While so many New Years’ resolutions are being made to ensure that people start 2018 afresh, this could also be the perfect time to give your home a much-needed makeover. If you have wanted to do so for a while already, but haven’t been sure where to start, take a look at our handy list.

1. Start with a Serious Declutter

This is by far the best and most affordable way for you and your family to give your home a new look inside. During the year, many homeowners are in the habit of purchasing a lot of items, only to find that many of them end up lying around. This causes cabinets, drawers and even garages to become overwhelmed with clutter.
Start by working in one room at a time and clear out anything that isn’t being used and either list it for sale, hold a garage sale or donate it to charity. Items that remain should be picked up and either packed away appropriately or returned to the parts of your home where they belong. Clear bathroom and kitchen counters of items that aren’t in daily use and store them in cabinets.

2. Get Stuck into your Yard

As schedules become busier towards year end, it can become easy to let the yard work slide, thinking that you’ll ‘get to it next weekend.’ However, getting in and cutting the lawn, trimming bushes, picking up rubbish and weeding flower beds will give your home an immediate outdoor makeover, making it look fresh and inviting to visitors.

3. Rearrange Furniture

If a full indoor makeover is simply not in your budget right now (and who can afford that with Christmas being a not too distant memory?), rearranging furniture and moving pictures around on the walls will make your home look fresh and new inside once again.

Although you may not be able to splurge on a full lounge room makeover, even charging a set of curtains or replacing a few throw pillows on your couches will also make a tremendous difference.

4. Perform an Energy Audit

Most families have a few areas where they can reduce their energy usage. Installing LED bulbs and low-flow shower heads are two of the most affordable ways to cut back on water and electricity usage. If you have air-conditioner units, turn them off before leaving the house and at the same time, switch off power strips. After all, the TV and computer don’t need to be in standby mode if they aren’t going to be used anytime soon. Only doing full dishwasher or washing machine loads will also help reduce water usage, and ultimately your energy bills.

If you decide to get someone in to paint of perform a few DIY tasks around the house, ensure that they are insured, licensed and experienced. This will not only ensure that the job gets done properly; it will prevent you being held liable in the event of anything going wrong as well.