New Year Home Resolutions by Heather Hilder on January 4, 2022 New Year Home Resolutions My Top 2022 Home Resolutions How many years? How long have I been making New Year Resolutions, only to fail as soon as the Xmas cards and decorations are packed away? This year I’ve made a real effort to plan my New Year Home Resolutions. I do so hope that another lockdown won’t scupper them. I admit, the 12 days of Christmas are no longer celebrated in our home. But surely, SURELY, I can use 12 months in 2022 to make much-needed changes in our home. Lots of jobs have been started and left unfinished (for various reasons). I really must take a long hard look at the ‘clutter’ around the house and decide what to do with it. Now there’s the critical word – CHANGES. Huge corporations and businesses have grown up around Change Management, Changing Ideas, Changing Rooms, Behaviour changes etc etc. But am I ready and willing for change this year, when so many previous years have proved otherwise? I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that many people give up on their resolutions after 30 days. What a waste of time and effort if approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside by February. This year, therefore, I’ve tried to apply logic instead of emotion to my resolutions – real reasons for making a change. And I have to ask myself, “Have we not had to make enough changes over the past 2 years without having to make yet more resolutions?” ‘Comfort and security’ provide a good excuse for not making changes. But we’ve hardly experienced these feelings of late. So could it be that the constant changes of late provide the impetus to continue to put renewed effort, resilience and planning into the next 12 months? However, my well-intentioned changes will require a large dose of ‘elbow grease’. SMART Plan What am I going to do to promote the New Year? Firstly my SMART plan will most definitely help me stick with my ‘resolutions’, at least hopefully, until December 2022. Then I can review my progress! I need to commit to achieve lasting change, without over-committing – so my resolutions will take place over 12 months, i.e. a little bit at a time. So as I sit here contemplatively considering the changes I’d like to see in the coming 12 months, do bear with me… As I take a good hard look around our home, I’ve noticed numerous areas where small improvements can be made. I’ve rummaged through cupboards, wardrobes, drawers, boxes, work surfaces, under coffee tables, linen cupboard, to decide where my next moves will be. And it’s all in plain sight! So let me share with you: My TOP 15 Resolutions for 2022 Restore – Being an avid reader from an early age, I have a large collection of fiction, non-fiction, dictionaries, language and guide books. I still have Enid Blyton books of the Famous Five and Secret Seven. But it’s time to take a long, hard look at the books on my shelves – some of them have pages turning brown with age. My choices are: bin, clean and recycle or keep Replant – Houseplants – I have to admit it. I’m useless at looking after plants. I’ve had to throw so many on the compost heap. From now on, I’ll only buy those that can look after themselves. Last year my son bought me several cacti and an aloe vera plant (AV). Astonishingly, I’ve managed to keep them all alive throughout this year. So much so in fact, that my AV is sprouting ‘pups’ as he calls them. Therefore, I’ll continue to look after AV and come December 2022 I can present a ‘pup’ to one of the family who’s also pretty non-green fingered, like me. Redesign – I found this amazing website Lifehack which has prompted me to think about redesigning our guest shower-room. Since this tiny space was first designed, sanitary ware and furniture has advanced to such an extent that I can replace the pedestal hand-wash basin with an integrated basin/drawer unit, and replace the once-ubiquitous bathroom mirror-fronted cabinet with an illuminated bathroom mirror. Re-wild – we’re fortunate to live near the sea. Sadly, this means we have daily visits from the seagulls. Mr H is prone to feeding them! Sorry, neighbours. I prefer the little bird feeders to entertain the smaller chaffinches, robins, blackbirds and pigeons who visit. In 2022 we’ll continue to feed the birds and encourage their daily visits and displays of friendliness. Perhaps we can provide additional small feeders around the garden – and out of reach of the big birds! Recycle – clothes, Tupperware, storage boxes and tins. In 2019 we embarked on a rather large extension. The builders managed to complete the exterior. However, a few areas are still