Home Resolutions You WILL NOT Be Keeping This Year

Resolutions can be a simple, and smart, way of holding yourself accountable for things you want to improve in yourself and the lives of the people you love. It often looks a lot like spending more time in the gym, decluttering your home, finally learning to play the tuba, or staying away from all that wine you drank during the holidays.

For homeowners, new year’s resolutions often include all those home projects that have been on your forever “to do” list for most of 2018 (and perhaps even 2017). Or they could include financial goals to save up for the new property you’ve been eyeing – after all, a downsize could mean you’ll finally be able to send the in-laws to hotels when they visit for the holiday season!

But for most resolutions, the common ground is that they are often overly optimistic and fly out the window long before we see the first signs of spring. But maybe resolutions were meant to be broken…

After all, we think there are a few you should just accept now that you WON’T be keeping.

After the shock of the holidays, and the holiday eggnog, wears off homeowners often find themselves craving a perfectly spotless home throughout the new year. When the sink is full of dirty gravy bowls, empty wine glasses and your grandchild’s latest slime project – it’s easy to stress about the state of your home.

But let’s be honest, few people are perfect all the time and your home is meant to be lived in. A better resolution is to keep a few common areas, those used specifically for entertaining, clean most of the time so that you can invite in unexpected family or neighborhoods while leaving that home office or garage “lived in” throughout the year.

If part of your 2019 reading list includes “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” you may be tempted to donate every last article of clothing, and the family dog, to a local charity. And while a tidy home with only items that spark joy in your everyday life is a good goal, there’s nothing magical about crying in your car after dropping off your favorite items.

Strive to declutter in the new year, but not to the point that you feel stressed or less than because your house isn’t quite at the point of being minimalistic.

Really? THIS is your resolution after the holidays? You must be a martyr! After having friends and family around for the holidays, we often vow to spend more time with them in the new year. It feels so good to spend time with the people we love, and we are reminded of that in the holiday season. What you don’t want to do is commit to always being the one hosting, unless you’re the hostess with the mostess and have superhuman powers.

Instead suggest you and your friends or family have rotating events at each other’s houses, or a progressive dinner once a month. If you’re stuck behind the stove and not enjoying friends, your plan to spend more time with family and friends in the new year by hosting more gatherings may just backfire.

With so many more people focusing on where their food is coming from and what pesticides may be lingering, more and more people are beginning to take on the daunting task of growing their own fruits and veggies. We commend you, we swear! But it’s not an easy task.

An easier resolution to stick to might include joining a community garden or co-op where you help with the efforts but reap more benefits in the vegetables you grow. Or, sign up for a subscription service from a local farm to receive boxes of vegetables knowing exactly where they came from.

It’s admirable to be ambitious in the new year, but we don’t want you to forget about the resolution of self care! Make sure you aren’t committing so hard to being the perfect homeowner that you’re going to end up losing your mind in the new year.