You Don't Need To Move: 14 Tips To Love The Home You're In

Are you starting to feel a bit unsure about your current home? Maybe it suddenly seems too small, or you don’t like the kitchen. You go to your friend’s house and start dreaming about their backyard oasis and sparkling pool and how nice it would be if you had a pool. But rising interest rates and soaring home prices aside, moving is a hassle. How can you love the home you’re in right now?

Refresh your home with a new color palette, rearrange furniture, and add a few unique pieces that reflect your personality. Tackle nagging repairs, get rid of clutter, and deep clean to spruce things up. Don’t fall into the trap of comparing your home to others. Remember why you fell in love with your home in the first place.

If you’re getting homebuyer’s fever (you suddenly want to sell and buy a new house), slow down and regroup. Yes, sometimes moving is necessary and makes sense. But many times, it’s simply because your current place is losing its luster. Instead of looking for a real estate agent, rekindle that initial spark you felt for your house.

Love The Home You’re In With These Easy Tweaks

In romantic relationships, there’s a phenomenon many refer to as the two-year tingles — those tingly jolts you feel every time you’re with the person you love. Over time, they start to fade.

It doesn’t mean you love the person any less, it just means the newness and excitement start to dull as things become more predictable and routine. The same thing can happen with your house as you live in it over the years. Things grow a little stale.

Couples have a variety of activities they do to rekindle their romance and bring back some of those initial tingles. So, why not do the same thing with your house? Change things up a bit and fall in love with your home all over again.

1. Get Rid Of Clutter

Everyone accumulates stuff over time. The longer you’re in your home, the more things you likely have scattered about the place. Clutter tends to attract more clutter, and eventually, you feel overcrowded and overwhelmed.

Declutter your house and eliminate anything that doesn’t enrich your life or add value. If you don’t use it, love it, or need it, then it’s time to pass it along or toss it.

2. Change Up Your Color Palette

When you first bought your house, you likely went through and painted everything whatever color you loved at the time. But that was five or ten years ago (or longer). Design trends change and so do your personal color preferences.

Freshen things up with a new paint job. It’s an affordable and easy way to make a huge impact on your space. Choose colors you love and keep them consistent throughout the home to create a cohesive feel.

Reinforce your new color palette by changing out home accessories and other elements. On a budget? Check out local thrift or vintage shops for some fun finds.

Also, you don’t have to change everything in a day. Work your way toward your new palette a step at a time. Even the process of change helps bring back that initial excitement you felt for your home.

3. Replace Old Towels And Bedding

Sheets and towels don’t last forever, so it’s a good rule of thumb to change them out regularly. For example, the recommendation is to replace bed sheets about every two years if you use them every day. Higher-quality sheets may last a bit longer.

Towels lose absorbency and wear down over time, so when this happens, it’s time for new ones. Crisp, clean sheets and new, fluffy towels create an instant uplifting vibe.

4. Swap Out Hardware And Light Fixtures

Think of the light fixtures and hardware in your home as the accessories for an outfit. You can wear the same little black dress several times, but completely change the look by swapping out the jewelry. You don’t need to buy a new dress.

Replace outdated light fixtures and hardware with something more fitting for your current style. You can do the same thing with your faucets and things like towel bars, robe hooks, etc.

5. Add Some Greenery

Give your home new life, literally, with some fresh flowers and plants. A touch of greenery adds vibrancy and beauty to any space.

If you struggle to keep plants alive, there are several indoor plants that are easy to maintain. Or, you can get the same feel with faux greenery. However, it’s imperative that you look for high-quality pieces and make sure to clean them regularly.

6. Use Unique Artwork

Skip the mass-produced artwork from home stores and look for more unique pieces that suit your current style. It might be something you pick up at a vintage boutique, your local art market, or purchase from an up-and-coming artist. Or, if you’re the creative type, display your own artwork in your home.

7. Rearrange The Furniture

Sometimes, a quick restaging of your current furniture and belongings is all you need to completely change the look and feel of a space. If there’s a particular room in your home that’s frustrating you, do a little space planning and rearrange the furniture.

Likewise, revisit the functions of your various rooms. Do you still use them for the same purpose or have things changed? For example, do you use what was once your dining room as a home office, but it still looks like a dining room? Recreate your spaces to reflect your current lifestyle.

8. Tackle Overdue Repairs

It’s time to grab the toolbox and conquer all of those nagging repairs that have haunted you for years. Repair loose door knobs, broken handles, and torn window screens. Spackle small holes and cracks, and touch up scuffed paint.

For larger repairs, make a plan for taking care of them once and for all. This might include getting quotes from professionals, researching costs, or buying replacements.

9. Add Smart Features

Is your home stuck in the dark ages before Alexa and other voice assistants? Add a few convenient, fun smart features like voice-activated light bulbs and a thermostat you control from your phone.

10. Remember Why You Loved Your Home In The First Place

Sit down and make a list of all the reasons you bought your home. What did you love about it? What were the major selling points? Reflect on all the positives instead of stressing over the negative aspects.

11. Quit Comparing Your House To Others

You’ve heard it before — stop falling into the comparison trap. You never truly know what someone else’s situation is, so comparing yourself to your friend’s supposedly perfect life is silly. Plus, that’s their life, not yours. Focus on your life, and quit dwelling on the idea that the grass is always greener.

12. Create A Zen Zone

Designate a spot in your home for relaxation and renewal. It doesn’t need to be a whole room. It could even be a spot in your backyard.

But find a place you can transform into a calm, serene environment. This way, you always have a place to go that is uncluttered, quiet, and peaceful.

13. Set Up A Cleaning Routine

It doesn’t matter how big, beautiful, or impressive a home is if it’s dirty. Nobody wants to live in or visit a dirty house. But life gets busy and cleaning often gets put on the back burner.

Set up a routine that helps you stay on top of cleaning. It might look something like this. You tackle laundry on Tuesday, dust on Wednesday, clean the kitchen on Thursday, and tackle bathrooms on Friday.

Or maybe you prefer to devote a few hours to cleaning the main parts of your home and finishing things up in one day. The point is to set a routine to keep things tidy without the process becoming overwhelming.

14. Make It Your Own

Finally, the most important thing you can do to love the home you’re in is to make it your own. Don’t try to recreate what you see in a home and garden magazine or choose designs solely because they’re on trend.

Set up your home for you. It should reflect your personality and style and function how you need it to. When it comes to your house, it’s okay to break the rules of design if it’s for something you enjoy and love.

Saying Yes To Your Home All Over Again

Whether you decide to completely change your color palette, add funky artwork, rearrange the furniture, or simply declutter, it’s possible to love your home again. Recreate spaces to reflect your current season of life, and focus on incorporating things you love.

Making these simple changes completely transforms how you think about your house. Before you know it, you’ll start feeling those tingles all over again.

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