How To Refresh Your Home Décor In January 2022

10 Minute Read

As we move into January and the holiday season is beginning to fade away, most of us start to think about how to make our homes more organised, to keep our spirits up, and to help us to achieve any New Year’s resolutions that we might have made. Starting the new year with good intentions in the middle of the winter can be challenging, but if refreshing your home décor is one of them, then it doesn’t need to be too difficult.

How Can I Create a Rustic Country Bedroom?

Pack Away Holiday Decorations

In our recent post, we talked about how to keep your home cosy in January, and how you might keep some of your winter-based decorations out to keep the hygge vibes going through the cold dark months. Even if you’re keeping out some Christmas decorations, you’ll need to pack away quite a lot of them. If you’ve already got strong plastic storage crates, then you’re onto a winner – with careful use, they can last a lifetime. But if you’re avoiding plastic, keep hold of strong corrugated cardboard boxes that you’ve received e-commerce orders packed in. When they finally give up the ghost (which might be years!) you’ll be able to recycle them easily.

Clear Out Clutter

We’re sure you’ll be recycling everything you possibly can with your household kerbside collections – paper, plastics, and metals are easy. But for those of us that have received Christmas gifts to replace older pieces, there may be items that either can’t be packed away, or maybe you just know that you will never use again. When you’re clearing out older items, be sure to do so responsibly. It might seem like an easy option to just take everything to the local council tip, but there are ways to reuse, or to recycle almost everything today – so take a few moments to investigate before packing the car for the tip.

A few ideas for disposing of items include:

Local animal charities and even vet surgeries may be able to use old towels, blankets, and bedding
Charity shops can take all kinds of different items that are in good condition, from homewares, to clothing, and even furniture – just check if they take electrical items before dropping them off
Certain local charities and organisations may be able to use leftover paint for their work
Tech recycling companies can take old phones, PCs, and laptops to deal with responsibly
Old pairs of glasses can be donated in certain opticians – clean them before you donate

These aren’t the only ways you can dispose of items responsibly, so if you have other items then take a few moments to do a quick search.

Do A Deep Clean

Spring is a while away yet, even if you’ve started to see some of the early signs of growth starting to peek through in your garden. But when you’re clearing away your Christmas decorations, it is a good time to do a deep clean too – especially if you’ve used a real tree, or foliage to adorn your home. Vacuum thoroughly, wipe down all your surfaces with the correct type of cleaning product, and move your furniture where possible to ensure you’ve got any stray bits and pieces. Since January feel pretty stark and cold – even inside the house – knowing that your home is completely clean can be really satisfying.

Freshen Your Entryway

If you decorated the entryway to your home for the holiday season, then when you’ve removed the decorations, it can feel a little less warm and welcoming than you might like. You can decorate your home entryway, and rearrange your console table for January relatively simply, which can really help you feel even happier when you come in after a long day.

Choose a new house plant to add a bit of colour – maybe you received an orchid for Christmas, you move one from another room, or perhaps you buy one specifically for this purpose. In addition, if your house plant isn’t one that provides scent, pick a new scent to mark the transition to the new year. Warming winter fragrances that aren’t too Christmassy include vanilla, citrus, and wood-based scents – either a scented candle, reed diffusers, or essential oil diffusers are all great options.

Prepare For New Year Resolutions

Each January, a huge number of people focus on their health and fitness (again!) as their new year resolution. If you’re one of those people, making your home ready will help you meet your goals, so take these steps to help.

Getting your kitchen ready is key to help with those resolutions so pull out your juicer, slow cooker, and blender, place your fruit bowl front and centre, and make sure your compost caddy is ready for the extra fruit and veg peels. In addition, make sure your cookbooks are within easy reach on your kitchen shelves, so that you’re never short on inspiration for delicious recipes.

Find a spot that you can work out in – if you’re lucky enough to have a spare room, or even a summer house, then you can set up your décor alongside any home gym equipment to include shelving or benches to hold weights, your tablet, and towels. Even if your workout space is just a corner of a room, get that set up now to minimise the excuses.

Of course, mental health might be on your agenda too. Making a spot ready for meditation, breathwork, and journaling means you’re much more likely to reach those goals too.

Get Bedrooms Organised

Adult bedrooms are usually a lot easier to keep organised – as long as you have great storage, of course. But bedrooms that double as play areas for children are often messier than we’d like. There are loads of clever toy storage ideas online, and depending on what toys your children love, you might use different ones – but large under-bed storage, and baskets on shelves that allow them to quickly tidy away are two of our favourites. By making it easy for your kids to tidy up, you stand more of a chance of them actually tidying – even if you have to nag or bribe to make it happen.

If you’re working from home, and are arranging your office space in a bedroom – whether you’re making use of a whole bedroom for a home office, or you’re simply making use of section of the space. If you’ve only got a small space, a larger floating shelf can take the place of a desk for your laptop and work equipment.

Start To Tackle Renovation Projects

Depending on the size of the projects that you’re planning, January can be a great time to get stuck in without too many distractions. Get that paint job you’ve been meaning to get done finished, tackle skirting boards, and finally get around to putting those shelves up that you’ve been meaning to for ages.

If you’re tackling bigger projects, spend time finding your inspiration and any tutorials you need, and make sure you’ve bought everything you need for the jobs so that you don’t need extra trips to the hardware store when you’re midway through.

Accessorise Your Home

Refreshing your home décor in January doesn’t always mean massive renovation projects. Simply swapping items around can make a big difference – and create a whole new look without you needing to spend any money at all. Moving furniture around to create a whole new layout for a room, or you might move certain pieces such as chairs, rugs, or mirrors to create different effects in different rooms.

Even quicker can be changing your soft furnishings. This can change the look and feel of a room very quickly, and at this time of year, often pretty affordably with January sales. Swap bedding and curtains in bedrooms, as well as throws and cushions, and you’ll have a completely different look.

Restyling shelves, coffee tables, and bookcases can really uplift the feel of your home at this time of year too. Incorporate those scented candles that you received as Christmas gifts, as well as ornaments, books, artwork, and photographs that make you smile. Finishing touches make a big difference too, so bring in cut flowers, or for a longer-lasting look, bouquets made from dried, silk, or paper flowers, or new house plants from the local garden centre.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re tackling a massive renovation or just perking your home up for the rest of the winter, taking a bit of time to get your home looking great can help keep our spirits up until the days get longer and it is time to get outside again. If one of your jobs is to get the right storage in place this January, be sure to check out our hand crafted rustic shelving options – there are some great reasons to choose solid wood shelving, if you haven’t decided on the right solution for you. If you decide to go for it, be sure to share the final look with us on Instagram – we’re @bensimpsonfurniture.