the coming weeks.

Think Tender Houseplants First

It might sound like a no-brainer, but those that need consideration first are your most tender plants. These are damaged when temperatures drop and are usually killed once it hits 32°F.

There are different ways that gardeners tend to protect tender plants. They can be moved indoors, wrapped and kept outdoors, or lifted and stored for winter. The latter includes dahlias, cannas, gladioli, elephant’s ear, and caladium. But these can wait for now. When you lift dahlias and others on that list, wait until after the first frost before lifting and storing them.

Instead, there is another group of tender plants that need more pressing attention – that always need to be safely indoors ahead of the cold. These include houseplants that grow outdoors in summer and tender plants you can bring indoors to overwinter. That potential list includes pelargoniums, coleus, begonias, bromeliads, succulents, Boston ferns, and pothos.

These tender specimens make top winter houseplants that can then spend the warmer months outside to soak up the sun. However, tropical houseplants can suffer cold damage when temperatures get below 50°F, so these tender plants must be brought indoors first to prevent stress or harm.

‘Houseplants that have been brought outside during the summer months should be returned indoors a few weeks before a potential frost – when the temperature starts to dip to near 50°F is a good time,’ recommends Michael Jesiolowski, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum.

‘Check for insects and apply insecticidal soap or neem oil before they are brought in.’

You can get ready-to-use insecticidal soap at Walmart to treat pests when bringing houseplants indoors for the winter.

Gardeners should be proactive and start thinking about bringing houseplants indoors for the winter well before the first anticipated frosts. When planning a fall gardening checklist, start with your tropical houseplants, which have the highest cold threshold, followed by ferns, succulents, and cacti.

However, as we all know, the weather is unpredictable, and there can be surprise early cold snaps. In the case of a premature frost warning, put any houseplants that may still be outdoors, along with other tender plants, at the top of your hit list.

Mirela Bajic, Senior Garden Designer at House Designer, says: ‘If I only had ten minutes before a frost, tender plants come first. Pelargoniums, tender salvias, young citrus, a light frost can wreck these outright, not just knock a few leaves off.’

It is better to start thinking about bringing houseplants indoors for the winter well in advance of any frosts. Monitor the forecasts and get them moved before nighttime temperatures reach 50°F. Succulents and cacti can handle short periods under 50°F, but it is better not to take the risk and move all houseplants sooner rather than later.

Don’t Forget Tropical Plants

Tropical houseplants top the priority list, but any tropical or subtropical plants across the garden will also need attention when night-time temperatures are forecast to drop. Add plants such as banana trees, tree ferns, aeonium, plumeria, and bird of paradise to the priority list for overwintering plants indoors.

‘For quick protection, keep it simple. Move what you can, fleece whatever's stuck outside, bring the genuinely tender stuff in if there's room,’ advises Mirela.

When frost is predicted, the most effective materials for overwintering tender plants are frost cloth, cloches, or even bed sheets to protect plants. You can get frost covers at Amazon to place over plants.

‘Frost cloth is best, but sheets or another breathable fabric works too,’ says Rebecca McLeod, a gardening content creator and ambassador for Digz Gardening. ‘If you're using plastic, be sure that it’s not touching the plant, as that will cause damage to the foliage it touches.’

Think About Containers Too

If you are wondering what should also be prioritized, Mirela Bajic says the order should be ‘tender first, containers second, anything newly planted third’.

Plants in container gardens are more susceptible to cold as they are more exposed. You can move pots together against a house, put them in a garage or sheltered area, or cover them with frost cloth or winter pot covers (available at Amazon).

Newly planted specimens are also more vulnerable because they are not yet established. The cold affects them more than it will once they are fully rooted. To protect these plants, mulch around the roots and cover them with frost cloth.

What to Shop

If you grow tender fruit trees in pots outdoors, such as citrus, bananas, olives, or avocados, they will also need to be brought indoors for winter. Again, you should be proactive and start overwintering fruit trees in pots once night-time temperatures start dropping to around 50°F. Bring them into a greenhouse, porch, conservatory, or place them in front of a bright window.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

It's not every day a new mop lands that could be considered exciting, or even innovative. It's no surprise, though, that when one does, it's from the brains behind Joseph Joseph − introducing the UltraClean Mop & Bucket System.

We're all well acquainted with the familiar tale of mopping floors and soon finding that you're 'cleaning' with dirty water, leaving streaks, marks, and your flooring often worse than it looked before. This is the problem that this new mop system aims to solve, and after trying it out for myself, I can confidently say it delivers.

Now, the Joseph Joseph UltraClean, available at Amazon, is my secret weapon for mopping floors the right way, without wasting any extra time and effort.

I'm well aware that it's unnecessary to clean floors daily, but it's still a household chore I, like most people, regularly undertake. I usually do this with a traditional mop and bucket (the O-Cedar EasyWring Spin Mop & Bucket System, available at Walmart, is another of my favorites), but I couldn't wait to put the Joseph Joseph UltraClean, available at Amazon, to the test once I heard about the release.

With a revolutionary SprayClean mechanism that cleans and refreshes the microfiber pad every time you rinse, it promises sparkling floors without streaks. A clever design separates the dirty water as you go, so you're always mopping with clean, fresh water.

First impressions count, though. Fortunately, I found the UltraClean system easy to assemble, with helpful instructions. The design looks tasteful, too, which isn't a make-or-break when it comes to cleaning tools, but it does make a pleasant difference.

Once fully assembled, there was minimal leakage out of the side of the bucket, something which I was concerned about, and the microfiber pad never got too wet, which meant my floors didn't get soaked and streaky. This is particularly appreciated as my kitchen flooring is boards, rather than tiles.

There is one thing to note: I found that you do have to fill the water tank full, which allows you to clean up to 70 square meters, or the mop won't get wet. This is no problem, but it does mean if you're mopping a smaller area of floor or just doing a quick touch-up, you'll still need to use a whole bucket of water, and the relative dilution of your preferred cleaning solution, too. I like the method Hardwood Floor Cleaner, available at Amazon.

The rectangular design of the microfiber cloth easily got into corners and crannies, and it's conveniently machine-washable, so long as you're clued up on how to wash microfiber cloths. This sustainable feature helps reduce household waste and saves you money in the long run, too.

Once my floors were mopped and clean, the instructions provided everything I needed to know about emptying the bucket, removing the pad, storing the system with the Joseph Joseph CleanTech Wall Mounted Mop & Broom Organizer, available at Amazon, which I also have and use at home, and cleaning the scraper mechanism that prevents the cloth from becoming overly wet.

When emptying the bucket, I saw just how well the separation tanks had actually worked. The water I was dipping my mop in was perfectly clean, while the smaller tank was filled with satisfyingly dirty water.

I then left everything upside down outdoors to dry thoroughly before storing away, but in bad weather, this can be done over a sink or with a wipe of a kitchen towel instead.

This mop and bucket system may be $90, but I'd certainly deem it a cleaning tool worth the splurge.

More to Shop

For more floor cleaning essentials and recommendations, shop a selection of top-rated and tried-and-tested picks below.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

This clever, all-natural baking soda solution trick leaves flooring streak-free.

Love the latest product news and helpful shopping advice? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

Pumpkins are a staple when it comes to the fall porch, and each year there seem to be more creative ways to style them. Yes, the classic carved pumpkin is timelessly spooky and nostalgic, but I recently spotted a more elegant trend I couldn't resist recreating – a pumpkin plant pot.

It's the perfect way to combine Halloween porch planting ideas and outdoor fall decor ideas without giving in to gimmicks and over-the-top displays. As per the TikTok video below from @jeffandlaurenshow, you can get the look by carving out a pumpkin, adding some drainage holes, and using it as a plant pot. The bigger the pumpkin, the more layered the planting opportunities.

It's a fall DIY that took me just 20 minutes to do and cost less than $5. Ever since styling it by my front door (alongside other beautiful decorative pumpkins, like these from Walmart), my neighbors and guests have stopped to admire it. So, if you're looking for a sophisticated way to display pumpkins this year, keep reading to make your very own pumpkin plant pot.

A Chic Take on the Pumpkin Porch

The pumpkin plant pot trend is so simple – you essentially turn a carving pumpkin (which you can pick up from Walmart) into a vessel for your favorite fall flowers for pots.

Not only does it look good, but it actually supports healthy growth of your plants. Because the pumpkin flesh is moisture-retentive, it acts like a sponge and will help keep your potted plants hydrated. Alongside rainfall this season, you may not need to water your potted plants at all (though it is important to add drainage holes to avoid rot).

Plus, when you're ready to take down the fall decor, you can compost your pumpkins and turn them into organic matter for the garden.

If you want a pumpkin plant pot that lasts a bit more indefinitely, Wayfair have pumpkin planters that achieve the same look.

While a singular pumpkin plant pot with chrysanthemums is charming, the most impressive display is made by adding a few decorative pumpkins of other colors and even planting up multiple pumpkins of different sizes with different plants.

With a larger pumpkin, you can even adopt a mixed fall container recipe or a thriller, spiller, filler container. In the TikTok video above, mums, celosia (like this from Plant Addicts) and marigolds create the ultimate fall color scheme.

How to Create a Pumpkin Plant Pot

This is one of the quickest and easiest DIYs I've done. You need just a few materials to get started:

• Pumpkins – they need to be large enough to act as a vessel for your chosen plants. Treat it the same as picking out the size of a plant pot, with enough depth and width for your plant's roots and spread.
• Carving tools (like this set from Walmart)
• A drill
• Potting soil (which you can pick up from Lowe's)
• Your favorite fall flowers (I chose red chrysanthemums, which you can find at Walmart)

To make your pumpkin plant pot, prepare a work space. Just like creating other pumpkin carving ideas, things can get messy, so you may want to work on a potting mat (like this beautiful pink and red one from IKEA) and have a bowl nearby for the pulp.

1. Start by carving the pumpkin as if you were making a lid for a Jack-o'-lantern. It's best to cut at a 45-degree angle, as this makes it easier to lift.
2. Scoop out all the pulp and pumpkin seeds. I recommend placing this in a bowl on the side to cook with later on. You want to gently scrape the sides of the pumpkin to get a clean, smooth finish.
3. Drill 1-3 drainage holes in the bottom of the pumpkin. This will allow excess moisture to drain out so your plants aren't sitting in soggy soil, which could cause root rot and kill them off prematurely.
4. Fill the pumpkin with potting soil about halfway. Then, pot up your plants – if you're using multiple, position taller plants at the back and compact ones at the front to create a layered display.
5. Use more potting soil to carefully secure your plants in place and water them.

It really is as simple as that. Add some more decorative pumpkins, corn stalks, and other fall porch decor for a finishing touch.

They look especially elegant when grouped with other pumpkin plant pots. You could even use a mix of different color pumpkins or paint your pumpkins to take the DIY a step further.

What to Shop

There are endless ways to create a fall porch, but this pumpkin plant pot trend can add an interesting detail that elevates the whole display. If you're looking for more inspiration, we asked garden designers to share their favorite fall porch styling ideas.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

The most on-trend kitchen colors right now have a familiar feeling, an air of nostalgia. We are looking more at the past for inspiration than ever, and right now it's the colors of the 1960s that are making a huge comeback.

There's something really comforting about these kitchen colors – they trigger memories of childhood holidays and Sundays at your grandparents' house. And while many of the colors synonymous with the decade are making a comeback, it's in a slightly more refined way.

The colors returning are those that feel playful, yet still really timeless – they're inspired by the '60s, but brought back a bit more tastefully. And according to designers, these are the revived colors worth having on your radar.

The '60s Kitchen Colors Returning in 2027

When we talk about '60s colors making a comeback, we don't mean replicating designs of the past. It's about taking inspiration from the palettes and evolving them to feel current and sophisticated in kitchens today. Here's how designers are making them work for a characterful yet still timeless scheme.

1. Muted Mustard Yellows

There's no denying that yellow kitchens have well and truly made a comeback this year. From a Mediterranean-inspired deVOL kitchen to Studio Mac's butter yellow kitchen by the sea, these soft, pale shades have become some of the most popular. But the '60s favored a muddier, richer yellow shade – and mustard kitchens are set to return.

'I think muted mustard yellows are definitely coming back. They have that unmistakable 1960s quality, a little bit playful but can feel surprisingly sophisticated when used in the right way. I love yellows that have a little depth and warmth to them rather than anything too bright or primary,' says interior designer Laura Stephens.

'Mustard is one of those colors I’ve always had a soft spot for because it has such an immediate warmth to it. We instinctively associate it with the late 1960s, but the way it is returning now feels much more sophisticated,' agrees Lesley Taylor, interior designer and Founder at Baked Tiles. 'Rather than the very obvious retro yellows of the period, I’m seeing people drawn to softer, earthier versions, from ochre and saffron to tobacco and honey. They still have that same confidence, but they’re much easier to live with.'

There are so many ways to introduce mustard yellow into a kitchen, but Lesley recommends a more confident approach. 'Tiles are probably my favorite way to introduce it because you’re not just adding color, you’re adding surface too. I’d always choose something with a little movement in the glaze rather than a completely flat finish. Those small variations between tiles are what make a wall feel interesting close up, and they stop a strong color from feeling too solid or one-dimensional.'

