10 easy ways to transform your home in 2023

The New Year offers us new hope, the hope that we can make changes in our lives for the better. We resolve to do whatever it takes to get the most out of our time, our money, and our surroundings to make us happier. We pause to reflect on the year that’s passed, what worked well for us and what didn’t, and we strive for new routines that will help us meet our goals. However, making overambitious resolutions only leads to disappointment when the major changes cannot be sustained and we’re left feeling defeated before the end of January rolls around. The key is setting realistic goals – small changes that can have a huge impact on your day-to-day life. We want to suggest ten achievable new year resolutions that will significantly enhance your surroundings, curb your spending, and boost your wellbeing far beyond January.

1   Operate a “one-in-one-out” policy – if you tend to buy a lot of clothes/ shoes/ bags, whatever it is, make a choice to get rid of one item for every new item that enters your wardrobe. To ensure this happens, we suggest you tell a friend, or someone in your family of your intention to do this and ask them to keep you accountable in this area. If you can keep this practice up it will prevent your wardrobe becoming cluttered to the point of being overwhelming. It should also make you more discerning about what you bring into your house if you know there is a sacrifice to be made.

2   Shop your home for storage - keep display boxes from jewellery, notelets, underwear, shoes etc. and use them within drawers for storage. Organising your home doesn’t have to cost you the earth, use what you already have!

3  Check expiry dates regularly – this includes not only food but toiletries, makeup, and medication. A good way of helping you do this is to mark each item clearly with the expiry date or the date you started using it. You could write the date on the top of tin cans/jars/packaging with a sharpie – this is easier to see, and you can store the things that need to be used sooner at the front of your cupboards.

4     Keep your grocery bags in the boot of your car – you wouldn’t believe the number of bags we find taking up space in kitchen cupboards and drawers. As soon as you have decanted your shopping get the bags back out to the car immediately, then they won’t take up space in your home.

5     Start folding your clothes and underwear compactly – do yourself a favour and check out the Folding Lady (@thefoldinglady). Her techniques will enable you to house more in your drawers than you ever thought possible.

6     File your CDs/DVDs – if you really must keep them, take them out of their boxes and store them in a storage wallet instead.

7     Create a filing system for your emails – only open emails when you have time to process them, not just check them. Using RAFT thinking (Refer, Act, File or Trash) can make processing emails relatively swift and seamless. Keep the number of emails to a bare minimum, delete what is not required and mark as Junk anything you do not wish to be receiving. Reducing the number of emails into your inbox reduces the time spent thinking about which folders they need to be filed in. Start as you mean to go on, try to get your Inbox in good shape now.

8     Label, label and then label some more – invest in a label maker, we recommend the Brother P-touch, or even write on some washi tape, and create a system of organisation through labelling jars/cupboards/files etc. Show the other members of your household the new system and try to get them on board with maintaining a place for everything.

9     Schedule decluttering sessions – carve out small blocks of time in your diary each week to declutter and organise your spaces. This doesn’t have to be for a long period of time, give yourself 15 minutes without distraction, set a timer and tackle a drawer or a basket of socks or your Tupperware. These small wins in your week will all add up and before you know it, you’ll have a streamlined home. 

10  When you go shopping (especially when it comes to the January sales) get into the habit of asking yourself: Do I need it or just want it? Do I have something similar? Could I borrow it? Do I have room for it? Will I get use out of it? (Think cost per wear for clothes)

This blog post was first published in the January 2023 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors and Living magazine.