unfinished, scuppered by lockdown, availability of contractors and supplies. So 2022 is the year to complete the transformation. I also have unwanted clothes, kitchen utensils yet to be emptied, storage boxes and biscuit tins, baking tins, sweet tins – all kept ‘just in case’. A good reason to declutter indeed. The storage boxes hold at least 35 years of photographs which need sorting, and classifying. In 2022, wet, dreary days present the ideal opportunity for these tasks. Renovate – I’ve decided our front porch is not fit for purpose. It’s open to the weather and has two very old leaded windows. The local foxes are prone to lying on our door mat. To discourage them, I’m going to look at a specification that will enclose the porch, and prevent draughts from coming in under the aged, wooden front door. We’re certainly not thinking of selling at the moment. However, a brand new, practical porch will add to the property’s kerb appeal if we get a sudden urge to up-sticks and move. Repair – I’m a sucker for shoes. Mr H jokes that I have 50 pairs, but I’m certainly no Imelda Marcos. But I confess to having many pairs which I haven’t worn (too small, heels too high, wrong vintage, ‘sales’ stock bought on impulse). I’ve hung onto clothes that I’ve had for years (yes, that sparkly boob-tube that I bought in 1972 has certainly passed its sell-by-date). Books with dodgy spines, and discoloured pages linger on shelves – the list goes on. In 2022, I’ll start with one shelf at a time, then one cupboard at a time until the offending items have either gone to the repair shop, charity shop, or recycling bin! Re-use – I try as best I can to repurpose household items especially Glass Jars – really useful for storing pasta shapes (and they look very pretty on the work surface) Magazines – my Mum passes magazines on to my sister Towels, Pillow Cases and Sheets – Mr H is constantly on the lookout for ‘rags’ for cleaning purpose Plastic Bags – purchased from our favourite stores have diminished to be replaced with ‘long life’ versions, or re-used until they have to be binned Recover – lost/old keys, mobile phones, documents that I may or may not need. Now is the time to agree a specific place to keep all the previous items. At the moment we keep them in various places around the house, in various drawers (for no real reason) except a lack of logic. Ditto for Mobile phones, which I can recycle along with miles of obsolete cabling, old laptops, ipods etc. Renew – subscriptions that I’ll continue to use in the next 12 months Reject – monthly or annual subscriptions, TV channels, software, anti-virus software, gym membership (!) that I won’t use in the next 12 months Review – as many things as possible that make me angry, upset, emotional eg unsolicited emails, subscriptions to websites that I no longer use but that clog up my inbox. My intention is to review mortgages, debt, and insurance policies. After all, am I getting the best deals for household bills such as utilities, contents and my car? Reclassify – photos! My goodness, I have 1000s of physical and digital photos from my interest in photography. Everything digital is currently in date order, in particular trips and holidays abroad. Sadly the physical photos are not, so these will take some serious mental exercise to remember dates and times. Risk! – Health and Safety is well documented for Lettings Properties. It follows that a safety check of all the items that are applicable in rental properties should apply equally in the home. So now I really must check batteries in the fire alarms as well as book our annual gas safety and service. I’ll also make sure that our 3 year-old granddaughter isn’t going to trip over items in the house or garden. Plus, I must lock away chemicals such as cleaning products so small hands can’t get hold of them. Re-energise – I spend too much time behind a computer. I shall therefore plan more time ‘on the move’ where possible, ditching Zoom meetings and arranging more face-to-face appointments. After work, I’ll use my gym membership and go for walks. As the better weather arrives, there’ll be more golfing weekends! Top of my book reading list are those promoting positivity. I think this will be a good start – ‘Women who think too much’ by Susan Nolen Hoeksema Ready, Steady, Go! I’m gearing up; my start date is the second week of January – only so I can review my plans and amend as necessary… So you see, I’m planning on spending the whole of 2022 on achieving a list of resolutions. Will I succeed? Are you planning a year of Resolutions? Do share with me. Wishing you a healthy, happy, successful New Year, Heather