'I’m a big fan of using it on the cabinetry, particularly when it is balanced with natural timber and another warm, contrasting color,' Laura adds. 'I think that combination is what stops the color from feeling too retro – you can take the confidence and optimism of a 1960s palette, but mix it with warm woods and more earthy tones to create something that feels very relevant now.'

2. Lacquer Reds

Over the years, kitchen finishes, especially paint colors, have become very matte. It makes sense – these paint formulas are made with durability in mind, something you need in a kitchen. But the '60s championed the playful finish of glossier surfaces, which has perhaps inspired the return of lacquer reds.

'Glossy, lacquered reds are having a moment again. It has that wonderful optimism and confidence of the 1960s, but can feel surprisingly timeless when used in the right way. We used a rich gloss red for the pantry in our Somerset Country House project and on the main kitchen island, which gives what could otherwise be a very functional space a real sense of joy,' says interior designer Octavia Dickinson.

'Red is particularly good at bringing warmth to a kitchen, and I like that it can be both incredibly traditional and wonderfully modern. The key to a red kitchen is choosing a red with a little warmth and using it alongside materials that have age and texture, so it doesn't become too obviously retro. I would use it on something that can really embrace the color – a pantry, island, dresser, or run of cabinetry – rather than being frightened of it and using it only as an accent.'

3. Deep Olive

Recent kitchen color trends have shifted toward earthier kitchen colors, bringing a timeless quality without relying on plain white or overly bold hues. And olive green kitchens in particular are having a moment, balancing classic style with a more unique approach.

'Deep olive is a color with strong roots in 1960s interiors, and we’re seeing an interest in these deeper, earthy greens. It doesn’t dominate the room and sits well alongside natural materials and softer, chalkier tones. There is also something timeless about an earthy green, which allows it to sit comfortably in both traditional and contemporary interiors,' explains Carly Allison of Fired Earth.

This shade's beauty lies in its versatility; it pairs well with other colors and finishes, so you can drench a kitchen or use it as a secondary color. 'Using deep olive across cabinetry and walls creates an enveloping look, particularly when balanced with lighter colored tiles. For a more pared-back approach, use it on an island or solely on kitchen cabinetry,' she suggests.

4. Pale Pink

Pink, in the right not-too-sweet, not-too-bright shade, can feel elegant and chic in a kitchen. Rather than the bold Barbie pinks of past trends, designers are drawing inspiration from the '60s with softer, more muted shades, and pairing them with unexpected hues for a more mature balance.

'Pink is having a real moment again, and I am a massive fan! It’s such a fun and versatile color, with so many shades to play around with. It has a lovely way of bringing energy and personality into a room and making it feel playful and joyful,' says Sarah Brown, Founder and Creative Director of Sarah Brown Interiors.

'I have always been a fan of pink, and used it in my own kitchen at home, but contrasted it with a strong burgundy to stop it feeling too saccharine or girly. The burgundy adds depth to the pink, creating a unique and unexpected mix. It’s not necessarily the first color pairing you’d think of, but it brings so much character to a kitchen.'

5. Moody Oxblood

If brighter, lacquer reds aren't your style, another red kitchen shade that was incredibly popular in the '60s is making a striking comeback. It's one of those moody colors that adds instant richness to a kitchen, but it can also act as a dark neutral in the right space.

'Oxblood is a deep, dark red with rich brown and subtle purple undertones. Unlike burgundy, it has a more alluring depth to it. There’s a mystery to it that’s really appealing to live with,' says interior designer Brittny Button. 'There’s a luxurious livability to this shade. It’s grounding and energizing at the same time.'

Painting your cabinets dark red with a lighter wall feels classic, but you can be more confident with this shade, too. 'If you want a more enveloping effect, painting the walls and cabinetry in the same color can work well. The finish is also important; for example, our Plant-Based Matt or Eggshell will give you a smooth, durable finish ideal for a high-traffic area like this,' adds paint expert Dominic Myland.

6. Dark Wood Tones

Wooden kitchens have been back in style for a while now, but the tones are getting deeper this year, much like the styles that were popular in the '60s. These richer tones bring depth and interest to kitchens, and a stronger material contrast than the white oaks that have been everywhere recently.

'Deep wood tones, which soared in the '60s, are back on the scene as of last year and are starting to take the lead! Homeowners and designers are looking for that connection to the natural world. Think chocolate browns like mahogany and walnut, which were particularly popular in that era,' explains Shae Wilder of BlueStar.

There are several ways to bring dark wood tones into your kitchen, cabinetry being the most obvious, but you can also clad the walls, bring it in through flooring, or take an altogether more daring approach, as Shae explains. 'The '60s also loved color-drenching, which we still see today. Colorful kitchen cabinets and wood-drenched spaces have been popular again for some years now, just in different colors and tones.''

7. Soft Greens

The elevated return of dark olive covers the deeper shades of green, but a lighter hue from the '60s feels very much back in style. Think of it as a more sophisticated, heritage green that takes the best of the avocado era and brings a more up-to-date and timeless feel to kitchens of every style and size.

'We're continuing to see clients gravitate towards green. In the '60s, the colors were avocado and olive, used with real abandon. Today, we're seeing deeper, more sophisticated greens that carry the same warmth and optimism, but a bit more refined for modern living,' says Paul Kropp of Bakes & Kropp.

'A few years ago, people wanted their homes to feel joyful and bold, and color became a way to express that. That desire hasn't gone away, but it has matured. Our clients still want personality; they just want it measured, and green fits that moment perfectly. It brings in warmth and a connection to nature without overpowering a room, and it pairs easily with wood, stone, and metal. It feels expressive and grounded at the same time.'

Shop the Look

The return of these retro colors proves that kitchens are becoming more personalized and evolved, balancing timeless style with playful design. 'I don't think a kitchen needs to look deliberately '60s,' says Octavia. 'It's much more interesting to take one element of that era and interpret it in a way that feels personal and timeless.'

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

A spectacular spring garden full of color and interest is a joy to behold and something to look forward to over the winter months. Backed up by early-flowering perennials and shrubs, it is often the spring flowering bulbs that take center stage when given the chance to show off.

Planted several months before they bloom, the fall is a busy time for bulb planting. October is a key month for planting spring bulbs, as the soil still holds enough warmth to encourage important root growth before temperatures drop.

Having planted what must be thousands of spring bulbs over my horticultural career, I share some of my favorite bulbs to plant in October and the tools, like this Spear & Jackson long-handled bulb planter (available from Amazon), to make planting them easier.

Why Do We Plant Bulbs in October

We are often told to plant daffodils, crocuses and other spring bulbs in the fall, which, even though it is correct, is rather vague. In an ideal world, the optimum time to plant spring-flowering bulbs is when the ground is easily workable and there is still time for roots to develop before the necessary winter chilling period.

As a general guide, this means October is prime bulb-planting season for many of us, especially those in USDA zones 6-8, but in warmer parts, November may be more suitable. However, your garden’s topography is also important to take into account, as if you live in a hollow or frost pocket, you may want to get planting earlier before any freezes arrive.

Winter Aconite

Winter aconites (Eranthis) are among the first of the year to bloom, and produce cheerful yellow flowers when little else does. They may be small, but winter aconites are hardy down to USDA zone 4 and look highly effective when planted en masse.

Thriving in partial or dappled shade, they are ideal for woodland settings or for growing under a deciduous tree in a border. They prefer a fertile and moist, but well-drained soil where they will naturalize and form golden carpets over time.

To rehydrate the dry, small tubers, soak them in tepid water for several hours before planting. Plant closely in clusters for a natural effect, 2-3 inches deep and water in. Alternatively, you can purchase and plant them ‘in the green’ in early spring.

The vast majority of plant bulbs are considered toxic to humans and pets, and care should be taken, especially where children are present. Along with being good general gardening practice, gloves should always be worn when handling bulbs.

Winter aconite bulbs are available to purchase from Amazon.

Glory of the Snow

Blooming from late winter to early spring, Chionodoxa Luciliae, or glory of the snow, as they are also known, produce striking bright blue flowers with white centers. Growing to around 6 inches tall, they are ideal for planting at the front of a border or in rock or gravel gardens.

Although glory of the snow will still flower in partial shade, a spot where they will receive 6 or more hours of sun per day is where they will perform their best. To give the bulbs time to establish roots, plant them around 4 weeks before the first frost of winter.

To help them thrive, plant the bulbs in small groups 3 times their depth and 2-3 times their width apart.

When planting small bulbs on a workable soil, I have found that a sharp tool, like a Berry & Bird hand dibber, available from Lowe’s, can make a correctly sized hole quickly and easily.

Allium

Another bulb to plant in October for late spring to early summer impact is the allium. Adored for their globe-shaped blooms of tightly packed tiny flowers held aloft on slender stems, ornamental onions, as they are also called, attract pollinators, especially bees.

Thriving in full sun, alliums are drought-tolerant and, when other plants are wilting in the heat, continue to perform well. In particular, ‘Purple Sensation’, an allium variety I regularly grow in the gardens I manage, has more than proved itself despite the heat.

To prevent premature flowering shortly after planting, which can be caused when the ground is still warm, plant alliums when the soil has begun to cool and is around 50°F to 60°F.

With its large deep-purple flowers, 6 plus inches in diameter, allium ‘Globemaster’ available to purchase from Burpee, unsurprisingly has large bulbs, which can be a handful to plant deeply. Thankfully, you can purchase bulb planting auger drill bits, in sets of various sizes, from Amazon, which make light work of mass plantings.

Dwarf Iris

Dwarf irises (Iris reticulata) might only grow to around 4-6 inches tall, but their exquisite petals more than make up for their lack of size. Depending on your location, dwarf irises flower from February to March and should be planted when the soil falls to below 60°F, but before the first frost.

Available in shades of blue and yellow, I usually pick Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’, available from Burpee, for its rich royal blue petals, or ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ for its refined pale blue hues.

Flowering best in full sun, dwarf irises can also grow well in dappled shade. However, to prevent the bulbs from rotting, only plant them where the drainage is good and avoid areas prone to waterlogging.

Due to their small stature, you will want to plant dwarf irises where you can appreciate them. The front of a cottage garden border or in a container, like this terracotta-colored planter bowl from Amazon, will help show them off. If you want to lift your bulbs at the end of the season, you can use a bulb basket, available from Amazon, which will save you from digging around to find bulbs in the soil.

Snowdrop

Flowering at the beginning of the calendar year, snowdrops (Galanthus) are loved by both gardeners and collectors of specialist cultivars.

Snowdrops are typically planted ‘in the green’ in February or March, but you can also purchase them more cheaply as bulbs to plant in the fall. However, the trade-off for buying snowdrops as bulbs is that they are prone to drying out and may not establish as well as live plants.

Either way, choose a dappled or partially shaded spot, under a deciduous tree or on the edge of a woodland is ideal and plant 3-4 inches deep and at a similar spacing. A moist, humus-rich, but well-drained soil will help them thrive and encourage them to spread.

Snowdrop bulbs are available to purchase from Plant Addicts.

Grape Hyacinth

Mimicking a larger hyacinth, though unrelated, grape hyacinths (Muscari) produce small cones in shades of blue, pink, and white from March onwards. Growing to only 6-10 inches tall, grape hyacinths are easy-to-grow and can form carpets of color when left to their own devices.

However, Muscari spread rapidly via offsets and self-seeding, and some types are considered invasive in some areas. To control their spread, you can grow them in containers where they will be confined.

Plant in full sun on a moist, well-drained soil at a depth of 3-4 inches. Suitable for growing in USDA zones 4-8, Blue Grape muscari bulbs are available to purchase from Burpee.

Snake’s Head Fritillary

An additional spring-flowering bulb to plant in October is the snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris). Blooming from mid-spring onward, the snake’s head fritillary produces striking nodding flowers in shades of purple, pink, or white, with an unusual check pattern.

Best planted in the fall between September and November, while the soil still holds some warmth, snake’s head fritillaries are well suited to USDA hardiness zones 4 to 8.

Plant 3 to 4 times the depth of the bulb and 4 to 6 inches apart, in a partially shaded spot on moist, well-drained soil. However, avoid areas that dry out completely in the summer, as this can cause the bulbs to shrivel and fail.

Packs of mixed Fritillaria meleagris bulbs are available to purchase from Amazon.

What to Shop

Along with flowering bulbs, blossom-covered trees are another spring garden highlight, and October is the perfect time to pre-order trees ahead of the winter dormancy planting period.

From flowering cherries and crab apples to almonds and serviceberries, there are so many great options that it can be hard to decide. Nevertheless, our specialist feature on the best trees for spring blossom will help you decide which blossom tree will look best in your garden.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

As the garden fades in fall, it can be tempting to take a pair of pruning shears to everything and tidy up your yard's appearance. But, cutting back the wrong plants now can be detrimental.

While pruning plants in October is a key part of getting your garden ready for winter, there are some perennials that benefit from looking messy now and only being trimmed in spring. This includes the plants with seed heads and hollow stems that support wildlife, as well as those that gain some insulation and cover from faded plant material. Removing stems could leave their crown and roots exposed to frost, potentially killing off the plant.

