Does Your Home Need an Upgrade in The New Year?
Your home contributes a great deal to your energy and the way you feel, especially now that we’ve gotten used to spending so much at home. So today we’re going to talk about ways in which you can reset your home so you can get a bit of that new energy flowing in there.
I believe that the way in which we create the ideal environment in our home and the items we put in it have a big impact on us, whether we even realize it or not. For instance, have you ever decided to move a chair and instantly decided it didn’t feel quite right?
Or maybe it felt better than before? If you switch up the environment, you also make space to change yourself. And honestly, what better time for that than in the new year? Let’s see how we can reset our home in 2024!
Change the colors.
For a complete reset, consider changing your colors. You can paint a wall, get brand new pillowcases, or even change up the decor a little bit. This is a greater step than any other tip in here, and it all depends on how big you want this reset to be.
It could be something as small as getting a new pillowcase, new bedsheets (more on that later), or putting contact paper on your kitchen counter to give it a new look. Or, if you feel inspired, paint a wall.
Whatever feels right for you, go ahead and do that! Other ways in which you could change your colors would be to change your window treatments, add rugs, or even switch out hardware in the kitchen or in your bathrooms.
Go through your clothes.
Another essential part of any plan that implies a home reset is to check the closet. Donate any clothes that you don’t even wear anymore, preferably to places like second-hand stores or, better yet, homeless shelters.
If you have any clothes that you love but need to be fixed in any way, you could bring them to your tailor so they can get fixed and you could reintroduce them in your wardrobe. For every single item, consider how it makes you feel.
Ideally, you would have a closet full of clothes that make you feel like a rock star. Another important thing to add is to check your socks and underwear, too. They’re oftentimes ignored or even forgotten, but it’s so crucial to have good socks and underwear because they truly support you throughout the day, after all.
Go through your collections.
We all have some sort of collection we hold onto dearly. Whether we have a ton of books, mugs, video games, or figurines, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to go through them and assess whether you still love all of them in the new year, too.
If it’s a product to be used, will you really use all of them? Is anything broken that you’re holding on to? Is there something that you secretly don’t like anymore? Then again, the ideal is to have a collection of things you truly love and that make you happy.
For example, for me, it’s books. Every once in a while, I go through my bookshelf and make sure I only have the books I would love to read again that were either inspiring or that have touched me deeply.
Deeply clean kitchens and bathrooms
Deep cleaning your kitchen is definitely a very satisfying activity. Do you know what’s even more satisfying? Checking on those condiments that can expire without us realizing and that sometimes live in our fridges for years.
Again, use common sense and look, smell, and even taste them before throwing anything away. Then, go to the cupboards, countertops, and backsplash and let your dishwasher run a cleaning cycle. Clean the bathrooms, too.
Check if the grout needs cleaning, and also don’t forget about those annoying spots you would normally skip. For a true reset, go the extra mile. If it pays off, it will feel so good when you’re done.
And let’s be real, most of us found food in our fridges or countertops that expired two years ago. If you truly want to refresh your home, go through your pantry and check all those expiration dates.
If something’s expired, use common sense to decide whether it really needs to be thrown out. A wide majority of those foods that are expired can be perfectly okay to consume. After all, we don’t want to be wasteful; we just want to be clean. The whole idea here is to prevent any expired foods from hanging around for years and also to be aware of what’s in your cupboard.
Return everything to its proper place.
As time goes by, the things we keep in our homes end up in different places. Sometimes they don’t really go that far, and other times you notice something and truly wonder how it got there. So what you want to do is go through your home and return everything to its rightful place.
If you notice you have some things that don’t have a home yet, find a place for them and consider whether or not you should really keep them. Assign rooms in your homes for specific activities, and collect all related items in that room. This might keep your home neat and your mind clear.
See if anything needs to be done or fixed, then make sure you do it or get someone else to do it.
Another efficient way to reset your home is to start a proper home improvement list (if you want a cute notebook to get your plans going, check out this one). Oftentimes, when something in our home needs to happen and it’s not that urgent, we always “do it later.”
But these things might stack up, and that later never comes. So if you efficiently want to reset your home, do a full inventory of those things. Are there any paintings that are waiting to be hung or leaking taps? Now’s the time to do it!
Clean the front door and your entryway.
Oftentimes, we ignore or even forget these places, but that’s the first thing that our guests notice. So you better arm yourself with cleaning spray and a clean cloth and clean the front door to properly welcome new visitors with open arms.
Also, check your doormat. Clean it if you can, or consider getting a new one if it’s quite run-down. Then clean and organize the hallway, too. Make it so that every time you step into your home, you will feel good and happy.
Refresh your wall art.
If you have any leftover wall art, spice things up a bit! You could move pictures between rooms or even change the frames. You can even opt to get some new art! Personally, I’m all about posters from Etsy.
I can print them myself, so it saves a ton of money, and they are marvelous. Wall art truly makes a difference in your room, and it can really set the mood. So if you’re looking for any kind of refresh, changing your pictures or even getting new posters is the cheapest and most efficient way to start.
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