4 Easy Ways to Refresh and Improve Your Home Before the New Year

With the year coming to a close, how are you preparing your home for 2023? As an interior designer and renovator, I know how important it is to give your home a true refresh. I’m not just talking about decluttering your home and donating items you no longer need. While that’s a great way to start the year off right, my kind of home refresh involves replacing outdated essentials and buying products that will make your home an absolute sanctuary.

Let’s talk about some home design improvements for you and your family!

1. Be Wise About Lighting

I am very passionate about lighting. It sets the tone and mood of your space and has some serious mental health benefits when done right. Focusing on the lighting in your home before going into the new year is a great way to start 2023 off strong.

In our blog 5 Ways Good Interior Design can Save Your Mental Health, I detail the importance of lighting in your home and how to choose meaningful sources of light. Especially during the winter months, this is important.

Here’s what you need to know about choosing light sources:

• The Circadian Optics Light Therapy Lamp is a great choice to combat SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

• Ambient Lighting vs. Task Lighting: Good ambient lighting will fill an entire space with a warm glow that is not too dim and not too bright. But it can make focusing on one task more difficult than it should be and can result in mental exertion that leaves you fatigued. Task lighting, however–usually produced by a lamp with a direct beam–encourages focus on what’s in front of you while the rest of the world melts away.

• A continuous lack of natural sunlight in the home can trigger depression and other uncomfortable feelings. Incorporating good natural light in your home should never be overlooked by designers or yourself.

Consider these sources of light for your end-of-year home refresh:

• Circadian Optics Light Therapy Lamp – Sleep Aid, Brain Booster, and Stress Relief

• UMA Mini

2. Add Air Purifiers to Your Shopping List

Why not kick your winter cleaning off with some fresh air?

This is the time of year homeowners tend to spend the most time indoors. But air purifiers can help circulate the air in your home, eliminating any stuffiness that usually accumulates when the outside temperature drops and you blast your heaters.

Here are some great air purifiers to consider:

• aair Lite by aeris Air Purifiers

• Air Pro by Molekule

Staying indoors isn’t enough to block out toxic air or pollutants. In fact, air pollution levels can actually rise inside your home depending on your typical behavior, especially in your kitchen.

For all of my chefs out there, did you know cooking can produce toxins in the air around you? Investing in quality ventilation products, such as this ventilation hood by Jennair or this one by ZLINE, can help protect you and your loved ones.

If you want to test your home’s air quality, consider using the Home Air Check’s VOCs and Active Mold Test – Indoor Air Quality. This single-use test identifies various kinds of VOCs (volatile organic compounds or common ground-water contaminants). It also checks your home for actively growing mold. A great way to start the year off right!

3. Invest in Silver-infused Bed Sheets & Towels

One of my favorite finds of 2022 is Miracle Brand’s silver-infused bed sheets and towels. Yes, that’s right. These fabrics are infused with silver. Why?

Because the silver allows these fabrics to be temperature regulating (I’m looking at you, warm sleepers), super soft, and prevent 99.9% of bacteria growth. That means less loads of laundry for you!

Remember: The tasks you’ve been putting off (because why buy new pillows when the ones you have do the job just fine?) are acts of self-care that both you and your family deserve.

4. Hire Someone Else to Do a Deep Clean

Speaking of high tech fabrics, work smarter not harder with Fiber-Seal Fabric Care services. For your rugs, upholstery, leathers and drapes, Fiber-Seal can clean and protect those harder to maintain areas of your home. Besides spot cleaning and deep cleaning, this local business use a special solution to protect your fabric products from future messes.

Are You Ready for a Home Refresh?

This is the perfect time to slow down and take the time to refresh your home before 2023. How will you refresh your home?

Before I sign off, here are other local vendors to consider as you complete your end-of-the-year refresh:

• Closets and More — This Cincinnati small business offers professional closet installations,a great way to refresh your closet to better fit your home and wardrobe.

• Simplify in Style — Need those closets organized? Then this is the small business for you. It’s all in the name. They simplify your space and then style it!

• My Flower Service — The inside of your home doesn’t have to be the only space you refresh this year. Your yard can look just as gorgeous as the inside with this Cincinnati small business. They offer seasonal flower boxes, which can be installed around your house!

• Oil Paintings by Karen Rolfes — Artist Karen Rolfes produces gorgeous oil paintings that could bring color and joy to your home, and she’s based right here in Cincinnati.

Whether you choose to refresh your home in many ways or just one, you have the power to change the way you exit the year and start a new chapter in 2023.