It can be tricky to judge which plants to leave alone this month, so I turned to the gardening experts for help. Here, they share seven plants to never cut back in October – though it is still worth getting your fall gardening tools ready for other jobs this season, like this bulb planter tool from Amazon.

Sedum

One of the main reasons to not over-tidy your yard in fall is to avoid removing essential shelter and food sources for wildlife.

'My practice is to hold off on any spring clean-up and plant cutbacks until spring temperatures have been above 50 degrees for a week. This ensures any overwintering pollinators have emerged from their hibernation space,' says Shannon Barnette, horticulture expert from The Dawes Arboretum.

Sedum is one of the perennials to not cut back in fall for wildlife that Shannon recommends.

'Holding off on cutting back can protect the crown of the plant from harsh winter temperatures, as well as late spring frosts that could damage new plant tissues,' she advises.

Hardy across USDA zones 3-9, Shannon notes not much winterizing is needed for sedum. In fact, you should avoid mulching sedum as it can trap excess moisture and rot the crown and roots.

Ornamental Grasses

When it comes to ornamental grasses, garden designer Lee Miller says to leave them be over winter.

'Cutting back ornamental grasses in fall can subject the center of the plant to freezing temperatures and snow, causing the crown to hollow out,' Lee explains.

'To protect the plant, it's best to cut back ornamental grasses in late March or early April once the threat of frost is gone and before new growth appears. Leaving these grasses throughout the wintertime can also provide interest to the landscape,' she adds.

While not always necessary, some ornamental grasses can benefit from a light layer of fall mulching materials. You can use fallen leaves or this brown mulch from Lowe's. This will regulate soil temperature, suppress weeds around the plant, and help roots retain moisture.

It is best, however, to do some research around the specific winter needs of your ornamental grass.

Coneflowers

If you want to help feed garden birds in winter, coneflower (echinacea) is one of the best plants to grow. It's a plant for seed heads that many birds like to feed from.

This includes goldfinches, chickadees, and juncos. The hollow stems of faded coneflowers also supports overwintering pollinators with shelter

'Because these plants evolved alongside native pollinators, they are not only used as a food source, but also as a habitat during winter months,' Shannon says.

The good news is coneflower, which is hardy across USDA zone 3-9, doesn't need much winter protection. Though, you can follow some steps to winterize coneflowers as a precaution if you live in a colder clime.

If you have potted coneflower plants, it can be useful to relocate them to a sheltered position or wrap them with burlap (which is available from Amazon) to protect roots from freezing temperatures.

Lilyturf

Lee also notes one the plants to never cut back in October is lilyturf, also known as monkey grass or Liriope.

'It's an attractive perennial with delicate grass-like variegated or green foliage and purple blooms in fall which can be also be affected by prolonged freezing temperatures, in turn causing damage to the crown of the plant,' says Lee.

'It is best to leave Liriope intact over the winter months and to avoid pruning until early spring when first signs of new growth appear. When you see the first signs of growth in spring, rejuvenate Liriope by cutting the plant back to one or two inches above the ground,' Lee advises.

When it is time to cut back monkey grass, use essential pruning tools like these hedge shears from Lowe's to make clean cuts.

Joe Pye Weed

Another plant to leave for winter wildlife is Joe Pye weed.

Flowering through summer, Joe Pye weed is a great plant and nectar source for pollinators. After blooming, the dried seed heads and hollow stems provide continue to support beneficial insects by providing shelter.

By attracting lots of insects, it also helps feed insect-eating birds.

You can wait until early spring to cut Joe Pye weed back to a 4-8 inches above the ground before new shoots emerge.

In fall, however, you can remove any damaged and diseased stems. This will protect next year's growth by reducing the risk of overwintering fungal diseases, like powdery mildew.

Black-Eyed Susans

Rudbeckia, or black-eyed Susan, is another native plant that produces seed heads to feel birds in winter. In particular, goldfinches and sparrows enjoy its seeds.

The faded stems also provide some cover and insulation over the plant's crown. Meanwhile, the seed heads look sculptural when dusted in frost in the winter garden.

Of course, you should remove any diseased black-eyed Susan stems before winter. You can use these Fiskars bypass pruning shears from Amazon.

In early spring, cut back black-eyed Susans down to 2-4 inches above the ground, just before new growth emerges.

Hydrangeas

As a general rule, you should avoid hard pruning hydrangeas in fall.

While you can safely remove old heads from panicle and smooth hydrangeas (which bloom on new wood) there is a risk of encouraging soft new growth that will experience frost damage. That's why many gardeners choose to wait until spring.

Likewise, bigleaf, mountain, and oakleaf hydrangeas shouldn't be pruned in fall because they bloom on old wood and you risk removing next year's buds.

Leaving faded hydrangea heads can also look beautiful through winter, and provide some coverage for tender new buds for the old wood varieties.

When you do prune hydrangeas in early spring, make sure to note the needs of your particular hydrangea. Our guides to how to prune panicle hydrangeas and how to prune Annabelle hydrangeas has more information to help you avoid mistakes that could cost you next year's blooms.

Bypass pruning shears (like the Felco F2 pruners from Amazon) are a good choice for tending to these shrubs.

What to Shop

While you can avoid pruning these plants this month, there are plenty of plants to prune in October. This will help get them ready for winter and frosty conditions. Just take care to clean your gardening tools in between use to reduce the risk of pests and diseases spreading.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

Winter can pose many challenges for climbers, especially strong winds. Many gardeners may assume frost or snow pose the biggest headache, but winds can snap stems and even rip climbing plants away from their supports. To avoid this, October is a good window to take measures to keep your climbers protected.

You don’t want any harm to come to your best climbing plants. Whether it is clematis, wisteria, honeysuckle, trumpet vine, or climbing roses, take some time this month to check the trellis or support and secure stems. Whether your climber is attached to a wall, fence, or trellis, if the supports break, the plant can crash to the ground. If the plant itself is left flailing in the wind, the stems rip easily

It needn’t take long to secure your winter climbers, but you do need to tie them in properly. What is crucial is using soft plant ties, like these on Amazon, and a particular knot to overwinter climbing plants safely and securely.

You Must Tie in Loose Stems

Your climbing plants are vulnerable in windy fall and winter weather. The quickest way to protect them from snapping is to check and secure them sooner rather than later.

When strong winds pick up, any loose stems quickly flail about. The loose ends can break or snap, and flapping about can slacken the stems further down the climber, exacerbating the overall damage. Unsecured climbing plants can be ripped fully away from their support in a worst-case scenario.

Spend some time checking existing ties, replacing any wobbly ones, and tying in long or loose stems. Flailing stems need to be secured to the support or trellis, and care should be taken to ensure structural stems are evenly spaced across the structure.

To overwinter climbing plants safely, the best plant ties for climbers are always made of soft, flexible material. The most common materials for this are jute, PVC flexi-ties (such as this roll of extra thick flexible plant ties on Amazon), plastic loops, or Velcro (you can get Velcro plant ties on Walmart)

Or you can make a DIY alternative by making soft fabric strips from old T-shirts, tights, or stockings.

What you shouldn’t ever use are wire or metal ties. These materials can scrape and cut into stems when the plant is blown around in the winter. In the worst possible outcome, they can cut the stems in two.

For the best protection against strong winds, use a figure-of-eight knot. Loop your tie around the stem, cross the two ends, and then loop them around the support. Tie them with a double knot.

Using this tie creates room for the stems to expand and allows for a slight bit of natural movement. This method of tying doesn’t throttle the stems, and the crossed-over material between the stem and the support prevents them from rubbing against each other.

You Need to Check Plant Supports

Most of the attention when overwintering a garden goes to frost and cold temperatures. This is completely understandable, but don’t overestimate the risk of strong winter winds.

Evergreen climbers suffer more than most when gales strike, as the gusts bombard the leafy canopy and put pressure on the plant supports. These need to be checked before winter to ensure they are anchored to the ground or the wall. This avoids the plant and support structure crashing to the ground.

Checking trellises, wires (you can get a wire tensioner kit at Amazon), and fences also helps to protect plants from a storm – another time when loose supports are liable to come down.

Shop Climbing Plants and Supports

For an added layer of protection for your climbing plants in winter, add a 2-3 inch layer of mulch around the base of the plant to insulate the roots against frost. Use organic types of mulch, such as compost (you can get a bag of organic compost at The Home Depot), leaf mold, or bark, but keep the material away from the main stem when placing it around the plant.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

A kitchen backsplash may not take up much square footage, but it can have an outsized impact on how the whole room looks and works. Sitting right in the eyeline, between countertops and cabinetry, it can sharpen up simple kitchen designs, calm down busier ones, or provide the detail that pulls everything together. It also happens to occupy one of the messiest stretches of wall in the house, dealing daily with water, grease, steam, food splatters, and vigorous sauce stirring.

That combination of high visibility and hard use is what makes choosing a kitchen backsplash trickier than simply falling for the perfect tile. Material and finish determine how well it stands up to life, while size, color, pattern, and grout can completely alter its visual impact. How it meets the rest of the kitchen matters just as much.

‘Even a high-end backsplash can look bad if it hasn’t been properly planned around windows, open shelves, cabinet edges or range hoods. There’s nothing more annoying than walking into your kitchen every morning and seeing backsplash that sticks out or overlaps awkwardly – what an eyesore!’ says Nancy Vu, Co-founder of M&S Construction Group.

This guide is designed to take some of the guesswork out of it. We’ll work through the decisions in logical order, from choosing the right material and working out how much wall to cover to getting the color, layout and finishing details right. We’ll also flag the practical issues worth knowing before you buy, so that by the time installation starts, the difficult decisions have already been made – and your new backsplash looks as dreamy IRL as it did on paper.

1. Start with How Your Kitchen Works

Before looking at stone slabs or tile samples, consider what happens against the walls of your kitchen. A backsplash behind a sink that sees constant washing-up has a different job from one on a wall occupied mainly by a coffee station. Likewise, the surface immediately behind a frequently used range has to cope with grease, food splashes, and heat in a way that an empty stretch above a side counter may not.

Identify the Hardest-Working Areas

Map the sink, range, or cooktop and the principal food-preparation area first. These are generally the places where ease of cleaning and appropriate material performance should take precedence over decorative considerations.

How you cook also makes a difference, especially if you’re into high-heat searing and spicy sauces, and generally use all the stove burners at once. A family kitchen may also benefit from surfaces that tolerate frequent wiping and don't show up every water mark or splash. In a kitchen used more for entertaining, or just very careful chefs, you may be willing to trade a little more maintenance for a delicate or characterful finish.

‘The first thing I identify is which parts of the backsplash will work hardest. The surface directly behind a busy range or sink may need to meet quite different practical requirements from a quieter section of wall,’ says Swati Goorha, Founder and Principal Designer at Swati Goorha Designs. ‘In those high-use areas, I prioritize materials that are durable, easy to clean, and resistant to moisture and everyday splashes while still considering how the material works with the overall kitchen design.’

Decide How Much Maintenance Feels Realistic

This is worth answering before falling for a particular material or backsplash trend. Would occasional resealing bother you (and would you reliably do it)? Are you happy to wipe polished metal frequently? Will smudgy grout joints be something you can happily ignore or something you immediately want to attack with a toothbrush?

Natural stone can be entirely practical in a kitchen, for example, but some stones and finishes require more considered care than glazed porcelain. Stainless steel is famously functional, but fingerprints and fine scratches are inevitable, and they’re not always pretty. Handmade tile may disguise the odd splash beautifully, but its irregularities make it a very different proposition cleaning-wise from a completely smooth slab. There is no universally 'best' backsplash material; you just need to ascertain which backsplash will work best for your household.

Consider the Rest of the Room

An open-plan kitchen places the backsplash in view from living and dining spaces, so its visual presence may deserve more consideration than in an enclosed kitchen where it is only seen close up. Think about the wider sightlines, too: flooring, furniture, lighting, and wall colors will all sit in the same field of view, and a backsplash that looks subtle at arm’s length can feel much busier from across the room.

Scale matters for the same reason. A backsplash covering one modest wall can afford to be more dynamic than a material wrapping several walls or running to the ceiling. If the kitchen already has a strong countertop, statement cabinetry, or patterned flooring, a quieter backsplash may give the eye somewhere to rest; in a simpler scheme, it can take on more of the decorative work.

2. Choose Your Backsplash Material

Backsplash material is probably the most consequential decision because it influences not only appearance but also joints, cleaning, heat tolerance, installation, and cost. A useful way to compare options is to think beyond whether a material is 'durable' and ask where it is durable. A surface may cope brilliantly with water but need greater consideration around heat, acidic cooking ingredients, or abrasive cleaning products.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile remains one of the easiest backsplash materials to specify because it is available in an enormous range of sizes, colors, glazes, and prices. Glazed ceramic is generally easy to wipe clean and performs well in normal splash areas. Individual tiles can also be replaced if one becomes damaged, assuming you have retained spares.

