Home Projects to Help You Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions

When the family’s gone home, the lights are taken down, and the leftovers finally get eaten, it’s time once again to focus inward. Here are a few things you can do around the house to help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions for 2019.

Organize Your Life

It can feel great to purge some of your belongings after the holidays (especially if you donate those items to people in need). Start with your storage spaces, like the basement, attic, or garage. Sorting through things you may not have looked at in months or years will help you better organize and display the stuff worth keeping.

Once you’re on a roll, you can continue on to the busier areas of your house. Go through your closet and organize your clothing from your favorite to least favorite — this can help you let go of some of your more ‘weathered’ items to make way for an updated wardrobe. You can also save a ton of time getting ready in the morning by putting all of your work outfits together, or organizing the bathroom so you can go through your hygiene routine quickly and easily — even if the spouse or kids are always barging in.

Boost Your Health

Many of us plan to shed a few pounds after the holidays. Besides hitting the gym, there’s no better way to do this than making healthy meals at home. Get inspired by organizing all of your ingredients (and making space for new ones) or displaying your favorite cookbooks. Add a splash of color (yellow can help you achieve that funky retro look, while blue can apparently increase the value of your house). If you’re feeling ambitious, you can install a kitchen island to make more room for all those cutting boards and mixing bowls.

Even though the winter often makes us want to curl up under a blanket and watch Netflix, sunlight and fresh air are crucial to our health. Spending even an hour outside for general house maintenance, like raking the leaves or repairing the deck, can get your heart rate up and make you feel like you’ve earned that delicious, home-cooked meal.

There are also plenty of mood-lifting ways to spruce up the inside of your home. Even just cleaning or replacing window treatments can let more sunlight in, which is known to help people with seasonal affective disorder. Creative projects that add color to your home are an instant mood booster (like nice bright accent wall you or your spouse have been considering). And sleep is just important as diet and exercise, so think about some ways to make your bedroom the perfect environment for getting some shut-eye: Decluttering dressers and nightstands, painting your walls with soothing pastels, and installing blackout shades and are small projects that can help you get better rest.