Best Tips for Refreshing Your Home 

Pick your favorite or most important room first. “Different rooms or parts of a home will have a different charge for a person,” says Dr. Roeske. For example, the kitchen can be a place of great importance for some as that’s where meals are prepared and the family gathers. Keeping the kitchen clean and organized may offer a stronger sense of order to those folks. For others, a clean bedroom can be a sanctuary, and can contribute to healthier sleeping habits, which is also linked to better mental health.

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Start small. “It’s amazing how much you can organize and tidy up in just 15 minutes a day,” says Lauren Saltman, professional organizer and owner of Living Simplified, a professional organizing company based in New Hampshire. She offers examples of minor changes you can make to decrease the pile-up of daily clutter, such as clearing off the kitchen table and washing the dishes immediately after dinner, and removing the junk mail first after visiting the mailbox and sorting the rest once you get inside.

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Tip:  Give everything a “home.” It can help to tackle certain small tasks by assigning objects to a home, or a location within your space where an item lives when it’s not in use, but still near where it is used the most, suggests Brenda Scott, owner of Tidy my Space, a professional organizing company in Ontario, Canada.

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Use a goal to motivate you. “Think of your big picture vision,” suggests Lesley Spellman, founder of The Clutter Fairy and co-founder of The Declutter Hub, an organizing resource company in the U.K. For example, envision yourself having friends over for the dinner party you’ve been wanting to throw, but your cluttered dining room has kept you from following through. Visualizing a goal can give you something to work for while you clean.

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Set non-negotiable tasks. These are the daily tidying and cleaning tasks that you cannot skimp on. These will vary between homes, families and day-to-day lives, says Spellman, but can include wiping down the kitchen counter, unloading the dishwasher and sweeping the floor, for example. “Once your non-negotiables become habit, chores become part of your day and not an additional stress,” she adds.

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Take it slow. Be realistic about your energy levels and time constraints while working toward your goal, Spellman urges, but don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone. Take the cleaning process one drawer or one cupboard at a time, for example, to avoid exhaustion and decreased motivation.

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Tip: For many, cleaning is a chore they’d gladly avoid.  For those people, hiring a cleaning company is a must for the deep clean, and perhaps weekly or monthly follow-up cleanings.  Hiring a professional organizer, for the major decluttering, will help by clearing up clutter and finding the perfect spot for items you can’t live without.  However, a bit of tidying up each day is up to you, and it’s a small price to pay for the health benefits. 

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For those that are up to the task, here are suggestions for getting started:

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Clean It Up 

It feels great to come back to a fresh, clean home after a long day of work.  Set aside a weekend to give your home a thorough cleaning.

 

• Be sure to tackle the often-neglected areas like ceiling fans, windows, and under furniture.

• Reorganize your pantry: empty it out, and clean the shelves.  Before you reload, toss all expired items; store like-items in plastic bins or baskets; keep oldest items in front so they are used before items with further out expiration date.

• Give your fridge a good cleaning.  Toss expired items and organize like-items into clear bins for easy-to-find convenience.

• Have the carpeting shampooed and send your area rugs to be cleaned — you’d be amazed (and disgusted) at how much grunge can build up in the thick piles over time.

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Clear Out Closets

It may seem like closets are not an issue when it comes to refreshing your home. After all, the doors are closed and the messes are out of sight, out of mind right? Except they’re not. Disorganized closets (and dressers) make getting ready each morning a total nightmare. Eventually, that mess will spill out onto the floor.

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One of the best ways to get your clothes organized is to sort them by categories such as “every day,” “seasonal,” and “I forgot I even owned this.” You can probably guess that we are going to tell you to donate that “I forgot I even owned this” pile. Once that is taken care of, make sure your everyday items are in easy reach in top drawers of dressers or at the front of the closet. Seasonal items can be stored away in totes on top shelves of closets, or under beds, ready to be rotated out when the seasons change.

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Tip: When you’re done organizing your clothes, turn the hangers so that they face out. Once you wear an item and return it to the closet, turn the hanger back in. At the end of the year, any hangers still facing out are items you haven’t worn and can be donated without a second thought, clearing up the clutter and leaving room for new items.

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Declutter and Organize

Grab some pretty baskets and begin to go through your home to declutter and reorganize. Finding new ways to make sure those miscellaneous items are put away and getting rid of clutter is a great way for things to feel refreshed. Pretty baskets also double as great decor elements while hiding your things: store them on shelves, or under coffee tables.

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Tip: Don’t let mail become a mountain on the entry table. Instead, assign each piece somewhere to go and take a minute to apply this rule. “Important” items like bills go to your desk, “social” items like invitations go straight onto your calendar, and “trash” items like flyers and coupons you won’t use this month go into the trash immediately. The idea is to sort items right away so they can’t become a pile on your entry table. It’s the same with groceries or anything you buy – sort it as soon as you get home so that clutter never has a chance to form.

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Add Life to Your Space (Literally)

One of the best things you can do for your home, and mental well-being, is to add a few plants to your space. No amount of decorating, organizing, or painting will make your house feel more like a home than adding some plants. They are welcoming, keep the air fresh when the house is closed up in cold weather, and add much-needed color during gray winter days.

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Shake Up Your Decor

Refreshing your home doesn’t mean bringing in all new things. Sometimes you just need a new perspective on what you already have. Take a look at what is currently in your home and see how it can work in a new way.

 

Tip: Move your couch to a different part of the room or swap out window treatments, rugs and art with a different room. Simply moving things around can give a whole new look.

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Create a new look by adding a fresh new pattern to your space. Add new curtains in a subtle print to your bedroom or swap out your throw pillows on your couch with a bold pattern. Don’t hesitate to mix and match patterns, too!

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Is your home full of generic decorations? If so, they need to go. One of the easiest ways to refresh your space is to add personal touches. The best accessories are the ones that have sentimental meaning. A favorite childhood toy on display on your bookshelf. A photo gallery of family and friends. A travel souvenir from an exciting vacation. No more generic artwork: gather pieces that fill your home with happy memories.

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Of course, not every single item in your home will have sentimental meaning, like a throw pillow or area rug. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put thought into those items, too. Warm-up your living room with a new rug, add throw pillows to your sofa, or replace your entry table with an antique dresser. Create a home that reflects your personality.

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Keep It Clean

What’s the point in deep cleaning your home and organizing your stuff if it’s just going to become a cluttered mess again by next month? The key to keeping your home feeling fresh is having a system in place that will help you stay on track.

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Tip: Stay on track with weekly cleanings so that seasonal cleaning doesn’t even have to be a thing. When you go food shopping, move old items to the front of shelves and place new items in the back. When meal prepping for the week, take stock of those items that will be expiring soon and find creative ways to include those in your cooking. This not only clears up clutter, but it will also reduce food waste and save you money.

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Hire Professionals

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• A  professional organizer will work with you to declutter and organize a room, a closet, or your entire home.

• An interior decorator, or a friend whose home you admire, can help with the little touches you need to refresh your space.  

• A home cleaning service can get the deep cleaning done, then follow-up cleanings thereafter.

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Maid in North Carolina, Inc House Cleaning Service provides home cleaning,  maid services, in and near Advance, Archdale, Clemmons, Colfax, Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown, Kernersville, Lake Jeanette, Lewisville, Oak Ridge, Pfafftown, Summersville, Trinity, and Winston Salem, NC.  If you live in our area, call 336-869-0078 for a free cleaning estimate!  

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