Ceramic is generally easier for an installer to cut than porcelain, which can make elaborate layouts and numerous outlet cuts less laborious. Always check the manufacturer's intended application, bearing in mind that 'ceramic' describes a large family of products rather than one identical performance level.

The grout-factor is the main downside of tiling. Small formats can create a large number of grout joints, and those joints are going to get grubby in time, even if you are careful to seal them. You can improve matters by choosing a colored grout – or at least avoiding pristine white – and be prepared to scrub with a specialist grout cleaner should things get really dire.

Porcelain

Porcelain is technically a type of ceramic tile, but it is denser and defined in US standards by water absorption of 0.5% or less. That very low absorption makes it an appealing backsplash option, particularly where easy cleaning and resistance to moisture are priorities. Modern porcelain tile is available in XL slabs that are impressively thin, which helps with installation and minimizing those pesky grout lines.

Porcelain can also convincingly replicate marble, limestone, concrete, metal and other surfaces, making it useful if you want the appearance of a more maintenance-sensitive material without pandering to specialist care requirements. The trade-off arrives at installation: dense porcelain is generally harder to cut than ordinary ceramic tile, which matters if the backsplash contains several outlets, windows or complicated edges. But, with the right tools, it’s perfectly doable.

Natural Stone

Marble, limestone, travertine, granite, quartzite, onyx, and other natural stones can create a backsplash with a depth and variation that manufactured surfaces struggle to duplicate. They do not, however, all behave in the same way.

Calcareous stones such as marble and limestone can be etched by acids. The Natural Stone Institute specifically cautions that lemon, vinegar, and other acidic cleaners may dull or etch these materials. Most natural stones require an impregnating sealer, which increases stain resistance but does not make the stone stain-proof. This is particularly relevant in a kitchen, where tomato, citrus, vinegar, wine and oil are frequently splashed.

‘Homeowners need to understand that some natural stones are more work than others. Marble and limestone are softer and require more care but are totally worth it,’ says Harmony Weihs, Designer and Owner of Design Harmony. ‘Quartzite is a natural stone I love using as it’s very durable and beautiful and requires minimal to no care. Although nothing is guaranteed “timeless”, if you want a more classic look, it’s worth sticking with neutrals and subtler veining.’

A polished slab will also behave differently visually and practically from tumbled tile or heavily textured stone. ‘Finish makes a huge difference, especially when choosing darker stone; the darker the stone, the more dramatic the sheen is, especially when polished. In most cases I prefer a honed stone over polished as it’s more casual,’ adds Harmony. Ask your stone supplier about the specific stone, finish, and proposed location, rather than relying on generic advice for 'natural stone'.

Engineered Quartz

Engineered quartz is fairly non-porous, easy to clean, and requires no sealing, making it a practical choice around both sinks and cooking areas. It’s not quite as stainproof as porcelain, but spills such as oil or curry paste will only leave a mark if they are left to fester. Good quality engineered quartz is suitable for use behind most cooktops and ranges, but always check the guidance for the surface you are specifying, as heat resistance can vary between brands, particularly with gas burners.

Sintered and Ultra-Compact Surfaces

Products in this broad category use mineral-based materials manufactured under high pressure and/or heat to create dense, low-porosity slabs. Like engineered quartz, their particular formulations vary, so use manufacturer data rather than assuming all sintered products have identical performance.

Dekton, for instance, is marketed for wall cladding and is highly resistant to stains, scratches, and heat, although its manufacturer still provides specific guidance concerning direct flames and installation around intense heat sources. As it’s available in XL slabs, the material can be a very practical way to continue a kitchen countertop vertically while reducing the number of joints.

Glass

Glass splashbacks are made from sheets of toughened or tempered glass. It can be painted in virtually any color, printed with a pattern, silvered or mirrored, given an antiqued finish, or kept clear to simply protect painted walls from splashes. Low-iron glass is particularly useful over wallpaper because it has less of the greenish tint found in standard clear glass.

As well as being easy to clean, glass has very few joints and no grout lines, which makes it a good choice for a sleek, low-maintenance finish. For safety, always use toughened glass around cooking areas and check any heat-clearance guidance for the product and appliance you are using. Accurate templating matters too, as holes and cut-outs for outlets, switches, or corners have to be made before the glass is toughened. With clear or translucent glass, the wall and fixings behind it also need to be neat, as they may show through.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is particularly at home around stove tops and ranges because it is nonporous, heat tolerant, and able to cope with plenty of splashes and spills, which explains its long association with professional kitchens. A steel sheet can be fabricated around outlets and other fittings with relatively few joints. On larger areas, sections can also be welded together and the seams ground and refinished for a hygienic, seamless appearance.

The downside is keeping steel looking pristine. Fingerprints, water marks, and greasy smears show readily, especially on highly polished steel, while brushed finishes are generally more forgiving. A tiny amount of stainless-steel conditioning or mineral oil buffed over the clean surface can help reduce fingerprints and restore shine.

Other Metals

Copper, brass, zinc and bronze sheets can bring warmth and depth, but their appearance rarely remains completely static. Often called ‘living finishes’, they naturally oxidize or develop a patina; acids, salts and cleaning chemicals can affect that process. Protective coatings may preserve a particular finish but introduce their own care requirements. Ask whether the sample represents how the metal looks new or after use, and whether a lacquer or other treatment is responsible for that appearance.

Brick

Original exposed brick can give a kitchen enormous character, but an attractive old wall and a practical cooking backsplash are not automatically the same thing. Brick and mortar are relatively porous, and deep joints and rough surfaces provide plenty of places for grease and food to settle. Sealing may improve cleanability but can alter the color or sheen, so test the finish first. Brick-look porcelain or brick slips offer a similar visual rhythm with much simpler maintenance if the practical demands of the location are high.

Wood and Wood-Look Surfaces

With the exception of a paneled kitchen backsplash finished in scrubbable paint, timber isn’t a good backsplash choice, particularly close to a range, where heat, moisture and grease can make it impractical. But if you want the warmth of timber in those hot/wet zones, wood-effect sintered stone or large-format porcelain can give you a similar look in a surface that is far better suited to a backsplash. The latest designs reproduce grain and knots surprisingly convincingly, while offering the heat, moisture and stain resistance you’d expect from a hard surface. Large slabs also mean fewer joints, so the effect can feel more like timber panelling than tiled wood-look strips.

Whichever material you choose, these three questions can help rule out the wrong option fast:

1) Can it tolerate the proposed heat and moisture?

2) How is it cleaned?

3) Who can install it – you/your builder or a specialist?

3. How Much Backsplash Do You Need?

Once the material is broadly decided, establish how much wall you actually want it to cover. Where and how you end a backsplash isn't merely an aesthetic choice. More coverage means more material, more labor, and potentially more complicated cuts, but it can also create more protected, and thus lower maintenance, walls.

‘The backsplash stopping point should be considered as part of the kitchen elevation rather than left until installation,’ says Swati Goorha. ‘Windows, range hoods, cabinets and open shelves can all provide natural alignment points. Choosing one of those architectural lines avoids awkward areas where the backsplash seems to randomly stop.’

A Low Backsplash

A traditional low backsplash – often around 4 inches high – provides a modest barrier immediately above the countertop. It uses relatively little material and can be useful where the wall above is intended to remain painted, paneled, or otherwise visually light. It also works particularly well when formed from the countertop material itself. Its limitation is obvious: anything splashed higher than the upstand reaches the wall finish, so it is less protective around sinks and vigorous cooking areas.

Countertop to Upper Cabinets

Filling the entire space between countertop and wall cabinets is probably the most straightforward approach because the cabinetry gives the backsplash a natural top line. Measure each section individually. The distance may not be identical throughout the kitchen, particularly beneath range hoods, around windows, or where cabinet heights change. This coverage also avoids an arbitrary horizontal termination in the middle of the wall.

Behind the Range Only

Concentrating a backsplash behind the range can be a useful way to introduce a more expensive or decorative material without committing to it throughout the kitchen. But treat it as part of the whole elevation. If the backsplash stops exactly at the appliance edges, does that width make sense with the hood above? Would aligning with surrounding cabinets create a better proportion? What happens at the countertop? Ideally, the answer needs to be drawn out on paper (or on screen), not decided by the installer standing in front of the wall.

Full Height or to the Ceiling

Where upper cabinetry is limited, extending the backsplash to the ceiling can give the wall a much stronger architectural finish. Slab materials can work particularly well because the surface remains relatively continuous; tile creates a more obvious field of pattern and grout. Cost becomes important here. Taking a premium stone or handmade tile from counter to ceiling can multiply both the material quantity and labor, so calculate square footage before becoming emotionally committed to the sample.

Around Windows

A kitchen window creates several possible stopping points: your backsplash can finish beneath the sill, wrap into the reveal, continue around the opening or cover the entire wall surrounding it. The cleanest choice will depend on the relationship between window trim, countertop and nearby cabinetry. If tile has to finish against traditional projecting trim, work out whether it dies neatly into the casing or requires a visible edge profile. If the window has a minimal reveal with no substantial trim, wrapping the backsplash inward can create a much more integrated look and a neat shelf.

Open Shelves and Walls Without Uppers

Open kitchen shelving gives you a little more flexibility than wall cabinetry. You can stop the backsplash neatly at the underside of the shelf, just as you would beneath a cabinet, or continue it behind the shelving to make more of the wall. It might run to the ceiling, align with another architectural feature, or stop at a deliberately chosen height.

If there’s nothing else on the wall and you don’t want to take the backsplash all the way to the ceiling, designers often suggest stopping it around a third of the distance from the countertop to the ceiling. This gives it enough height to feel intentional without letting it dominate the wall.

Wrapping Corners

When a backsplash turns onto an adjacent wall, decide where the secondary run ends. Stopping after a random tile or at the end of the countertop can look awkward if nearby cabinetry tells a different story. Aligning with a cabinet edge, window, architectural return, or another clear vertical line generally makes the decision look intentional.

4. Choose the Right Tile Size, Shape and Layout

Once coverage is determined, tile size can be judged against the actual dimensions of the area, rather than against a sample board in a showroom. A 2-by-8-inch tile, for instance, behaves very differently across a narrow 18-inch backsplash zone than over an entire wall to the ceiling.

Small Vs Large Format

Small tile introduces more joints, more rhythm, and often more texture. It can also adapt readily around corners, irregular walls, and complicated details because individual pieces are relatively easy to manipulate.

The trade-off is grout. A mosaic may contain many times more joint length than a 12-by-24-inch tile over the same area. Larger tiles produce fewer joints and can make a backsplash read as a broader surface rather than a pattern of individual units. They are not necessarily simpler to install, however. A large-format tile crossing several outlets may require awkward cuts, and flatter walls become increasingly important as tile dimensions increase.

Look At the Cuts Before Choosing the Tile

‘My first priority is to lay out my tiles after determining the measurements of my cabinets. Laying out my tiles at the start helps me to avoid buying the wrong amount of tiles for my project. Also, it ensures that I do not end up with small odd-shaped tiles that are less than an inch in size,’ explains Mike Belk, Founder of BELK Tile.

To try and minimize awkward cuts, measure the distance from countertop to upper cabinet and divide it by the proposed tile dimension, including the grout joints. Will you get two full tiles and an unattractive thin strip? Can the layout be centered to balance the cuts? Would rotating the tile solve the problem? Then do the same horizontally at windows, corners, and the range.

Vertical Vs Horizontal

Rectangular tiles laid horizontally emphasize the width of the backsplash, while the same format turned vertically accentuates height. That doesn't mean horizontal automatically makes a small kitchen look wider or vertical makes it taller; surrounding cabinet lines and grout contrast have a significant influence. But orientation changes the direction in which the eye reads the pattern. Vertical layouts can also work particularly well where the distance between counter and wall cabinets accommodates the tile module neatly.

Stacked Vs Running Bond

A straight stack aligns the joints to produce a regular grid. With narrow rectangular tiles, it can feel graphic and ordered. Running bond offsets each row. The degree of offset matters, particularly with long rectangular tiles that may have some natural bowing from manufacture. Tile manufacturers may recommend specific offsets and grout widths for particular products, so don't assume every long tile should automatically be laid in a 50% brick bond.

Herringbone and More Complex Patterns

Herringbone, chevron, and other directional patterns introduce more cuts, particularly around the perimeter and obstacles. That means the installation cost may be considerably more than for exactly the same tile laid in a straightforward stack. Wastage is also likely to increase. Think about where the pattern begins and where the focal point lies. Centering herringbone behind a range, for example, may matter more than achieving identical cuts at two distant corners.

Handmade and Irregular Tile

Uneven edges and variable surfaces are part of the appeal of handmade tile like zellige and bejmat, but they also mean joint widths and alignment will not look mechanically perfect. That variation can disguise small imperfections and create a beautifully lively surface. It can equally drive someone who wants laser-straight grout joints slightly insane. If this is you, stick to rectified tile that’s precision-cut by machine. Judge your choice on the installed effect (many tile showrooms will have large tile display boards), not one particularly perfect sample tile.

Slab Vs Tile

A slab-style backsplash shifts the design emphasis away from tile pattern and toward the movement or color of the material itself. It can minimize grout, but seams and cut-outs become much more significant. Where veining is prominent, discuss how slabs will be templated and where joins will fall.

