January 7th, 2020 by Becky Calvert

Now that Christmas is well and truly over and it’s time for us all to return to reality and remember what day of the week it is… January can seem like a very dark and gloomy month. With all of the excitement helping us get through the dark December, without the festive cheer, the gloomy weather really starts to hit home in January. With this in mind, here’s our favourite tips to help you beat the January blues by changing up your home space. Not only with this give you a fresh start to the new year, but it will also give you a clearer and fresher home to enjoy on those dark and cold nights.

1) Have a Clear-out

We know that this sounds like the last thing you want to be doing when you’re already feeling a little low, but trust us – it really will help to get you into a better frame of mind. At this time of year, your home is normally jam-packed with leftover Christmas food, Christmas presents and decorations which most of the time don’t have a proper ‘home’ to be put away in. This not only makes our space look unrelaxing, but it can also make your mind feel cluttered and unorganised which definitely isn’t how you want to enter the new year!

Start by tackling one room at a time, either doing every room in one day or even one room a day! Clean out your drawers, wardrobes and cupboards and remove every piece of rubbish and unwanted items that you can. Then separate these items into a ‘donate’ or a ‘rubbish’ pile and dispose of them. This will give you more room and space for the leftover Christmas items, or more room to store the belongings that you already have – making your home feel much more organised and clutter-free!

2) Brighten Up Your Walls

Whether you fancy going all out and repainting, or just changing the wall-art that you have, freshening up your walls in just one room can really brighten up your space. Inject some colour by painting the walls with a statement colour or simply choose some new prints or wall art to give the room a whole new feel. We’re loving bright and bold colours – especially now when the weather is so dark, so why not try injecting some yellow, orange or turquoise into the darkest room in your home?

Gallery walls are also super ‘in’ right now and can instantly modernise and refresh a neglected wall! They’re also the perfect way to use any old photo frames that you have as the more variety in shapes, sizes and colours the frames are, the better it will look!  

3) Get Cosy

The best way to make sure that the dark and dreary weather doesn’t get you down too much is by keeping yourself warm and comfortable. This means getting out the thicker duvet, all of the cosy throws and blankets and getting as comfortable as possible on the dark nights. If you’re really wanting to beat the cold, definitely get yourself an electric blanket – not only will they keep the chill off, but they can even help to reduce your energy bills!

Many of our electric blankets cost just 2p per night to run! Simply plug them in, find your perfect heat setting and snuggle down in bed to get the perfect night’s sleep – no matter how cold it is outside.

4) Add Some Greenery

One of the best ways to brighten up any space is to add houseplants. Having plants inside your home has been proven to increase positivity, provide cleaner air and can even help you work better! Adding a few houseplants in the rooms that you sit in the most will help you feel uplifted and positive – perfect for a fresh new year.

If your home doesn’t seem to get much sunlight, or you don’t have green fingers – then why not buy some fake greenery? The home décor shops are out with the winter stuff and in with the spring already, so fake plants are extremely easy to find! Although they won’t be able to clear the air, the pop of colour they’ll add is sure to brighten your mood and make January feel less blue.

5) Freshen Up Your Scents 

Christmas lends itself perfectly to warm and cosy scents – especially in the form of festive candles! Although this is the ideal way to give you a cosy setting to relax in, once the festivities are over, lighting a mulled wine scented candle can be a little bitter-sweet. Stock the Christmas candles away in your newly found free space and replace them with fresh scents instead. This will still provide the cosy setting you’ll want during the dark evenings, but it will also lift the room and make it feel much fresher and cleaner for you to start the new year.

Linen and citrus are some of our favourite scents for candles, reed diffusers and plug-ins for this time of year. By using a new candle whilst you read, watch tv or even have a bath, the uplifting scent is sure to put you in a more positive and upbeat mindset for 2020!