You’ve caught up on your reading and watched everything you wanted to see on Netflix. If your thumbs are starting to twiddle from being cooped up, try something constructive: spiff up your space.
As long as you’re spending a lot of time at home, consider updating your home environment. This is not just busywork. Psychologists know your surroundings play a huge role in your mood and well-being.
You don’t have to embark on a full-scale remodeling project to improve your setting — and attitude. Often simple steps that don’t break your back or budget can make a world of difference.
1. Declutter
Yes, this has become a buzzword, but decluttering can be remarkably beneficial. In busy lives, things tend to accumulate. To stack up. To go unnoticed. We acquire a lot of stuff. Sit down and assess your stuff. Which items do you really use or need — or even like? If it doesn’t meet the criteria, donate, sell, or trash it.
A motto of Marie Kondo, the renowned guru of tidying up, is “Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest.”
2. Rearrange
If the same table has sat by the same chair under the same picture on the same wall for years, maybe it’s time to rearrange. You’ll find thousands of decorating ideas online, including some on how to best arrange your things in your newly decluttered space. The trend is toward a more spacious and personalized look and feel to your rooms, and away from the furniture showroom style of the past.
Make your rooms you-friendly. If you have a dining room but don’t really use it, repurpose it. Maybe it can serve your family better as a home office, media room, or home theater.
3. Add Plants
Researchers know that having plants indoors uplifts your mood and gets rid of contaminants in the air. A potted tree in a sunny corner and plants on tables and shelves brings the outdoors in. Arranging some on the patio or porch can blur the line between the confines of inside and the liberation of outdoors. Don’t let small spaces discourage you. You’ll be amazed at how many plants you can fit on a balcony. Pick hardy natives when possible. They have a better chance of thriving with minimal care.
Go a step further and upgrade your landscaping. If you’re renting, you may be able to get the landlord to give you a rebate for adding a flower garden. If you’re the landlord, this is one renovation that won’t cost much and increase the return on your investment.
4. Freshen Your Colors
If you rent, you want to check with your landlord or his/her agent before making permanent changes. But most owners will welcome a fresh coat of paint, especially if you go for a subtle shade. Soft grays, beiges, and blues are in vogue, and basic white has made a comeback. Give the baseboards and molding a new coat and add new electrical wall plates. You’ll have a room that looks brand new. Likewise, a piece of furniture that's grown dingy with age and use might be reborn with fresh paint or a new finish.
This is also a great time to repair and stain the deck. Since few of us are entertaining these days, it will be easier to keep people off of it while the stain sets.
Many brick and mortar stores were sidelined by the pandemic. Fortunately, we live in an era of online shopping. A little time at the keyboard can bring new curtains, accent rugs, and other accessories right to your door.
Use your time at home to give your home a new — and better — lease on life.
If it is do-it-yourself-able, Tracy Lee has tried to do it, and she has the jam-packed toolbox to prove it. When she’s not doing or writing about home projects, you’ll probably find her in the outdoor kitchen she (mostly) built herself.
Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels
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