5. Grout – What, Why and Where You Need It

Grout isn’t just there to frame the tiles, it fills the joints between them, protects vulnerable tile edges and stops dirt and moisture from collecting in the gaps. Traditional cement-based grout is naturally porous, however, which is why pale shades can be such a magnet for cooking splashes and stains. Sealing can help, or you can choose a more stain-resistant epoxy or high-performance grout in hardworking areas.

Matching or Contrasting Grout

‘It never ceases to amaze us how many clients overlook grout, making it the last decision after choosing tiles. We always emphasize that high-contrast grout makes each tile and line stand out, while matching grout gives a softer, calmer feel,’ says Nancy Vu. Matching grout can also help disguise uneven tile if your walls aren’t dead flat, as well as any imperfect moments if you’re DIY tiling!

Once you’ve settled on color, think about joint width. Narrow joints mean less grout and can create a crisper look, but the tile itself should determine how tight you can realistically go. Handmade and rustic tiles generally need more generous joints to accommodate variations in size and shape, while rectified tiles – mechanically finished to more precise dimensions – can usually be laid closer together.

‘In most cases, I will suggest that you use a very close joint of 1/16 inch for a contemporary look or 1/8 inch for natural/handmade tiles,’ adds Mike Belk.

Grout Types

Traditional cement-based grout is the most familiar and usually the most affordable, but it can be porous and prone to staining, so some products benefit from sealing. It’s still a perfectly good choice for many backsplashes, particularly away from the messiest cooking zones, and an easy DIY option.

Epoxy grout costs more and can be trickier to work with (it dries very quickly), but it absorbs very little moisture and is highly resistant to grease, stains and household chemicals. There are also ready-to-use and newer high-performance grouts that sit somewhere in between, offering improved stain resistance and often no need for sealing, without some of the installation faff of epoxy. Whichever type you choose, check the manufacturer’s advice on joint width, sealing and cleaning rather than assuming all grout needs the same treatment.

And grout can be renewed. If it starts looking tired or stained, it can usually be removed and replaced without redoing the whole backsplash.

Grout Color Matching

Grout can look surprisingly different once it’s installed. Water content, application, lighting, tile color and even site conditions can all affect the finished shade, so color cards and online swatches are only a rough guide. If getting the tone exactly right matters, test it with your chosen tile on a sample board or order a real grout sample chip before committing.

6. How Should the Backsplash Work with Countertops and Cabinetry?

The backsplash occupies the visual space where the two largest kitchen finishes – cabinets and countertops – meet, so it rarely makes sense to select it independently. ‘I never choose a backsplash in isolation. I like to view the sample vertically against the actual countertop and cabinetry finishes because that is how the materials will relate to one another in the finished kitchen,’ says Kanika Bakshi Khurana, Principal Interior Designer and Founder of Kanika Design. There are three main choices: match, complement or contrast.

Match

Using the same slab material on the kitchen countertop and backsplash creates the strongest continuity. This can be particularly effective with veined stone, porcelain, or another large-format surface because the eye reads both planes as part of one composition. It also avoids introducing another color, pattern or texture into the scheme.

If the slab contains strong veining, ask the fabricator whether the backsplash can be cut so the movement relates to the countertop. Exact vein matching isn't always possible or desirable, but completely unrelated sections can look messy.

Complement

Complementing isn’t the same as exact matching. It simply means the surfaces have something in common: an undertone, material character, color family or degree of visual movement. ‘Viewing backsplash samples in the space makes undertones much easier to identify,’ adds Kanika. ‘If the countertop has strong movement or veining, I will often let that lead and choose a backsplash that supports it rather than competes with it.’

A creamy limestone-look tile might pick up warmer areas in a quartzite counter, for example, while a soft green ceramic can echo the cabinetry without matching it exactly. Pay particular attention to undertones: two whites that look interchangeable online can reveal very different blue, gray, pink or yellow notes side by side. View physical samples together in the room, and prop the backsplash sample upright rather than laying everything flat, as light hits vertical and horizontal surfaces differently.

Contrast

Contrast gives the backsplash an independent role. This might mean pale tile above dark cabinets, deeply colored stone against warm timber or a highly textural backsplash with a relatively plain countertop.

The key is to decide which surface should lead. If the countertop already has strong veining or movement, a tonal handmade tile can add depth without introducing another competing pattern. With a simpler countertop, you have more freedom to use the backsplash for color, pattern or texture. The greater the contrast, the more useful it is to keep one element visually calmer than the other.

7. Color, Pattern and Texture

Once the material and its relationship with the rest of the kitchen are established, choosing color, pattern, and texture becomes much easier because you have some context. The aim isn’t necessarily to make the backsplash disappear, but to work out how much visual work it needs to do.

Start with the Fixed Colors

Cabinetry, flooring and countertops are generally larger and more expensive elements than the backsplash, so use those as your starting point. Look for colors already present in the room that you can pick up or develop rather than introducing something completely unrelated. A subtle vein in the countertop, the undertone of painted cabinetry or even a tone in the flooring, window treatments or artwork can all provide a useful lead.

Think about intensity as well as hue. A saturated color used on a small backsplash can feel like a neat hit of contrast; spread the same shade across a full wall and up to the ceiling and it starts to overpower.

Pattern or Plain?

Pattern can come from more than a printed motif. Tile shape, layout and grout all contribute, so a plain rectangular tile in herringbone or a simple square with contrasting grout may already be doing plenty. Natural stone and stone-look backsplash designs can also introduce plenty of pattern through veining – a heavily figured slab can feel just as busy as a boldly patterned tile.

‘The more visual information a kitchen already contains, the more selective I become with the backsplash. It doesn't necessarily need to be plain, but every material should have a clear role,’ says Kanika. ‘If the countertop, cabinetry or flooring is already making a strong statement, I usually want the backsplash to provide balance and give the eye somewhere to rest rather than introduce another competing focal point.’

Texture or Smooth?

Texture can add depth without adding another color or obvious pattern. Rippled glazes, handmade edges, and three-dimensional surfaces catch light differently throughout the day and can make even a single-color backsplash feel much richer. Judge texture at wall scale rather than from one tile, though; something that looks subtle in your hand can feel far more animated across several square feet. And factor in cleaning. Flat glazed surfaces are generally quickest to wipe down, while deeply textured tiles give grease and dust more ridges and recesses to settle into.

8. Lighting and Reflection

Backsplash materials are unusually affected by lighting because they sit vertically, often beneath cabinetry and close to task lighting. A sample viewed flat under showroom lights can therefore look surprisingly different once it is on your wall.

First test your choice in daylight. Daylight changes throughout the day, so compass direction is useful context rather than a color-selection rule. North-facing kitchens tend to receive cooler, more consistent light; south-facing rooms often get stronger, warmer light, while east- and west-facing spaces can change dramatically between morning and evening. Buildings, trees, overhangs and glazing will alter things further.

The most reliable test is the simplest: prop the actual sample vertically where the backsplash will sit and look at it morning, midday and evening. If the kitchen isn’t installed yet, place the countertop sample beneath it too. Upper cabinets also cast shade, so check any material that will extend from a darker area beneath cabinetry into a more exposed section of wall.

Check the Artificial Light

Under-cabinet lighting can change both the color and character of a backsplash after dark. Warm lamps tend to emphasize creams, pinks, browns and golds, while cooler light can bring blue and gray tones forward; strongly colored cabinetry may also bounce color onto a pale surface.

‘Under-cabinet lighting should always be tested with the backsplash material before finalizing, because light skimming down a wall exaggerates everything, from textures and tile edges to grout joints. A handmade ceramic or zellige tile that comes across as subtle in daylight becomes very animated in the evening. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it should be a decision, not a surprise,’ explains Shelly Yoder, Project Designer,Next Stage Design + Build. Ideally, choose the backsplash and lighting together rather than treating them as completely separate decisions.

Consider the Finish

Gloss tile, polished stone, glass and mirror can bounce light around and add depth but remember that reflective finishes show more than light: they also pick up whatever is opposite them. A garden may introduce a green cast, brickwork can warm the color, and dark cabinetry or pendant lights may appear in the surface itself.

They can also show glare, water spots and surface imperfections more readily. Highly polished sheet materials may make an uneven wall more obvious, while smaller-format tile can disguise minor variations in the surface behind. Honed stone and matte tile diffuse light rather than creating clear reflections, which can make them appear softer and more consistent under strong lighting.

9. Think About the Details

This is where an otherwise simple backsplash can become technically busy. Before ordering material, mark every outlet, switch, window, hood, shelf, light, and plumbing fitting on the elevation. The more patterned or large-format the surface, the more important that planning becomes.

Plan the Interruptions

Outlets and switches can cut awkwardly through tile layouts, mosaics and veined slabs, so coordinate their positions as early as possible. If the electrical plan is still flexible, ask whether outlets can be aligned more neatly, tucked beneath upper cabinets using an approved system or positioned where cuts fall naturally. Electrical codes always take priority, of course. Cover plates matter too: standard white plastic will be far more noticeable against dark stone than pale ceramic.

‘Outlets and switches should be coordinated as early as possible, ideally while the backsplash is being designed rather than after the tile has been selected,’ says Seth Ballard, Founder & Principal Architect, Ballard & Mensua Architecture. ‘Early in my career, I learned this lesson the hard way: an outlet placed in the middle of an otherwise beautiful tile pattern can completely disrupt the design. Whenever possible, we move outlets to a less visually intrusive location, such as directly beneath the wall cabinets, so the backsplash can read as a cohesive composition.’

The same applies to sconces, pot fillers and wall-mounted faucets. Mark their centerlines against the planned tile or veining so they don’t land awkwardly on a grout joint or key piece of pattern.

Coordinate What Sits on the Wall

Decide early whether the backsplash will stop at, run behind or continue around a range hood, and check the appliance manufacturer’s heat and clearance requirements before finalizing the detail. Also look at how the range or cooktop meets the wall: gaps and ledges can trap food and make cleaning harder.

Shelves and wall-mounted fittings may need structural backing, while faucets and pot fillers can require waterproofing and plumbing behind the finished surface. Cable routes for sconces and integrated lighting should be sorted before the wall is tiled, too.

Plan the Edges

Work out exactly how the backsplash finishes around windows, corners and adjoining materials. A smooth connection where the backsplash edge is hidden underneath a windowsill or wall cabinet is the dream. Unavoidable exposed edges need a bit more thought. Some tile ranges offer bullnose or matching border trims; metal tile profiles give a crisp finish, while stone and slab can often be fabricated with finished edges.

Recessed niches need particular thought because they introduce extra corners and edges. Small-format tile or mosaic usually handles this geometry more easily than very large tile or slab, which may need more fabrication. Whatever happens, don’t leave these junctions until installation and hope the installer can make a raw edge disappear.

10. Maintenance and Cleaning

By this point you should already know how your chosen material needs to be cleaned. The bigger question is whether that level of care feels realistic for your kitchen. A backsplash that needs little more than routine wiping is a different commitment from one that may need sealing, specialist cleaning products or more attention to grout and textured surfaces.

Be Realistic About Upkeep

Find out what the material needs beyond everyday cleaning before you buy. Does it require sealing, and if so, how often? Are there cleaners you need to avoid? Will grout need periodic attention? Ask the supplier for care instructions for the exact product rather than relying on generic advice for ‘stone’ or ‘tile’. And don’t confuse sealed with stain-proof or nonporous with indestructible. Treatments can make a surface easier to live with, but they don’t remove the need to look after it.

Match the Maintenance to the Location

Maintenance also depends on where the backsplash sits and how hard that part of the kitchen works. ‘Low maintenance and no maintenance are not the same thing, and the distinction matters most directly behind a range. I always ask clients what’s going on at each section of the wall, because a natural stone or zellige tile that’s perfectly easy to live with on a quiet run can be genuinely demanding behind a high-output cooktop,’ explains Shelly Yoder. ‘Grease can penetrate unsealed stone and collect in the texture of handmade tile in ways that a smooth porcelain simply won’t. The material choice should follow the location, not the other way around.’

Plan for Repairs

Think about repairability as well as cleaning. Individual tiles and grout can usually be dealt with locally, while damage to a large slab or sheet may be more difficult to disguise or replace. If you’re using tile, keep a small quantity after installation. Glaze, color and dimensions can vary between production batches, and the exact design may disappear from the range altogether. A few spare tiles tucked away now can save a lot of hunting later.

11. Cost and Budget

Backsplash budgets can be deceptive. Because the area involved is relatively small, a premium material may be more achievable than expected, while a seemingly inexpensive option can climb quickly once installation is factored in. Always get an installed quote before ruling anything in or out. ‘Price per square foot only tells part of the story because the material itself is often not the biggest line item once fabrication, specialty installation, and wall prep are factored in,’ explains Cathleen Gruver, Founder of Gruver Cooley.

‘Large-format stone slabs, book-matched marble, or intricate mosaic patterns all require more skilled labor and longer installation timelines, which adds up quickly. Grout lines, edge profiles, and whether the wall needs leveling or waterproofing beforehand are all costs that tend to catch homeowners off guard when they're comparing materials early in the process.’

