Play at Home: 10 Small Ways To Change Things Up

There’s something about the time between the new year and spring that makes me want to change things up around our home. As I wrote about here, the smallest improvements can be really gratifying. It’s easy to get stuck in an endless rut of cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry, but every now and then, I need to take the time to just play around our house. It’s my creative release and in case it’s yours, too, I’m sharing 10 small ways to change things up that will hopefully get you excited about your home again.

1. Add more (or a new) color by painting some art. This could be as simple as a shape. I still get questions about the abstracts pictured above that I painted on copy paper ago. (Frames and large white mats help, too.)
2. Arrange some flowers. Pick up some from the grocery and add cut branches or greenery from your yard, if possible.
3. Study a favorite designer’s home–like, really study the details. Scrolling an endless feed of inspiration pictures can be overwhelming, but focusing on one home–or room–that you love can spark creativity, even if you just take away one new idea.
4. Move one piece of furniture to another room.
5. Completely declutter a surface (an entry table, a bookshelf, etc.) and start again.
6. Change out or paint an older lamp shade.
7. Introduce one new pattern into your space. This could be as easy as moving a pillow from one room to another, covering a table with fabric, or layering rugs.
8. Add a lamp in a place you’ve never tried one (i.e., a powder room, your kitchen counter, a bookcase, etc.)
9. Move a piece of art to another room–or wall.
10. Go to a thrift store. Sometimes, the best way to jumpstart my creativity is to put my phone down and leave my house. Finding a small treasure can inspire a whole progression of change when I get home and find a place for it.

Let me know if there is anything else you would add to this list.