The holiday celebrations may be fading away, but inside your home, the evidence of their destruction is still evident. Dirt tracked over the carpet, a pile of presents spilling out of the closet, the glass of wine that Grandpa accidentally dumped on the sofa—all that holiday cheer can certainly take a toll on your home decor. But there’s still a whole lot of winter to spend stuck indoors, so you might as well make sure you like what you’re seeing. If your interiors could use a mid-winter update, then these tips are for you.
Paint a Piece of Furniture in a Bright, Bold Color
New Year’s resolutions? How about New Year’s renovations? You’d be amazed what a quick coat of paint can do for an aging dresser or a forgotten side table. To ward off the bleakness of the weather outside, choose a bright, springy color like a crisp mint green or a glorious saffron—and watch as the winter blues melt away.
Redo Your Mantel
It’s cold out, and it’s only going to get colder before the winter is through. And that means you’ll have plenty of time to spend around the fire. Give yours some life with a DIY mantel makeover. Take a rustic 1x8 and cut it to size, then bolt it to the wall with some decorative brackets. The perfect resting spot for a mug of hot chocolate!
Let in the Light
With the days shorter than ever, you need to take advantage of every second of sunlight. But that’s hard to do in rooms with few or no windows. Maximize your home’s natural light by replacing a solid wood door with French glass—or turn an ordinary window into a glass door. The more you can flood your interiors with light, the less dingy and dim they’ll seem.
Go Green
Forget the diet or the gym membership—this year, make your resolution a resolve to go green. Install weatherstripping around your windows and doors, and recaulk the seals around the moving joints. Put a door sweep under your home’s doors to keep out the cold, or hang insulated thermal curtains in a bold color to bring some cheerful hues to your cold interiors.
Open Your Cabinets
The style gods have spoken, and this year, kitchens are all about minimalist looks. That means an open cabinet, where the contents can really do the talking. But you don’t have to install a whole new cabinet—just take the doors off the hinges and fill the screw holes with wood putty. Sand them down and repaint.
With brand-new interior updates this good, you may even be able to forget about the cold—at least for a little while, that is!
Erin Vaughan is a blogger, gardener and aspiring homeowner. She currently resides in Austin, TX where she writes full-time for Modernize, with the goal of empowering homeowners with the expert guidance and educational tools they need to take on big home projects with confidence.