As a broad benchmark, HomeAdvisor’s 2026 US data puts a typical professionally installed backsplash at around $480 to $1,500, with an average close to $1,000, although material, layout, preparation and removal can push that figure considerably higher.

Factor In Installation Complexity

Herringbone, mosaics, borders and mixed tile sizes all require more setting out and cutting than a straightforward stacked layout. The wall itself can also complicate matters: outlets, windows, corners and short returns add labor even when the total square footage is modest. With slab and other large-format materials, much of that cost shifts into templating and fabrication. Every outlet, switch and fixture becomes a cut-out, while seams, edge finishing and vein matching may require additional work.

Spend Strategically

If the budget won’t stretch to a premium material everywhere, use it where it will have the most visual or practical impact. A striking stone might be reserved for the range wall, with a simpler surface elsewhere, or money could go toward better grout, edge detailing or wall preparation to elevate an inexpensive choice.

Simplifying the installation is another way to save. A modest tile in a straightforward layout may cost less overall than an inexpensive tile laid in an intricate pattern with lots of cutting.

12. Installation: What to Know Before You Commit

You don’t need to know how to install a backsplash yourself, but it helps to understand what needs sorting before work begins. Good installation starts well before the first tile or slab goes on the wall, particularly with large-format, handmade or patterned materials.

Get the Wall and Measurements Right

The finished backsplash will only be as good as the surface behind it. Walls need to be sound, stable and sufficiently flat for the chosen material; large-format tile and slab are especially unforgiving of bumps and dips. If an old backsplash is being removed, allow for the possibility that the wall will need repairing or leveling before anything new goes up.

For slab and other made-to-measure surfaces, wait until the relevant fixed elements are confirmed before final templating. Likewise, order enough tile for cuts, wastage and any natural variation. Handmade tile and stone may need extra material so the installer can blend color and pattern across the wall rather than simply working through one box at a time.

Agree the Layout Before Anything Is Fixed

Setting out determines where full tiles, grout lines and cuts will fall, so don’t leave it entirely until installation morning. Ask where the pattern will start, how it will relate to the main focal area and what sort of cuts will be left at corners, windows and cabinetry.

This matters most with directional layouts such as herringbone, decorative or handmade tiles, mosaics and large formats, where a small shift in the starting point can noticeably change the finished result.

‘Any professional tile installer knows how to locate the precise middle of your focal point before applying any adhesive. The precision in planning will ensure that you have symmetrical cut tiles on both sides of your wall,’ says Mike Belk.

The adhesive, grout and fixing system also need to suit the actual tile and substrate. Glass, stone, porcelain and ceramic are not automatically installed in the same way, and pale or translucent materials can sometimes reveal what is behind them.

Use the Right Installer

A simple ceramic tile backsplash on a sound wall may be within the scope of a confident DIYer, but large porcelain panels, slab stone, glass sheets and intricate layouts require very different tools and experience.

‘An experienced installer can often make even a modest material look custom and high-end. The wrong installer can make even an expensive backsplash look cheap,’ say Nancy Vu. ‘That’s why we always suggest that homeowners ask installers, “Where will you start the layout, and where will the cut pieces go?” A good installer should be able to explain this clearly before any work begins.’

Finally, ask how long the installation needs to cure before cleaning, sealing or exposing it to regular kitchen use. Adhesives, grout and sealants all have their own timings, and looking dry isn’t necessarily the same as being ready.

A backsplash may be a relatively small part of the kitchen, but you look at it every single day, so it’s worth choosing one that makes your heart sing. Get the practical bits right first, then let color, pattern and texture do the fun part. For more inspiration, our guide to kitchen backsplash ideas is packed with ways to make this busy bit of wall look brilliant.

The Homes & Gardens Library is your definitive guide to timeless design wisdom. From choosing the perfect sofa to mastering the fundamentals of layout, each piece in the series draws on expert insight to guide you through the key principles of interior design. Thoughtfully curated yet easy to digest, it’s the essential reference for anyone looking to create a home that is beautiful, practical, and enduring

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

It's bulb planting season, and in the rush of getting all your spring bulbs in the ground it can be easy to forget where each of them are. This is especially the case if you're creating a layered, mixed bulb display and don't have all of the same bulbs in one place. While it might not seem like a problem now, you might find yourself scratching your head trying to locate the empty spaces for other plants.

It's such a simple task on the fall gardening checklist but marking your planted spring bulbs is essential. Failing to do so could result in accidentally disturbing bulbs, forgetting to provide them with winter and pest protection, and ultimately sabotaging your display come spring. It can be as easy as using plant labels (like these slate and chalk plant labels from Amazon) or you can opt for something more subtle, like marking the spot with rocks or even making a garden map.

So, as you work through your bulbs (make sure to also stock up on essential bulb planting tools), don't forget to take a moment to note down their location. Here, we explore a few different ways to do it.

1. Use Plant Labels

The easiest way to remember where you planted spring bulbs is by using plant labels. You can write down daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and more and pop the label in the ground next to their location.

The best part about this method is there are so many different types of plant labels to choose from. For example, slate plant labels (also available at Walmart) will blend into the natural landscape, or if you want to make it more noticeable opt for these copper plant labels from Amazon. You could even use labels from the bulb packets, which will give you more information on the exact varieties.

You can also DIY your own plant labels, such as popsicle sticks (you can purchase a pack from Walmart) or by writing on rocks and wood from the garden. This is one of the best ways to make labels that blend into the garden's natural landscape.

When it comes to lifting bulbs after the flowering season, you can refer back to the labels to locate the ones you're looking for. This will ensure no tender bulbs are left in the ground in winter, saving your display the following year.

2. Use a Natural Marker

If you're not keen on having lots of plant labels sticking up out of your flower beds and rather need something more subtle, you can use natural markers and landmarks to remember where you planted spring bulbs.

It can be as simple as placing a specific rock in the location of your daffodils, or noting down the tulips are a certain number of footsteps away from your garden fence.

You could even use different colors to paint an 'X' on the bottom of rocks for different bulbs. They should be weighted enough not to move in the wind and adverse weather of winter. Pick up a pack of paint from Amazon.

This is a much less obtrusive way to put a physical marker in place for your spring bulbs, without having to sit through a winter of a bare border with lots of labels sticking up.

3. Create a Garden Map

This method to remember where you planted spring bulbs works best for the most layered planting, larger spaces, and if you planted big drifts of bulbs and need to mark where it starts and ends.

You can create a garden map in several ways – draw it out in a garden journal (this one from Amazon has a beautiful floral design), or create a digital garden map to refer to on your phone as you walk through the yard. You could even put pin drops on the exact location of your bulbs.

It can be useful to categorize bulbs with their own color for easy reference when looking at your garden map. This visual cue can also make it easier to learn where different bulbs are over time.

To take it a step further, you can photograph different areas to attach to your garden map and keep a record of the different planted areas, so there's no mistaking where your bulbs are if your map later proves hard to read.

Even if you planted bulbs in a pot using the bulb lasagna method, you can draw a cross-section of the planter and label the different layers of bulbs.

What to Shop

As you work through your bulb planting this October, watch out for the common bulb planting mistakes that can hinder your success. This includes planting at the wrong depth, too close together, or in the wrong kind of soil.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

It's fall, which means just one thing: chrysanthemums galore. It's the staple seasonal bloom that is not only easy to grow, but versatile – it works in pots, borders, and even indoors. However, keeping them looking their best for longer than just a couple of weeks calls for some light maintenance this month.

Growing chrysanthemums is pretty straightforward; keeping chrysanthemums blooming for longer, however, requires a bit more effort. In October, it's important to keep deadheading mums (these Fiskars gardening snips from Amazon are a good choice for this), keep them watered without overdoing it, and look out for frost to protect them from icy conditions.

Doing these few things in fall can double the length of your mums display, and even allow you to move them indoors for some extra weeks of enjoyment. Here, alongside insights from a plant expert, I talk through three things to do with chrysanthemums in October.

1. Keep Deadheading

If you're wondering whether you should deadhead chrysanthemums in fall, the answer is yes. Regularly pinching off spent blooms will redirect the plant's energy into putting out more flowers.

'Focus on pruning stems with withered, unappealing flowers, as well as any growth that can rot and become a habitat for pests and diseases. Cut off spent flower tops, leaves, and any diseased growth,' says Plantum plant expert Marina Prokaten.

'Deadhead throughout October until the first severe frosts, pruning as soon as flowers start to pale or wilt in dry weather to prevent fungal infections. Use sharp scissors or pruning shears to do this,' she advises.

There are lots of essential pruning tools you can use for deadheading, but because mums have smaller, soft stems, micro-tip pruning snips (like these from Walmart) may be the easiest to work with.

2. Water Mums at the Base

Although temps are cooler in October than in summer, it's important to still keep on top of watering where there are dry spells. Ideally, you should water your mums when your soil moisture meter (which you can pick up from Amazon) indicates the top inch or so has dried out.

'Mums like consistent moisture but not soggy soil. Water them regularly while they are still blooming, and keep watering during dry spells until the ground freezes, pouring water at the base of the plant in the early morning so it doesn't linger on the leaves. Once the ground freezes, suspend watering until spring,' Marina advises.

I find a watering can with a long narrow spout (like this from Amazon) is easier for chrysanthemums, as you can get to the base of the plant without wetting the foliage. This will help prevent fungal diseases, like powdery mildew.

You can also use your finger to feel the chrysanthemum soil, so you don't oversaturate the roots. Watering too often is a classic chrysanthemum mistake which can rot the roots and cause your plants to decline quickly.

3. Relocate Before Frost

Chrysanthemums tend to last until frost, as they're hardy across USDA zones 5-9. However, you can extend their display with some winter protection – the most effective being relocating them as fall flowers to grow indoors.

'Move cold-sensitive varieties of chrysanthemums indoors before the first frosts arrive. Check the plants for pests before bringing them inside,' Marina advises.

You can follow the same steps as preventing pests when moving houseplants back indoors, checking underneath foliage where pests like to hide. It's also best to keep them isolated from houseplants to prevent the spread of any pests or diseases.

Relocating your chrysanthemums indoors may give you a few more weeks of blooms, before they finish flowering. At this point, keep them in a dark, cool, frost-free place to overwinter, such as a garage. You can cut chrysanthemums back to 3-6 inches above the soil when doing this. In spring, after the risk of frost, acclimate them outdoors for another year of blooms.

'For hardy garden mums remaining outdoors, wait until the ground has cooled or begun to freeze, then apply a loose, airy mulch such as straw or pine needles around the base. This protects the shallow roots from freeze-thaw heaving,' Marina adds.

You can find fall mulching materials in the yard for free, or pick up Lowe's brown mulch, to winterize your chrysanthemums.

What to Shop

You can do so many things with chrysanthemums in fall to elevate your display, including pairing them with other fall flowers for pots. Our guide to secret design tricks to make mums look more expensive has more inspiration to explore.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?

Buying a couch isn’t simply about finding a style you love or opting for the most comfortable seat in the showroom. As one of the biggest furniture investments you’ll make, and often the centerpiece of a living room, it needs to deliver on looks, comfort, practicality and durability day after day.

How we use the best couch differs from household to household, which is why understanding how you actually live should come before aesthetics. As interior designer Lily Flatley explains, 'When choosing a couch for our projects, we work really closely with our clients to understand the rhythms of their daily lives, from how they move through a space to the frustrations they experience within it.' It’s an approach echoed by interior designer Nina Lichtenstein: 'Good design should support human behavior rather than require people to adapt to their surroundings.'

There is far more to a couch than what you see or feel at first, from proportions and construction to upholstery and comfort. With so much to consider, in this month's The Library, we’ve brought together expert advice to guide you through the do's and don'ts of buying a couch, the questions worth asking, and the decisions that really matter.

1. Start With How You Live

A couch for a couple is a very different purchase from one serving a five-person household and the family pet. Do you regularly host? Is the living room at the heart of family life, or do you spend more time elsewhere? Thinking about who will use the couch, and how, is the crucial first step in narrowing down everything from size and style to your ideal comfort level.

It’s also where the professionals start. Kristina Khersonsky, Founder of Studio Keeta, explains, 'We begin by understanding the rhythms of the space and end user, before thinking about construction or fabric. How is the piece actually used day to day? How often? Who uses it? Are there pets? Children? What does it need to withstand? A formalized sitting room has very different demands from that of a family room.'

Who Uses the Couch?

Does the whole household gather there for lounging, watching films, and socializing, or is it used by just one or two people? You don't need to accommodate every potential guest, but it should comfortably fit the everyday headcount of your household.

Children and pets should be considered too. They place greater demands on a couch, making durability and ease of maintenance particularly important. But practicality doesn’t need to come at the expense of style. 'If a piece is going to be used every evening by a young family, comfort and durability are essential, but never at the expense of beauty,' says Lily Flatley. 'They need to work just as hard aesthetically as they do functionally.'

How Do You Use the Couch?

Everyday lounging calls for generous proportions and relaxed comfort, while entertaining can lend itself to something more structured. If your couch is primarily used for watching TV, deeper seats, chaises, and sectionals offer plenty of space to stretch out and relax.

