11 Ways To Refresh Your Home For The New Year
Lofty self-improvement goals often accompany the start of a New Year. The New Year’s resolution is a common practice, with the idea being that a person will commit to making a positive change on the first of January. These improvements can also apply to your home through refreshed design, organization, and style choices.
Some practical ways to refresh and transform your home for the better in the new year include organizing and reimagining your refrigerator and pantry, and giving your bathroom a mini makeover. Declutter your home, and then give it a thorough deep clean. Swap out old fixtures for new ones, repaint walls, play with lighting, and get a head start on your spring garden.
There are countless ways to reimagine your home, just as there are endless resolutions you can make at the dawn of a new year. There are, however, several ways you can help make your home look new and refreshed that work for nearly every design aesthetic and resolution. Keep reading to find ways to refresh your home to help enrich your life in the new year.
Tips To Help You Refresh Your Home In The New Year
1. Understand Your Intentions Before You Start
Before you begin remodeling your home or moving things around on a whim, take the time to understand your goals and intentions with the home refresh.
If, for example, you want to create a more minimalist aesthetic, then your main objective is to remove all the excess. If, however, you are trying to make your home cozier or more personal, you’ll have different priorities and tasks. Determine your desired outcome before you decide where and how to start.
2. Have A Clear Budget In Mind And Calculate Expenses
Your budget for a home refresh will dictate the scope of your project. While more ambitious home refreshes can cost many thousands of dollars, many other options cost nothing except some sweat and elbow grease.
Once you decide how much you are willing to spend on the entire process, you can begin allocating money to each room and design goal. Calculate expenses to avoid going over budget and starting the new year in debt.
3. Confirm Your Home Refresh Aligns With Your New Goals
Since a Neew Year's resolution or general lifestyle change often inspires a home refresh, make sure all the work you do on your home brings you closer to these goals. If you want to eat healthier, then focus on your kitchen pantry and refrigerator.
If you want to develop a stronger green thumb, gardening and houseplants should be the focus. Regardless of your goals for the new year, make sure to reflect them in your home refresh.
4. Complete One Project (And Room) At A Time
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and overexcited by any home makeover project. While it’s great to be ambitious and set deadlines, it’s also essential to approach the project realistically and in steps.
To prevent getting burnt out or leaving the project unfinished, consider completing the home refresh one project and one room at a time. Breaking down the refresh into small, manageable chunks will help keep you focused and on track.
5. Remove Items Before Adding New Ones
In most cases, it’s better to begin a home refresh by removing clutter and unnecessary objects before adding anything new. It helps with logistics and lets you see your home as a blank canvas before you decide on your new vision.
11 Ways To Refresh Your Home At The Start Of A New Year
1. Get Rid Of Everything You Don’t Use
The best way to begin any home refresh project is to get rid of all the junk in your home. Over time, junk and random clutter can fill a home. The start of a new year is a fantastic time to purge your home of all clutter.
Go through your home from top to bottom, even your storage areas. Donate anything you aren’t using. Getting rid of these unneeded items will free up a lot of space in your home. It provides more storage and makes your home look larger and cleaner.
2. Organize And Deep Clean Your Fridge
Many people make new (and often ambitious) health goals at the start of a new year. Whether you want to lose weight, gain muscle, or simply eat healthier, it all starts with what’s in your fridge.
One great way to refresh your home and align it with your New Year’s resolutions is to clean and reorganize your fridge. Get rid of expired items, and fill your fridge with healthier products. Consider keeping healthy snacks within reach and removing less healthy options.
3. Experiment With New Lighting
Natural and artificial lighting are a great way to transform your home quickly and affordably. If some rooms in your home are darker or drabber than you’d like, try experimenting with lighting.
Ways to adjust lighting include swapping out old lamp shades for new ones, changing the intensity of the bulbs, and finding creative ways to bring natural light into each room.
4. Organize Tupperware And Other Cabinet Clutter
Tupperware drawers are often a disorganized and chaotic assortment of mismatched containers and lids. This happens when you collect new containers and lose parts of others. To help inspire a healthy cooking and weekly meal-prep lifestyle, find ways to organize your Tupperware.
To make cooking easier and more enjoyable, you should also organize all of your kitchen cabinets. Organized cabinets make it easier to find everything you're looking for.
5. Deep Clean Your Entire Home
One free and highly effective way to refresh any home is to deep-clean it from top to bottom. A clean home can bring a sense of calm and help a home shine. Starting the year off with a spotless home can also go a long way in helping you stick to your personal wellness goals.
6. Give Your Bathroom A Mini Makeover
If you want to give your bathroom a new look but are on a tight budget, consider a small but effective bathroom makeover. Swap out your old shower curtain, bath mat, and hand towels for new ones.
You can often find these products on sale at home goods stores, and these small changes can make a huge difference.
7. Replace Unsightly And Old Fixtures With New Ones
It’s easy to overlook old doorknobs and rusted outdated handles and hardware, but your guests certainly notice. Replacing old door knobs and cabinet handles is an easy, affordable DIY project that can help make your home look newer and cleaner.
8. Bring Life Into The Home With Plants
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to spend more time in nature or to be less stressed, then start in the winter with a houseplant. Houseplants purify the air, bring a sense of calm, and add natural color to any room you put them in.
9. Completely Rethink And Organize Your Kitchen Pantry
If your goal is to be healthier, cook more, or both, then you should focus on your kitchen pantry. To refresh your pantry, throw out any expired items and ensure all products are in air-tight containers.
Keep healthy items at eye level, and ensure everything has its designated spot. The better you organize your pantry, the less likely you are to have products expire.
10. Add A Fresh Coat Of Paint Or An Accent Wall
Painting your home is a great way to breathe new life into it. Painted walls fade and crack over time, so a fresh coat of paint is a great way to refresh a room.
Alternatively, you can add a bold accent wall. Choose a vibrant color that matches the room or an ornate wallpaper. You’ll be surprised how much an accent wall can completely transform a room.
11. Get A Head Start On Your Spring Garden
If you want your garden to look better than ever in the upcoming year, get a head start in the winter. Some great projects you can begin include applying mulch, purchasing your materials in advance, and starting plants from seed indoors.
Wrapping Up Ways to Refresh Your Home In The New Year
Refreshing your home is a fantastic way to start a new year. A clean, reimagined home can even help you stick to your personal wellness goals and New Year’s resolutions.
Some easy and effective ways to refresh a home include organizing your fridge and pantry, deep cleaning, and experimenting with lighting. Remove clutter, and consider painting or replacing old fixtures. You can even give your bathroom an affordable but transformative makeover.
Related Guides:
- How To Bring A Minimalist Aesthetic To Your Home In The New Year
- What's The Best Time Of The Year To Buy Flooring?
- Is It Worth Fixing A Dishwasher?
Tom Gaffey is an expert writer who currently resides in Washington D.C. Tom has a passion for real estate and home improvement writing, as well as travel and lifestyle writing. He lived the last twelve years in Hawaii where he worked closely with luxury resorts and event planners, mastering his knowledge of aesthetics and luxury products. This is where he found his passion for home improvement and a keen interest in DIY projects. Currently, Tom resides in Washington D.C, and also working on his debut fiction novel.
More by Tom Gaffey
