Weekend Projects

This weekend, you can do this one thing to make your home feel fresh and new.

The idea here is to shift a money-saving mindset from a denial to an opportunity: thew opportunity to put that saved money toward something specific you're excited about.

Want to be cleaner? Read more? Stretch often? Here's one foolproof way to make it second nature.

I'm extremely visual and sensitive to my surroundings and much of what I do naturally around the house has to do with maintaining aesthetic order for my peace of mind.

This weekend, you're going to act on a bit of your new perspective and put love into action.

It can make what might be a hard season less so because you're keeping comforting memories alive.

I'm not sure there has ever been a more metaphorical weekend project.

Here's the long and short of it: You should polish your wood furniture, it's probably not as hard as you think, and it might actually be kind of fun.

I can help you take one big thing off your plate for 2021, something you may not have even thought of yet.

It's easy to do right now, and it'll feel good both now and later. Here are some ideas for little gifts you can give to future you.

Even if not for posterity, recording the details of your life in this context has value for you, right now.

I'm not talking about the pile on your clothes chair, the stack of books on your dresser, or the growing collection of socks that litter the floor on *someone's* side of the bed.

Putting it off strangles your budget and clutters up your space; getting it done frees up funds and gives you room to enjoy new things.

This whole staying-at-home-by-public-health-order thing is important, but also exhausting, and I need a break from the monotony.

As your work-from-home situation evolves from a temporary setup to an area that can serve you indefinitely, it may bet getting necessary updates and upgrades—but also accumulating clutter.

But despite the circumstances, or perhaps because of them, this might be the year to get time on your side.

It's a rare person who keeps every unseen space spotless. (I'm certainly not one of them.)

Allow yourself to get used to the idea of how different things may look this year—it could help make the whole situation go more smoothly.

Having a plan for your plan limits your options. (This is a good thing.)

To get the yuck out of your towels, you'll need three things (that you probably already have at home).

Not-quite-fall is the best time of year for some deep cleaning tasks, no matter where you live.

Here are some ways to take care of that distracting visual clutter, from simply doing what they ask you to do to other solutions that are a bit more under the hood.

Working from home means that you get to indulge in some of that fresh new set of markers feeling that you thought you left behind in childhood.

In an attempt to channel my energy into actions that actually produce calm and order, I've found myself not only addressing clutter, but also simplifying spaces at home where I can.

Dusting is one chore that's easy for me to let slip through the cracks. But there's another dusty spot that gets overlooked even more often than tabletops and shelves.

You just need a single drop of water and half an hour to wait.

This phenomenon is called habituation and it can work both for you and against you.

The goal isn't to completely streamline your kitchen into a waste-free zone. Just focus on one effort, and make it a habit you can sustain week after week.

It'll maintain the seal your plumbing needs to do its job, plus it helps prevent stagnant water from sitting in your faucet or showerhead and breeding bacteria.

If all your weekend projects are about going deep on one tiny chore, you're going to be missing out.

Your allergies will thank you for doing it now.

One simple effort has the potential to make you feel light, calm, and even a little bit peppy.

You might mark the change in season with a decluttering or organizing project that sets you up to enjoy summer to the fullest. Or, your inaugural summer activity might look less like work and more like a party.

Even things that are neatly placed don't always look like they're "in their place."

By going until it's "finished," you'll be motivated to keep scrubbing long past your usual stopping point, tackling some areas that rarely get cleaned.

It means your plants are going to stay healthy, strong, and grow more vigorously.

"Getting out of your head" is sometimes the best remedy for a looming anxiety spiral. But I, for one, don't want to miss what my thoughts might be trying to teach me.

Machines that drip more slowly than they used to, or makers that leak, signal a build up of minerals.

Your space—and therefore, you—will enjoy a little perk-up.

You can breathe new life into your vacuum cleaner in one weekend afternoon.

It's easier than you think, and it's a small but impactful way to enjoy the sense of calm and control we're craving.

Spring feels a little different this year. But there's something small you can to to celebrate the season no matter where you are or what you're doing.

This twice-a-year home maintenance task might have gotten lost in all the chaos recently.

Turn spring cleaning from a nebulous idea into a concrete thing that's at first doable and then done!

Here's how to do it, and make the practice a habit.

No one wants to step right back into their old dirt.

Take matters into your own hands so that the inevitable lost hour doesn't catch you unawares.

Here is a list of spring cleaning items to pick from, along with why they're good candidates for getting done early.