In a more sociable living room that's used more for entertaining, prioritize a more upright couch and a layout that naturally directs attention towards one another and encourages conversation. As interior designer Marie Flanagan explains, 'A beautiful sofa that is slightly more tailored or upright can add contrast and architecture to a room without needing to function as the family's favorite lounging spot.'

And living rooms aren’t just for watching TV or socializing; they’re also spaces for relaxing, reading, and even sleeping. Regular readers will appreciate upright support and comfortable arms, while anyone partial to an afternoon nap will benefit from a deeper seat, generous proportions and softer cushioning.

2. Measure Your Space Properly

Taking accurate measurements before you start shopping, factoring in both where your couch will sit and the entire route it will take to get there, is a crucial step that’s all too often overlooked.

Proportion is equally important. ‘We look at the whole composition, from ceiling height, sight lines and walkways to surrounding pieces and how people move through the space,’ explains Kristina Khersonsky. ‘The right sofa should feel generous and inviting without making the room feel smaller or heavier than it needs to.’

Start by measuring the room itself, noting windows, doors, and any architectural features that might influence where your couch can sit. Marking its exact footprint on the floor with masking tape is a quick way to see whether the proportions feel right before you commit. As a general guide, a couch around two-thirds the length of the wall behind it will often sit comfortably within a room. As interior designer Lily Flatley reminds us, ‘When the scale is right, there’s a sense of balance that you may not immediately be able to identify, but you can certainly feel.’

Consider the space around your couch at the same time. Around 14–18 inches between the couch and coffee table should keep it within easy reach without restricting legroom, while main walkways should ideally have around 30–36 inches of clearance where space allows. ‘Leaving enough openness around furniture allows people to move comfortably and gives the room a sense of balance and breathing space,’ says Interior Designer Nina Lichtenstein.

Think about how you naturally move through the room, particularly between doorways and other frequently used areas. If the couch interrupts these routes, reconsider its size or orientation. It’s an approach Interior Designer Marie Flanagan takes from the beginning: ‘Once we understand how a client moves through and uses the room, we can determine the right depth, seat height, configuration, and level of comfort.’

Finally, measure the entire route your couch will need to take to reach the room. Check the narrowest points of doorways, hallways, and corridors, paying particular attention to corners where it will need space to turn, as well as radiators, handrails, and light fixtures that could restrict clearance. If stairs are involved, measure them at their narrowest point and check the available headroom, noting any landings and turns where the couch will need enough room to tilt and rotate.

3. Choose The Right Size, Shape and Silhouette

The sofa you love at first sight may not necessarily be the best fit for your space. Take into account the proportions and style of your home, alongside how you like to relax, entertain, and live, before settling on a silhouette. As Lily Flatley puts it, 'Couches are the piece of furniture clients live with and look at throughout the day, so they need to work just as hard aesthetically as they do functionally.'

Two-Seater Sofas

Designed specifically with smaller proportions in mind, a two-seater offers the comfort of a full-size couch without overwhelming compact rooms. Look out for slimmer arms and raised legs to preserve a sense of space.

Best for: Apartments, small living rooms, and awkward or compact spaces.

Three-Seater Sofas

The versatile all-rounder, a standard full-size sofa is a three-seater, and thanks to its pretty consistent proportions across a variety of different designs, it works well in most living rooms and suits households wanting comfortable everyday seating.

Best for: Everyday family living and average-sized living rooms.

Extra-Deep Couches

Made for curling up rather than sitting upright, extra-deep couches suit relaxed family rooms and generous spaces and tall people. They're particularly good for lounging, napping, and family film nights, but far less comfortable for shorter people who prefer sitting upright.

Best for: Lounging, large rooms, and taller households.

Sectionals

An ideal choice for larger households and airy open-plan spaces, a sectional sofa provides a generous amount of seating and can help zone a living area that lacks architectural features. A sectional’s substantial footprint makes careful measuring essential.

Best for: Larger households, open-plan spaces and creating distinct zones

Modular Sofas

A modular sofa is made up of individual sections and can be rearranged as your needs change. They're particularly useful for evolving family homes, awkward living room layouts, or anyone who values flexibility.

Best for: Flexible layouts, evolving family homes, and awkward spaces

Curved Sofas

With their sculptural silhouette, curved sofas soften spaces dominated by straight lines and naturally encourage conversation. They work particularly well floating within larger spaces rather than pushed against a wall.

Best for: Larger living rooms, open-plan spaces and sociable seating arrangements

Slipcovered Styles

Relaxed and informal, slipcovered sofas blend well into comfortable, lived-in homes. Removable covers also make them an especially practical option for family homes, particularly when they're washable.

Best for: Family homes, relaxed interiors and high-traffic living spaces

English Roll Arm

The English roll arm is characterized by its low, rounded arms and deep, comfortable seat. It’s one of the few designs that balances real traditional elegance with everyday comfort and can work equally well in a formal space as it can in a relaxed family home.

Best for: Traditional interiors, family living rooms and timeless schemes

Track Arm Couches

Straight, slim arms define the track-arm sofa and maximize the seating space, while its clean, contemporary silhouette makes it a great choice for minimalist interiors. Its neat, squared-off shape also makes it particularly easy to plan around.

Best for: Contemporary interiors, compact spaces, and maximizing seating space.

Tuxedo Style

The arms and back typically sit at the same height with a Tuxedo sofa. It has a tailored and architectural feel to it, and its upright proportions make it a great choice for formal living and entertaining spaces.

Best for: Formal living rooms, entertaining spaces, and tailored interiors.

Mid-century Silhouettes

Defined by low frames, structured upholstery, and slim wood or metal legs, mid-century sofas have a simple, timeless quality. Being slightly elevated, they help a space feel lighter, with the added practical benefit of making it much easier to clean underneath.

Best for: Smaller spaces, contemporary interiors, and rooms where you want to create a sense of openness.

4. Find Your Ideal Comfort Level

Trying a couch in a store is invaluable, but a few minutes sitting upright with your shoes on won’t replicate an evening spent lounging at home. How your household naturally uses the couch, alongside seat depth, height, cushioning, and support, will all contribute to long-term comfort.

For everyday seating, Interior Designer Nina Lichtenstein advises looking beyond that first sit. 'Comfort and durability need to work together,' she says. 'Look for upholstery that supports the body, offers an appropriate seat depth, and uses materials capable of withstanding the realities of daily life.'

For occasional seating, however, the priorities can shift. 'We have a little more freedom to prioritize silhouette and sculptural form,' adds Marie Flanagan.

Seat Depth

Deeper seats, typically 24 inches or more, suit taller people and those who enjoy curling up and lounging, while a shallower seat better supports an upright position with feet comfortably on the floor. For a more relaxed feel, Nina Lichtenstein favors 'a deeper seat, supportive cushions, and a fabric with a beautiful texture' to make a couch feel particularly welcoming.

Seat Height

The average sofa seat sits around 15–20 inches from the floor. Lower designs create a relaxed, contemporary look, while a higher seat can make sitting down and standing up easier, which is a particularly important consideration for older users or anyone with limited mobility.

Cushion Firmness

Firmness determines whether you sit on or sink into your sofa. Firmer cushions, often made from high-resiliency foam, provide great support and structure, while softer fillings, such as feather and down, allow you to sink deeper into the cushion for a more relaxed, enveloping feel.

Back Height

Low backs encourage relaxed, informal sitting positions, along with greater freedom to lounge. If you prefer sitting upright, reading, or want more support over longer periods, a higher back will better support the shoulders and upper body.

Support

Good support comes from how the seat, back, and cushioning work together, distributing your weight evenly and supporting your spine without making you feel as though you're collapsing into the sofa or being pushed forward.

Suspension Systems

Beneath the cushions, the suspension determines how responsive and supportive a sofa feels. Eight-way hand-tied springs bring balanced support, sinuous springs a firmer bounce, while webbing creates a softer, more flexible sit.

Cushion Fill

Cushion fill determines how your sofa holds and responds to your body. Foam cushions will give you a structured, supportive feel; feather and down create sink-in softness, while blended fills balance the two.

5. Pick The Best Upholstery

Upholstery can completely transform a couch, bringing color, texture, and personality while also playing an important role in how well it wears over time.

Texture deserves particular attention, with Nina Lichtenstein reminding us that 'the experience of an interior is multisensory. Spaces are not simply seen. They are touched, felt, and physically experienced.'

The best choice should strike a balance between beauty and practicality, the demands of your household and how much upkeep you’re prepared to embrace. It’s a balance Marie Flanagan also prioritizes: 'Ultimately, I choose fabric based on both aesthetics and the way the piece will actually be used.'

Linen

Linen is ideal for a relaxed, lived-in look, with a beautiful natural weave that only gets softer with age. However, it is prone to creasing and staining, making it less practical for young families or pets.

For everyday use, opt for a heavyweight weave or washable covers; otherwise, save pure linen for more formal spaces. Founder Studio Keeta, Kristina Khersonsky, favors linens from Cowtan & Tout 'for spaces that do not need as much maintenance,' while for a more elevated finish, the studio looks to Pierre Frey, de Le Cuona, Savel and Holland & Sherry'

Cotton

Soft, breathable, and available in endless colors and patterns, cotton is a versatile all-rounder for upholstery. It’s reasonably hard-wearing, and a darker shade will absorb spills and dirt marks. A washable cover or a durable cotton blend would be a wise choice for family life. Make sure to check the fabric's durability rating, as this can vary significantly between weaves.

Velvet

With its soft pile and subtle sheen, velvet instantly makes a couch feel more luxurious. Cotton velvet in particular can 'add richness and absorb color beautifully,' says Marie Flanagan, developing character as it wears over time. Performance velvet offers the same rich look with easier cleaning and maintenance, making it a viable choice for homes with children and pets.

Performance Fabrics

For busy households, performance fabrics offer perhaps the best balance between good looks and practicality, and they’ve come a long way aesthetically. 'In the past, performance fabrics had a hand that was adjacent to that of outdoor fabric, stiff, crunchy, not inviting says Kristina Khersonsky. 'Now, they are so soft and plush, it’s sometimes hard to believe that it’s a performance fabric!' Designed to resist stains, fading, and everyday wear, quality can vary, so always check the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions and durability specifications.

Bouclé

'Bouclé is a wonderful way to introduce texture without relying on pattern,' something Marie Flanagan particularly loves. 'Its looped weave works beautifully on curved and sculptural couches and can disguise minor wear, but may catch claws and collect pet hair. For busy households, opt for a tightly woven, low-loop performance bouclé, and save looser weaves for occasional seating.'

Leather

Leather is a luxurious finish and an investment that ages beautifully. It develops a rich patina over time, while remaining easy to wipe clean and resistant to odors. It's excellent for family life, but pet owners should embrace the fact that claws will leave their mark.

Chenille

Soft, plush, and inviting, chenille offers much of the same appeal as velvet, but with a warmer, more relaxed feel. Good-quality upholstery chenille is durable, and its textured surface absorbs everyday wear. Be mindful that it can trap pet hair and snag on claws, however. Cleaning requirements vary, so check the care instructions and make sure they fit your lifestyle. For busy family homes, performance chenille is always a safe bet.

Wool Blends

Wool is a naturally resilient fabric and is great at resisting wrinkles, stains, and odors. Its soft, matte finish lends itself particularly well to tailored sofas and more formal interiors, although it's robust enough for everyday use too. Blended upholstery wools will give you greater durability at a lower price point, but professional cleaning is often recommended, so bear that in mind.

6. Consider Color and Pattern

The couch will arguably be one of the largest pieces in a room, so its color or pattern will have a significant impact on the overall scheme. While it’s great to keep up with current couch color trends, choose a couch color you can happily live with long-term, whether that's a versatile neutral, a rich color you love, or a pattern with plenty of personality.

Neutrals

Cream, beige, warm gray, and taupe are simple and effective choices that allow a couch to evolve with your decorating style. To prevent a neutral from feeling too flat, choose a textured fabric such as linen, bouclé, or a tactile wool weave. This small consideration will add depth and character without sacrificing the versatility of neutrals.

Earth Tones

Earth tones sit somewhere between a neutral and a statement shade. Terracotta, chocolate, olive and sage bring warmth and character without overwhelming a room. These shades connect to natural materials and, in turn, makes them particularly easy to live with, pairing beautifully with wood, stone and other organic finishes in the room.

Rich Colors

If your style is bold and impactful, choosing a couch in a deep, rich shade such as forest green, indigo, or burgundy can give a couch a real presence in the room. For longevity, slightly muted shades will stand the test of time over bright trend-led colors.

White Sofas

Nothing creates the light, elegant feel of a white sofa, but practicality needs consideration. Performance upholstery and removable, machine-washable covers have made white far more achievable for everyday use, but it will inevitably show marks between cleans. For a household with children or pets, easy-clean fabric should be non-negotiable.

Dark Upholstery

Navy, charcoal and deep brown ground a room and are particularly forgiving of everyday marks, making them a practical choice for busy spaces. Very dark upholstery isn't completely maintenance-free, however. If you have a household pet, hair can be far more visible. For longevity, opt for a textured weave, it'll disguise wear and tear far better than a smooth, flat finish.

