New Year’s resolutions are often focused on personal goals, but what if you include your home in those goals this time around? There’s so much quality of life you can enjoy by improving your home, which will, in turn, improve your personal life!
Besides, it’s easy to ignore most of our home’s troubles. A lot of the time we end up postponing them indefinitely and because of that, our homes end up not receiving any repairs or additions. In fact, more serious repairs that go untouched can lead to severe damage later (like cracked foundations or broken roofs).
With that in mind, let’s talk about what you can do for your home this year. We have 12 months to go, so there’s plenty of time to plan and invest cleverly. These are my recommendations for your home’s New Year resolutions!
Start with your biggest pain points
One thing I will be doing this year and recommend you do too is to start your plans from your biggest pain points. This will vary a lot from home to home, but the general idea is the same: prioritize what’s bothering you the most!
Obviously, if we’re talking about a large investment, you may not be able to start right away, but it’s important to at least set this priority from the beginning. That way, you know what your plan should be for the next few months and how to set your budget straight to ensure success.
Be sure to get a free quote early so that you can make your plans and hopefully kickstart the year with a big change!
Invest in safety
Home safety can often go overlooked because it’s one of those things that are never an issue… until they are.
Here are some home safety investments you could make:
- Install an alarm system
- Install security cameras in strategic spots
- Update your fire alarm
- Consider a carbon monoxide detector if you don’t have one
- Get a fire extinguisher for the kitchen
- Upgrade your doors and windows for a more robust model
There’s a lot more you can do internally for more specific situations, like baby-proofing every room. Your home is your most important property, these safety measures are some of the best investments you can make this year.
Quality of life improvements
One thing I will never get tired of saying around here is that you always deserve a quality of life improvement!
There are many ways you can achieve this and it will depend on what you need or want the most. If you find yourself working from home, you could invest in a proper home office setup. If your summers are too hot, you could invest in air conditioning for the season.
But even smaller improvements make a difference. Simply getting yourself an appliance that would really save you time in the kitchen or a bathtub for relaxing showers after work can change the way you feel every day.
What I recommend is to make a list of all these quality of life improvements, big and small, and then start from the small ones. Little by little, you will have a much happier routine!
Be more energy efficient
HVAC systems offer a massive quality of life improvement, but they come with a hefty energy cost if you’re not careful. But we don’t even need to go that far – even common household lights and appliances can ramp up your energy costs.
This is why you should focus on being more energy efficient. Not only is this better for the environment, but it offers a direct benefit to you as it lowers your energy bills.
A good example is to invest in better insulation for your doors and windows. A relatively simple and quick task that has the potential to lower your energy bill up to 10% by itself, not counting all the other optimizations you can do. It’s worth investigating – you could be enjoying next winter with a vastly more efficient home.
Take small repairs off the list
Every home has a list of small repairs that just go untouched for ages, and when you finally get around to doing it in less than 15 minutes, you’re like: “Why didn’t I do this before?
Once again, I recommend you take note. Walk around the house and check for any small repairs you could easily get rid of, and if your list turns out a little longer than expected, you can start from the easiest just to make some progress. If you can perform DIY repairs, even better.
But now that you have a list, you can talk to a handyman in your area and schedule to fix a nice chunk of these small repairs in one go!
Consider DIY
In many cases, DIY is perfectly viable if you have some time to do it. For example, painting a small room is doable with some help, even if it can be a bit tiring. Power washing your home’s exterior for a clean look is also pretty chill, so long as you can purchase or rent the equipment – though borrowing it is also an option!
My main rule when it comes to DIY is to not strain yourself. If you see that it’s becoming too dangerous or exhausting, then hiring is a much better option. But sometimes a bit of DIY can be the push you need to get things done, so it’s worth a shot.
As always, remember that you can get free quotes for home services and then decide on how to proceed. Consider your options and start 2023 with the improvements your home deserves!
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