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Forget about decorating your house, a decorated house with systems not working at par is much worse. When is the last time you took inventory of your home?
How many times have you bought something only to realise six months down the line that you had the same exact item stashed somewhere in your kitchen or bedroom or bookshelf?
Homes just like business premises need a session of “stock-taking”: take note of what’s there, what’s not, what needs to be bought, what systems need to be resuscitated.
It is by regularly doing so that you will achieve a balance in your home and eventually in your life. If you’re renting, you’ll want to do this at least once during the course of your stay to ensure that you are not caught off-guard with the cost of repairs at the end of your stay.
No one wants to leave the repair costs to a caretaker or landlord because we all know that many of them will charge you double for each damaged item so they can retain as much of your deposit as possible.
Make a to-do list
This is not to be confused with a cleaning list. Grab a pen and notebook, do a quick walk through of your entire house. The list is easier to make if you work room from room. For example, make a list for the kitchen, living room, dining area, bedrooms, corridors or hallways and bathrooms.
The room-by-room list could go something like this:
Living Room
• Change cushion covers • Fix stubborn door lock • Get rid of old bookshelf • Mount TV on wall • Fix broken window pane
Kitchen
• Fix broken drawers • Buy pantry storage tins • Fix blocked sink • Buy a new water dispenser
Bathroom
• Install shower hooks • Get a new showerhead • Get new towels • Paint bathroom walls • DIY bathroom storage rack
While you are at it, resist the urge to jump right in and start re-organising and moving everything around. Just sit, observe and take notes.
Make a cleaning and organising list
You will also need an organising list alongside your maintenance list. You can narrow down to tackling a project every two weeks bit by bit as you check each item off your list.
Execution plan
This is the actual “do-it” stage. A bunch of lists without action will have you where you were before you began reading this article. You can work on a weekly, biweekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Breaking down improvement and cleaning projects ensures you get a glam home without overwhelming yourself.
It is after cleaning up and organising your home that you can start redecorating on a clean slate.
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