New Year, New Home: 8 Home Refresh Ideas for 2019

Once the Christmas decorations have come down, your interior can suddenly feel quite bare and unadorned. Every year it’s surprising how quickly you can become accustomed to their presence and what a void they leave when they’re gone. But, the positive side to ‘undecking’ your halls is that it opens up a window for fresh ideas. Where your Christmas tree once stood, consider an oversized indoor plant or tree or a tall lamp table or console table with an arrangement of succulents and flowers (take a look at our article on choosing plants for the living room for more ideas). Similarly, if you had decorated your hallway and staircase with garlands and candlelight, look to your walls instead and ask whether there’s space for additional pieces of art. It might not be the same as intertwining a festive pine garland around balusters and newels, but the effect is the same – decorating a space previously overlooked.

Another school of thought when it comes to January updates to your home, is that being rid of decorations makes your home feel at once more calm and clutter-free. So, instead of choosing to fill the gaps, it might do the exact opposite and tempt you to purge your home of items that you don’t use enough or love as much as you once did. This isn’t quite the same as the traditional notion of spring-cleaning, but an early, smaller-scale version of it. When you’re finding homes for any Christmastime purchases, this is a ripe opportunity to discard what was there before. For example, if you were gifted a beautifully plump new cushion for your bedroom, ask yourself whether you really want to keep the ones that were there before. Or, do you cast them aside, making way for a cleaner, fresher look.

Another reason why post-Christmas is a perfect time for updating your home is that the January sales make investing in key pieces for your home easier. A statement piece is one of the easiest ways to make a change in your space – one which you’ll notice as well as guests in the new year. It can be anything from a new sculpture to a new piece of furniture, but it should be unexpected. A two-toned sofa to take centre stage in your living room, a creative sculpture smartly placed in your lobby so that it’s the first thing you see when guests visit or a playful Mongolian fur stool are only a few ideas for a ‘new you’ space. Perhaps there’s an item of furniture that you’ve coveted for months that you can now welcome into your home. Maybe your dining chairs have seen their final thorough use during the festivities, granting you the excuse to change them to a statement set that will inject your dining room with a whole new lease of life.

Home accents needn’t always be large though. Something as small as updating your photo frames with recent photographs can help you to see them in a new light. Or, even older photographs that you cherish can be rejuvenated with a new collection of frames.

If you’re looking to have a quick fix for the rest of winter until spring permits grander renovations, find a new colour to use for cushions, throws, bowls, vases, ottomans or other easily added items. Use some deep tones like emerald, cobalt or aubergine which you’d prefer not to use in large doses. The results will be surprisingly effective and incredibly comforting – just what you’ll want for January and February. Or, go for a bigger change straightaway, drawing inspiration from 2019’s colour trends. Dulux’s Colour of the Year for 2019 is a series called Spiced Honey with a selection of palettes to suit every taste. Whichever you choose, they’re warming and earthy enough to see you through winter, but with a balminess and mellow quality that’s perfectly suited for spring and summer. Take a look at our article on Spiced Honey for more inspiration.

Such a simple idea and another that the post-Christmas sales make more tempting to do. Some people prefer to update their bed linen when spring arrives, but investing in new sheets and a duvet cover aren’t your only options. The most straightforward update is to buy a top sheet if you don’t already have one in your linen closet. Commonplace in America and Australia, in Britain top sheets are normally reserved for luxury hotels, and so having one between you and your quilt cover can be a surprisingly decadent addition to your bedroom. Or, concentrate on the pillows and the bedspread. If you existed with four pillows before, treat yourself to having six so that your bed becomes ever-more tempting. And a seasonal blanket at the end of the bed is a luxury that every home deserves. In winter, think about having faux fur and in summer a lighter weight cotton or cashmere blend – our winter blankets article can help you narrow down your options.

The concept of rearranging furniture in a room is something many of us associate with our childhoods where we’d request to mix up our bedroom, moving the bed to a different wall and your wardrobe to another. The reason for it was to welcome a change into our personal space, to breathe fresh life into a layout we’d become accustomed to and to awaken the mood. This same mentality applies to our grown-up selves, but often feels like too much effort. If you can muster the energy in the time between Boxing Day and New Year or one January day though, choose one room in your home and reconfigure its furniture arrangement. Not every room will lend itself to the opportunity, but those that do will feel like an entirely new space once you’ve finished playing with its layout and zones.

Replacing your Christmas tree isn’t the sole reason for bringing greenery into your interior. One of the most impactful ways to channel vitality and life in your home is through the presence of flowers, plants and greenery. A combination of faux and real is the ideal so that you have the constant, low maintenance benefits of artificial plants alongside the scents, sights and textures of what you can grow yourself.

Why shouldn’t different years have different smells? Your sense of smell is one of your strongest senses, so a new home fragrance will easily make your home feel different and refreshed. If 2018 was white musk or jasmine for you, make 2019 orange blossom or bergamot. It’s a seemingly subtle but noticeable change that you can carry through to all of the areas within your home so that freshness and rebirth is felt in its every inch. Browse our top luxury scented candles article for more inspiration.