Patterned Fabrics

Patterned sofas bring personality while also cleverly disguising minor marks and everyday wear. Stripes, small geometrics, and subtle florals are easier to decorate around than bold statement prints. If you're hesitant about committing but still want a flash of pattern, keep the sofa relatively understated and introduce pattern through cushions.

7. Assess Quality Before You Buy

A high price tag and good looks don’t always guarantee quality, so knowing what lies behind a beautifully finished couch is key to making an informed choice. 'I look closely at the construction before I ever consider the fabric,' reveals Marie Flanagan, pointing out that 'a well-made frame, properly engineered joinery, quality suspension, and cushions that hold their shape' are all important signs to look for.

Quality should reveal itself in how a couch performs over time, not just how it looks on day one. As Nina Lichtenstein puts it, 'A well-made piece should feel substantial and supportive, function beautifully, and age gracefully rather than simply look good when it first arrives.'

Joinery

Look beyond the material to how the frame is constructed. Traditional mortise-and-tenon or dowelled joints, reinforced with glued and screwed corner blocks, are signs of quality craftsmanship. Staples aren't necessarily a concern when used alongside proper joinery, but shouldn't be the only thing holding the frame together.

Suspension

Good suspension provides support beneath the cushions and prevents a sofa from sagging prematurely. Eight-way hand-tied springs remain the gold standard of traditional craftsmanship, while good-quality sinuous springs offer excellent support at a lower price point. The seat should feel evenly supported, without squeaking or bottoming out onto the frame.

Cushion Construction

To keep the outward look of your sofa great for years to come, you’ll want to look out for high-density foam that quickly regains its shape. Higher-end couches may combine springs, foam, and down, while zippered cushions are useful for inspecting, maintaining, and potentially replacing the filling over time.

Fabric Quality

Good upholstery should look as considered up close as it does from across the room. Nina Lichtenstein recommends paying attention to 'pattern alignment, consistent seams and stitching, and the way fabric is applied around curves and corners.' For durability, check the fabric’s abrasion rating too, particularly for a couch designed for a busy household room.

Warranty

The warranty can serve as a useful indicator of a manufacturer's confidence in their construction. Look beyond the headline warranty period and check exactly which components are covered, for how long, and under what conditions.

Craftsmanship

A few simple checks reveal plenty about craftsmanship. Gently lift a corner to test the frame, listen for creaking, check cushions regain their shape and inspect underneath for a neat, sturdy finish.

8. Think Long Term

It’s easy to get caught up in what works for your home and lifestyle today, but ask yourself whether your couch will still suit you in years to come. From choosing a style with staying power to allowing for changing tastes, future moves, and evolving needs, a little forward planning can help ensure it works for you long-term.

Trends Vs Timelessness

Look beyond the current top sofa trends to classic, well-proportioned silhouettes. If you crave something more of-the-moment, introduce it through cushions and throws instead; these can easily evolve with your tastes without committing your couch to a trend you may not love in ten years' time.

Future Homes

Your couch may well outlast your current home, so avoid choosing something that only works in one very specific space. Standard proportions tend to work far more easily between homes, while oversized or unusually shaped designs can prove harder to accommodate.

Flexibility

Modern couch designs often come with clever features that allow them to evolve rather than be replaced. Removable covers offer the opportunity to completely change the look, while replaceable cushion inserts and a quality frame suitable for reupholstering can give a well-loved couch a new lease of life down the line.

Modular Options

If your household is likely to grow, shrink or relocate, a modular design offers practical flexibility. Individual sections can be rearranged, removed or added over time, adapting easily to a change of room, home or household.

Maintenance and Cleaning

Think realistically about how much maintenance you’re prepared to commit to before choosing your couch. Some fabrics and cushion fills require regular cleaning, plumping, or specialist care, while others are far easier to live with day to day.

Removable, machine-washable covers are invaluable for busy households, while checking the manufacturer’s care requirements will help you avoid choosing a fabric that demands more specialist cleaning than you’re prepared for.

Some upholstery will require professional cleaning to keep it looking its best, so factor this into your decision before buying. Delicate fabrics in particular may bring additional long-term care requirements and costs.

Expected Lifespan

Think about how long you expect your couch to last and buy accordingly. A shorter-term purchase may not warrant the same investment, while a couch you hope to keep for decades makes quality construction, repairability, and a timeless design far more of a priority.

The Best Couches to Shop Right Now

The best couch isn’t necessarily the most expensive or the most fashionable, it’s the couch that feels completely at home in your space and suits the way you live every day. Take the time to get the practical details right and invest in quality where it matters most to you, and you’ll have a piece that looks beautiful, feels comfortable, and works hard for years to come.

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

Bed sheets are undoubtedly one of the most difficult items to store in a streamlined, uniform manner. Cumbersome and tricky to fold neatly, even as the resident Sleep Editor here at Homes & Gardens, I often find my collection descends into chaos.

The best solution to this common problem is Bed Sheet Organizers, available at Amazon, which are effortlessly easy to use and keep even large linen closets under control.

As they're currently at their lowest-ever price as part of the Amazon Prime Big Deal Day sales, there's no better time to organize your linen closet ahead of busy holiday hosting season.

When getting my home guest-ready for the holiday season, I always start with my guest bedroom and, more specifically, my guest bed. Once I've gone to all the effort (and investment) of picking out the best mattress for my guest bedroom, it's worth the time it takes to make a guest room feel more homey and welcoming. Problems arise, however, when I can find the pillowcase I need but not the matching duvet cover, or the flat sheet I plan on using but not the right fitted sheet for the mattress. That's why it's a good idea to get your bedding collection in order now, ahead of time, using these Bed Sheet Organizers, available at Amazon.

With a simple design that's impressively easy to use − all that's needed to do is fold your sheets, zip the holder up, close the lid, and use an included label for quick identification − even small linen closets are transformed with minimal effort.

Each organizer also features a small circular window, allowing you to see the color of the linens inside with just a quick glance, and fits one Queen or King sheet set, one duvet cover, and two pillowcases. Then, once closed and labelled, they simply slot onto a shelf for a uniform look where everything is where you need it, exactly when you need it, with holiday guests on the way.

What Shoppers Say

If you're considering taking the plunge on these small closet organizers, rest assured that, as reflected in an overall rating of 4.6 stars out of five across over 4,000 reviews, they come recommended by real-life shoppers.

For example, one shopper dubs them a 'closet must.' They explain, 'These sheet organizers are such a great find! They make storing and organizing extra sheets so much easier and keep everything neat and together. I love that the set comes with multiple bags, and the clear design makes it easy to see what’s inside without having to dig through the linen closet.

'They’re sturdy, practical, and a great way to keep bedding organized. Definitely recommend!'

Another shopper adds that they're a 'surprisingly useful organizational upgrade,' and says they've even used them to overhaul their towel storage ideas, too.

'Who knew something this simple could make such a difference? These are fantastic for keeping my sheets organized − no more digging through the linen closet trying to match fitted sheets, flat sheets, and pillowcases.

'As a bonus, they work just as well for storing beach towels, keeping everything neat, together, and easy to grab before heading out. Great quality and a surprisingly useful organizational upgrade!'

More to Shop

Below, shop a selection of top-rated linen closet organizing alternatives, as well as underbed storage solutions for storing your best bed sheets in small spaces.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

My free bedding storage trick for large collections keeps linen closets organized, neat, and tidy.

For more shopping inspiration, you can explore our curated Amazon collections on our Amazon storefront.

Love the latest product news and helpful shopping advice? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

As the temperatures drop and days shorten, it can only mean one thing – fall is here. It is only a matter of time until you need to start clearing leaves around your property. I have always found that the most lightweight, convenient way to do this is with a cordless leaf blower.

Collecting leaves can often feel like a chore, especially if you stick to the old-fashioned way with a garden rake. A cordless leaf blower changes the game, as you can clear leaves, debris, and even light snow from lawns, patios, decks, driveways, and more in record time and without the physical exertion.

As a professional gardener, I regularly used cordless leaf blowers to clear leaves around public gardens and found them much easier than gas-powered ones. I found this Greenworks cordless leaf blower on Amazon that is powerful, lightweight, and 50% off in the Prime Day sale. It comes with a charger and a battery and has all the ingredients to become an essential gardening tool for years to come.

An Ideal Tool for Fall Clear-Up

A cordless leaf blower is one of the best leaf-clearing tools for all types of yards. This one is perfect for smaller gardens. It can clear leaves from all types of surfaces, from porches to lawns, and is small enough to fit into tight spaces, such as decks or patios, when needed.

Come fall, when you want to start clearing leaves to prevent them from becoming a slip hazard or smothering lawns, you want a quick, efficient way. And a cordless leaf blower is certainly an effective way to get rid of leaves.

The Greenworks cordless leaf blower is a powerful machine, with 150 MPH wind speed and 135 CFM (cubic feet per minute) airflow. This power, applied through a concentrator nozzle, is perfect for clearing both dry and wet leaves in the fall. It is also powerful enough to clear needles, twigs, and small branches after a storm and light snow in winter.

That power may sound intimidating, especially if you’ve never used a blower. It is typical for general home-use blowers to offer speeds of 150-180 MPH compared to 200+ for professional ones, but you don’t always need to operate at those levels.

For easier clearing, the Greenworks cordless leaf blower has a variable speed dial on the handle, so gardeners can adjust the power to suit the task. You can switch up and down for heavier or lighter leaf loads, and working at lower speeds increases battery runtime. At maximum speed, you get 15 minutes of runtime on a full battery, which increases at reduced speeds, such as when clearing smaller, drier leaves.

You will tend to use a leaf blower repeatedly over fall to clear areas. Thankfully, the Greenworks cordless leaf blower is easy to use. It has a simple on-off button, the aforementioned dial, and a comfortable grip for holding the lightweight tool.

One benefit of the Greenworks cordless leaf blower is that, like with other battery-operated tools, you can rely on it to start up each time. When it comes to gas tools, I have often found there are many reasons why they don’t start. With a battery tool, you don’t need to worry about the leaf blower not working.

Put a charged battery in, switch it on, and you are good to go – there is a lot less to go wrong. Plus, you get less noise, fewer emissions, and don’t need to buy gas or oil. Even better is that the 40V battery used by the Greenworks cordless leaf blower is compatible with over 75 other products in the company’s range of gardening and power tools, such as this Greenworks 40V 16-inch lawn mower on Amazon.

The machine comes with a battery and a charger included in the price, which isn’t always the case with cordless leaf blowers. Sometimes the products look like a great deal, but they don’t come with a battery and charger – and those extras can cost as much, if not more, than the tool. There are no such worries here; you get the leaf blower, battery, and charger all in one budget-friendly deal.

You can buy a second Greenworks 40V battery on Amazon so you always have a charged one ready and can work longer without stopping to recharge.

One potential downside is that it is just a blower, and not a leaf vacuum that collects the leaves for you. However, just because it doesn’t collect doesn’t take away from the value of a leaf blower.

It will make clearing leaves in the fall a much quicker experience. You can use the blower to direct the material onto flower beds and use fallen leaves to protect plants. Or blow them into easy-access piles and use leaf scoops (available at Amazon) to bag them up and make leaf mulch.

Why Shoppers Love It

The Greenworks cordless leaf blower has, at the time of writing, received a rating of 4.2 out of five stars from almost 13,000 ratings. Indeed, four out of five of those are four stars or more.

It gets regular praise for being lightweight and effective, especially in smaller spaces. ‘I live in a condo, so I don’t need anything more powerful than this,’ says one reviewer. ‘I used it to blow out beds, sidewalks, and my garage. I love how lightweight it is.’

‘Perfect for keeping my porch clean,’ another adds. ‘Good for light work in a home garden. Leaves, sand, and dirt blow away easily. Battery lasts for 30-45 minutes of continuous use.’

The ability to vary the blower’s wind speed was also highlighted as a positive among the reviews. ‘Even on setting one, it's more than enough for my garage, driveway, and the one side of my house where all the leaves end up piling up... But not anymore,’ says one review.

Another reads: ‘I have carpal tunnel and cannot use heavy equipment; this is lightweight and came charged & ready. The operation is simple, and the various speeds allow for you to adjust the power so I'm not blowing mulch or light gravel out of place.’

There are some reviews that question the machine’s power and whether it is enough for clearing larger debris. It is a lightweight blower for clearing leaves and debris from smaller yards, perfect for small driveways, decks, and patios rather than large estates and expansive lawns.

If you have a larger space and need more power and runtime to clear areas, you may prefer to look for something a little bit more professional. An example is this 200 MPH, 700 CFM cordless leaf blower on Amazon that has a runtime of 160 minutes and three speed modes.

Shop Other 40V Battery Compatible Garden Tools

Some gardeners may not realize that leaf blowers are more than a one-trick pony. You can use them for more than just clearing leaves in the fall. Our guide to surprising uses for a leaf blower reveals five other tasks around the property that you can use this versatile tool for.

For more deals in the Amazon sale, check out the Homes & Gardens Amazon storefront to discover some of our best finds.

If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?