4 New Year’s Decorating Resolutions You’ll Want to Keep

If making New Year’s resolutions fill you with dread, perhaps it’s time to change tack. Eschew boring and predictable fitness goals, weight loss targets and putting an end to bad habits (although you probably should stop biting your nails), and focus on something a little more holistic (and fun) instead.

Your home can have a huge impact on your happiness and wellbeing, as studies have found finding beauty in your ‘everyday’ surroundings helps to boost feelings of relaxation and calm, which are in turn linked to feeling ‘happy’. So by making sure you love the way your home looks and performs, you’re actually already on the path to happiness.

And what better time to give your home an overhaul than in the New Year? Let’s face it, the weather’s grim, nobody’s around and you’re sick of eating out/drinking/shopping. Here are the interiors resolutions that’ll make 2016 a very good year indeed:

1. Resolve to eliminate clutter, once and for all!

Yes, it’s true what they say; tidy home, tidy mind. Finding a place for all your Christmas clutter should be the first thing you tackle after the tree comes down, because somehow, you always end up with a surplus of stuff post-Christmas. Read our guide to achieving stress-free spaces to get started.

2. Vow to only surround yourself with things you love.

This is really a continuation of resolution one, but your home is your sanctuary, so it should be treated thus – meaning, it’s time to take action against all those unsightly bugbears you’ve been living with. That lampshade you’ve always hated since you moved in? Get rid! That cushion you were given by a distant relative last Christmas that you always hide at the back of the sofa? Bye-bye now. Next, make sure you put the things you do love on display, or even better, use clever ways to highlight them in your home, such as painting the shelves or nooks that house them. See how much better you feel?

3. Resolve to go beyond your comfort zone with colour.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Colour. Is. Not. Scary. In fact, it can brighten your mood and give your space real warmth and character, so if you’ve always stayed within a small palette of colours, perhaps it’s time to push your boundaries a little. The first step to achieving this is to download our Visualizer app. It allows you to play with colour in your spaces in real time, plus you can pick colours based on the things you already have at home. It’s a great way to consider shades that you never would have thought of. Double plus, it’s absolutely free.

4. Vow to reuse and recycle.

More relevant in today’s consumer culture than ever before, being green and creating less waste should be one resolution we all try and stick to. When it comes to your home, think about what you can salvage or upcycle before you resign things to the scrap heap. Sometimes all you need is a little imagination and a coat or two of paint for something to be given a whole new lease of life. And if you really can’t make it work, make sure you donate any usable items to friends or neighbours who could use it, list it on Freecycle or Gumtree, or take it to a charity shop.

Check out these five furniture hacks to see what we mean.