5 easy ways to refresh your tired living space

16 Mar, 2023

Are you looking to refresh your living space? Is your home feeling a bit stagnant? Look no further my friend. It’s possible that we aren’t feeling inspired or embraced by our home. It’s also possible that we don’t have the means (or the desire) to pack up and find a new place that will give us that fresh excitement we desire. Luckily, that is entirely not necessary…

Because there are plenty of easy and effective things that can give us that feeling we had when we first moved in. When everything was more exciting, more organized, and felt fresh and full of possibilities. And often, it’s not as hard as we might think to get excited and inspired about the place we call home. So let’s get down to it.

1) Revamp the space that feels cluttered, overwhelming or dulled

Is there a space in your home that can easily get disheveled, messy, dirty or disfunctional. This could be the prime sign that this space needs our help. Maybe there are random piles of things everywhere, and you can never find what you’re looking for.

Here’s what these signs could be suggesting to you:

a) You might be dealing with more inventory than you can handle

For the record, it’s not our fault that things are messy, especially if we have too many things to deal with. So, go through the area in question and see if you need all these things. Maybe you have things there that never get used, and aren’t needed. So perhaps you could get rid of them. Or maybe there are some things that aren’t needed this season and can be stored away till then. If we have too many things, it will be a constant, and incessant battle to stay organized or tidy. And if we have an appropriate amount of things for ourselves, it will likely actually be a pleasure to stay organized. So, get rid of the extra and then carry on.

b) Not all of our things have a defined home

Even if we don’t have more things than we can comfortably deal with, if our possessions don’t have a specific spot where they belong, chances are that they will end up in any ol’ spot. And if the spot that the item ends up is constantly changing, it’s very likely that we will constantly be searching for that item. So give each of your things a spot where they can belong. Suppose you come home with things in your hand, have a spot designated for everything that you’ll need to put down. Maybe there’s a hook for your bag, a little bowl for your key/wallet. And a space waiting for your coat. Generally, if we make it easy to put our things away, we’re going to gladly do just that. And then we’ll also always know just where it is too. Easy 🙂

c) We could be lacking an effective/intuitive organizational system

If our organizing doesn’t work for us, (or doesn’t exist) things will be harder. So take some time to think through the way you use your space, and try to make it easy to get those common things done. For instance, in the kitchen, if the cupboard with your pots and pans is next to the stove, then that could save some time and make things easier. Or if the counter that you use to make work lunches has the cupboard with your ‘to go’ containers below it, that could work effectively too. So picture yourself doing what you do in your space, and go from there. If you can rearrange to make it easier to do what you do, it’s a good way to refresh your living space.

2) Try a furniture rearrange

Another way to refresh your living space, is to try another rendition with your furniture. Often, once we get our things moved into our space and then into the spot that seems relatively effective, we forget the possibility that it might not actually be the perfect set up. And we forget that the way we set things out wasn’t necessarily the mike drop, all time perfect arrangement.

I have, many times put my furniture into my room, left it for years, until I suddenly decided to make a change, only to realize the new positioning was literally a zillion times better than that first attempt from when I moved in. My bedroom was so-so for years, then I read a feng shui book which inspired me to change the positioning of my bed. And then I fell head over heels in love with my new bedroom. So think outside the box with your arrangement. Look on pinterest or online for ideas and see if another rendition might not be better! The worse thing you’ll need to do is put it back. No biggie 🙂

3) Declutter the mess, extra furniture, things you don’t love/need

Something that will stagnate the energy or ease of your room or home is extra, unnecessary stuff. The more random items we have surrounding us, the more inevitable it is that we will feel overwhelmed and unknowingly claustrophobic. And the more inevitable it is that we are going to stop seeing it. An interesting thing about this clutter blindness anomaly, is that even though we aren’t seeing it, we are likely being affected by it regardless. So have a true look at the space in question, and then ask yourself genuinely, “Do I really need all of this stuff?” If you’re having trouble really seeing the space, take a picture of it on your phone. Somehow in picture form, it can be easier to get that level of separation you need in order to really see the space with genuine eyes.

4) Remove all your decorations and try something different

When we first decorate our place, we probably take some time to set up some items on the shelves or tables, that are there to look nice. Maybe we have small statues, books, a bowl or a vase. And often, once they’ve been placed, they just stay there. Still and unchanging. And amazingly enough, again, we stop seeing them. It’s a real anomaly that we just don’t quite see something once we get accustomed to it.

So, a wonderful thing we can do to refresh our living space, is to change it up.

Grab all those decorative pieces, clean the dust under and around them and set them somewhere away from their old spot. Then you can decide cleanly if you still want them there, if you want them somewhere different, or if maybe you like it better now without them. As soon as we change it up a bit, we can see the place much better again. So remember to keep the decorations fresh. And move things around from time to time.

*Pro tip* When you’re not quite sure on your decorations for a space, remove one thing...

Often times we have the tendency to put out more decorations than we need (or actually want), and reminding ourselves of that fact can be very helpful. Many times, when a space isn’t working for me, I take something or some things away, and that was just what I need. A little less. We don’t always need more, and lots of times we actually do need less. Give it a try. Let something go 🙂

5) Bring the outdoors in!

The magic of the outdoors is that it is magical. It is literally that simple. And the more pieces of nature that we can have in our home, the more calmness we will have the opportunity to feel. So think of simple ways to add nature to you space.

It could be through a plant, some willow branches or cut flowers. It could be that the window is open for the day or a few minutes (if that is an option). And it could be that you have some more natural items, like jute, or sisal, or stone wear, rattan, pottery, etc. Or even small cork or marble cup holders instead of something plastic. Some natural items in our home can actually change the energy of our surroundings. We are part of nature. It only makes sense that we might feel more at ease, or grounded around things that feel ‘of the earth’. Refresh your living space with a little bit of the outdoors 🙂

Conclusion

The more we have, the less of it we actually acknowledge, the less we can use, and the less we can appreciate. So, a wonderful thing we can do to refresh our living space is to keep what we love, and use, downsize stressful clutter, and give to yourself space within your home to change it up. And make it new.