Get the new year off to a positive start and pledge to do something to improve, tidy or spruce up your home. Whether you’re selling or not, giving your home a little bit of TLC, especially at this time of year in the slump after all those Christmas and New Year festivities, so get cracking and read on for some inspiring news year’s home resolutions!
The thing with New Year’s resolutions is we often set ourselves up to fail – like going on a diet, stopping drinking alcohol, pledging to get more sleep and starting a new exercise regime all at the same time. The key to succeeding is to make your goals realistic and not to heap too much pressure on to yourself.
Instead of starting the new year with a daunting, stress-inducing to-do list, remember it’s the little things that can make a big difference too, improving our state of mind and helping us feel more like we’re on top of things.
When we ignore things we need to do around the home, they don’t go away and some can get worse and end up presenting us with a much bigger job further down the line. All those little jobs also sit inside our heads, niggling away at our subconscious, so even if we’re determined not to think about them, deep down we’re fully aware of that growing list and odds are, you’ll feel a sense of unease when you do think about them!
Instead of pretending they don’t exist, tackling them head on is the way to do it, and you don’t need to commit to much to improve your home and your wellbeing.
1. Finish off a job
Just one job! It doesn’t have to be a big one either, although if it is a bigger task, there’ll be a bigger sense of achievement (and relief!) once it has finally been dealt with.
Whether it’s fixing the broken shower, resealing the bath or finishing a decorating job you started last summer, now is a great time to get something finished from your to-do list.
2. Get something started
We’ve all been there. When there’s something big that needs doing, perhaps it’s a DIY task you’re not sure how to do or something so big and daunting that you don’t really want to get started as you anticipate the many hours of toil it will take to complete. Perhaps it’s just something little that you’ve simply been putting off because you’ve not had time to get round to it.
Now is a great chance to push that pesky job you’ve been putting off up to the top of your priority list and make a start on it, even if all that means is ordering some DIY supplies, planning a project or getting quotes for an expert to come and do it.
3. Spruce up the garden
It might seem counter intuitive to spend time in the garden in the depths of winter, but now is a great time to give your garden the tidy up you didn’t have time to get round to last year. Most of your plants will have died back now, so if you’re weeding, make sure you’re not getting rid of plants that will return to life come Spring.
With no foliage to contend with though, now is a great time to really see the ‘shape’ of your garden, making it easier to get into borders and allowing you unobstructed access to fences and gates which might be harder to reach once your garden is in full bloom.
4. Commit to better organisation
Although some people thrive in more cluttered environments, many people find that they feel more relaxed when the spaces that they live in are tidy and organised. Smaller homes can present a big challenge in terms of keeping them tidy as often the volume of ‘stuff’ we accrue over the years means we have too many things and not enough places to keep them tidied away.
A simple tidy up and decluttering, tackled one room at a time can be surprisingly therapeutic and seeing a tidy and organised room when you’ve finished can bring a lovely sense of achievement and relief.
Think about storage, get rid of things you no longer use or want by giving them away or recycling them and don’t take on too much. Start with just one room and take it from there to ensure you don’t feel overwhelmed by the task.
If you’ve got a lot to do and are perhaps pairing the task of decluttering and organising with refurbishing one or more rooms, you might want to consider hiring crates to help you store everything you do want to keep safely away whilst you undertake your refurbishment.
5. Give a room a new lease of life
Breathe life into a tired room with a makeover. Now is a great time to get an indoor project started and bringing a room back to life could be just what you need to help banish those post-Christmas winter blues.
Think about creating a sense of space and bringing light into a room, particularly if it’s small. Conversely, if you’re dealing with a large room, you might want to choose darker colours to make it feels cosier.
Even if you’re not redecorating, you can give your living room a new look by introducing new decorative pieces like rugs, cushions and throws etc. into the room and if it’s a bedroom, a new bedding set, curtains, bedside lamps etc. can all help to give it a fresh new look that will make you feel good when you’re in the space.
6. Alternatively….pledge to do absolutely nothing!
Yes, you read that right! Although this final suggestion might go against the grain, sometimes being still and doing nothing is what we really need, especially given that January can bring with it a whole heap of pressure, both self-imposed and societal.
If you don’t feel like getting something started or finished and don’t have any grand plans or aspirations, that’s OK too!
It’s important to differentiate between apathy and avoidance as opposed to genuinely feeling chill and like you have nothing pressing that you need to improve or change. Being completely content and not feeling the need to heap any pressure on yourself can be a really positive thing too, so go with your gut.
If you know you have a massive list of things to do and are simply avoiding them, doing nothing probably isn’t the best strategy, however, if you genuinely feel on top of everything, well, January is the perfect time to sit back, relax and ease yourself into the new year and you can safely leave all of those expectations and fervour for others to wrangle with!
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