New Year’s Resolutions for Your Home
It’s official: 2019 has started! After the last few weeks of partying, drinking, eating and relaxing, most of you are probably back at work and thinking about the year ahead. At the beginning of every January, many of us take the time to reflect on ourselves and our lives and set personal goals for the upcoming year. People have been making these New Year’s resolutions for centuries, millennia even. The tradition can actually be traced all the way back to the ancient Romans and even the Babylonians! Back then, people made their promises to God. Of course, many people still do so today but many of us also make these promises to ourselves. Common New Year’s resolutions include: losing weight; adopting a healthier lifestyle; starting a sport; giving up meat; giving up alcohol; spending more time outside; reading more or using social media less.
Of course, these are just a few examples of resolutions that people often make at the beginning of the new year. However, most common resolutions tend to make people feel like they’re not good enough or as if they’re doing something wrong. If they don’t stick to their New Year’s resolution, they feel like a failure and it makes them feel even worse about themselves. So, this year, how about you say goodbye to these soul-destroying resolutions and make a promise to improve your home instead! Perhaps a resolution for your home could increase the value of your property. Or, maybe, another resolution could reduce your bills. We’ve got a few ideas for you, so you can follow one of them or use them as inspiration to create your own!
Organise Your Belongings
Come on, admit it. We’ve all got skeletons hiding in our closets – and mess hiding in our cupboards! Unless you’re a very organised person with a lot of time on your hands, you probably haven’t been through your cupboards in the last year, or maybe even since you moved in. Why not make 2019 the year that you finally get organised and actually stay on top of it! If you’ve let it all go before, you’ll know how good it feels to actually have a sort out and a clean-up. So, get to it! In the kitchen, you can go through all of your cupboards and throw out the out-of-date food hanging out in the shadows. If you’ve got tins or packets of food (that are still in date) that you know you’ll never use, why not donate them? Wipe the sticky mess or the crumbs from the bottom of your shelves and clean out your cutlery drawer! Over in your lounge, you can sort through all your old magazines and manuals to things you no longer even have in the house. Go through your closet and give away any clothes you don’t wear any more as well as any clothes that no longer fit you. Make a date in your diary to go through things again, say in another 3 or 6 months. Don’t let the ‘rubbish drawer’ fill up again!
Finally Make Those Fixes
Got a boiler that’s broken but still just about doing the job? Got a leaky tap? How about a loose door handle, or a loose toilet seat? Whatever it is that needs fixing, just do it! Stop putting it off! If it’s something that will just take you a few minutes and you can’t be bothered, let 2019 be the year you can. If there’s something that needs fixing, but you don’t have the money to do it, then why not call in a favour from a family member or a friend? Or, if you don’t have anyone who can help, start saving. If you wait until you’ve got the money spare, it might never get fixed. Just save as much as you can afford – a little bit of your pay check every month – and you’ll have the money in no time.
Make Your Home More Efficient
Tired of getting your bills every month and having to fork out loads of your hard-earned money on electricity and water? 2019 is definitely the year to start cutting down on your consumption and your expenditure. There are lots of things you can do to help make your home more energy efficient. Now, in the winter, you can buy draft excluders to put at the bottom of your doors to help keep the heat in and waste less. If you can afford it, think about upgrading your boiler (if it’s several years old) to a more efficient, energy-saving model. You can also buy shower heads that reduce your water consumption by pumping air to simulate higher water pressure. Lowering the temperature of your air conditioner (or thermostat) by just one or two degrees can also save you money off your bills.
Introduce Plants and Greenery
It’s been shown, through several studies, that having plants in your home increases your well-being. Plants are known to improve indoor air quality and remove harmful pollutants from the air. They’re also said to reduce stress as well as outdoor noise. There are many garden centres in Malta where you can go plant shopping – and the bigger ones have excellent choice. In your kitchen, you might think about starting a herb garden on your windowsill. Mint, parsley, basil, coriander and chives all do well inside, as do a number of others. For your bedroom, you could choose plants that are known to help you sleep or purify the air overnight. Most plants only take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the day (for photosynthesis). Others, however, also release oxygen overnight. These nightly air purifiers include: Aloe Vera and Orchids – both of which will make lovely additions to your bedroom.
Make Your Home Safer
Finally, why not make 2019 the year your make your home that little bit safer? Check the batteries in your smoke detectors. If you don’t have any – make sure you get them fitted! They aren’t expensive and just stick onto your ceiling. It’s important to make sure you have working smoke detectors fitted in your home. If you own an apartment or a flat in an old building, perhaps it’s time that you upgrade your retro locks! You could even look into installing a camera or an alarm system. Nowadays, you can even get ones that work with your smartphone, so that you can check your cameras, if need be, while you’re out. With these smart systems, you also get alerts directly to your phone if your alarm goes off. Hello, 2019!
If your New Year’s resolution for 2019 is to start afresh and make a move, then get in touch with us! Whether you’re looking to sell your apartment in Malta or buy a new flat, we’re the ones who can help. We have offices all over the island, so you won’t be far away from your local property expert. If you don’t have time to pop into a branch, why not contact our sales specialists over the phone, e-mail or Facebook. New Year, new house, new you!