New Year’s Resolutions for Your House

At the start of each new year, about half the population makes new year’s resolutions. Most of these are centered around love, health, and happiness. Common examples are losing weight, finding love, or saving money. Not surprisingly, almost no one follows through with their new year’s resolution. Most of the time, the goals are too much on the macro-scale and are simply not feasible. While it is good to have these aspirations, it’s better to set goals in shorter stints so you have a chance at accomplishing them.

But, have you ever thought about making new year’s resolutions for your home? It’s a good alternative to making goals just for yourself and you will still feel accomplished! In the past couple weeks if you’ve tried and failed at a personal new year’s resolution, give one of these four ideas a try in your home!

Mission: Organization

Go room-by-room and pack up anything you haven’t used in a year, clothes you don’t wear, and belongings you don’t love anymore. Donate these belongings to charity, there are people out there who would be happy to have them.

Group like-items together that are necessities, but simultaneously cause clutter such as remotes, DVDs, and video games, and shoes. And in your kitchen, clear your counter of any appliances you don’t use on a daily basis.

Make Sure Your Home is Safe

One in fifteen homes has elevated levels of radon, an odorless, colorless, gas that causes over 20,000 cases of lung cancer per year. Test kits are $20, go buy one.

The same goes for carbon monoxide detectors. You should have one in every floor, just as you do with fire detectors. These are especially in a place like Minnesota where it gets pretty darn cold and people are using their fireplace to keep warm. If a chimney flue or furnace vent gets block or leaks, carbon monoxide will get into your home and this is fatal. Add this to your Target list, along with the radon test kit!

Go the extra mile when clearing out your dryer lint. What we mean is, in addition to the trap inside your dryer door, clean the vents and ducts behind your machine. Dryer lint is extremely flammable and accounts for over 15,000 builder fires per year.

If your home was built or remodeled before 1978, test for lead paint and asbestos flooring. You probably already did this when you bought the house, but on the off-chance, you didn’t — you should check now.

Save Some Green While Being Green

Out of all the new year’s resolutions for your home, these are some of the easiest.

If you’re hoping to lower your energy bill and be kinder to the environment here are some ideas.

  • Turn off your lights when you’re not in a room
  • Turn off your air conditioning when you’re not home
  • Use environmentally friendly light bulbs
  • Turn off your power strips when not in use

These are just a few of the many simple ways you can save green, by going green.

Lighten Your Load and Clean Weekly

Rather than letting your cleaning pile up week after week, to the point where it will take you all weekend, we recommend cleaning weekly. It won’t be as overwhelming as doing a mass-cleaning every few months. You’ll feel better and your house will look great too.

Here are some examples of things you can do every day to make cleaning easier:

  • Wash your dishes or put them in the dishwasher every night
  • Put dirty clothes in the hamper
  • Hang up jackets and put shoes away in the same place every day

Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions

If you’re having a hard time sticking to your personal new year’s resolution, it’s okay — it happens to the best of us. Use these ideas to spruce up your home as an alternative. Having an organized environment at home will hopefully bring some personal clarity. And that’s when you can get back on your goals for the new year! Sometimes less is more when it comes to goal setting.

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