Making a New Year’s resolution is nothing new. Most of us have done it at one time or another. Making good on that resolution is another thing.
“The statistics on how many people actually follow through and accomplish their New Year’s resolutions are rather grim,” said Forbes. “Studies have shown that less than 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days, and only 8% accomplish them.”
This year, making a promise to yourself to make improvements to your home—that might be a resolution you can keep! Here’s where to start:
Declutter
If the idea of decluttering is giving you anxiety, think about it in smaller chunks. Split up your home into different spaces and tackle one per month, getting rid of anything that you don’t use, don’t need, and don’t even like anymore.
If you have 12 rooms, you have the perfect ratio of spaces to months in a year; if not, you may have to do some combining or adjusting. Once you’ve figured out the schedule, get it on your calendar. Studies show we’re much more likely to follow through with an activity that way.
Catch up with home maintenance
The broken ice maker. The rattling air conditioner. The chipped fireplace mantel. It’s all the things that drive you crazy—or that you have to pretend you don’t notice so you can maintain your sanity. Make 2020 the year that you tackle those to-do items. Which leads us to our next item:
Prioritize
You’ve been dying to redo the bonus room, but updates in the kitchen will add the most value. Of course, the bathrooms also need do-overs, and you can probably do two or even three of them for the price of the kitchen reno.
So.
Many.
Decisions.
When you think about all the things in your home that need fixing or redoing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and default to doing nothing. Here’s what helps: sit down and make a list in three columns: big fixes, medium fixes, little fixes. Now give them a priority number, based on what you really want, need, and can pay for. Seeing it on paper—or on screen—should shed some light on what you can do, and in what order.
Keep up with home maintenance
Once your home is in pretty good shape, establishing a maintenance checklist can help you keep it that way. A maintenance checklist outlines the systems and components of the home that should be checked on an annual, semi-annual, monthly or weekly basis,” said HGTV.
Improve your curb appeal
You don’t have to completely overhaul your yard to get it looking great, nor do you have to do everything at once. It might only take a good cleanup—raking, pulling weeds, pruning trees, trimming bushes, and painting the front door—to get it in pretty good shape. Now add some fresh flowers by the front door and you’re good to go.
Ask for help
Asking for help isn’t easy for many of us, regardless of the task. You may think you can’t impose on a good friend or family member to help with painting a room or organizing a closet. But would you do it for them? If the answer is, unequivocally, “Yes,” perhaps you should bite the bullet and ask. An offer of pizza and beer in return can sweeten the deal.