It is not unusual to get stuck in a rut when it comes to our homes.

Change can be uncomfortable for most of us. So when you find something that you like, the instinct is to stick with it and then leave it alone.

But staying in one place isn’t always healthy, and this goes for our favorite spaces too.

Here are 5 easy ways that you can freshen up your home without breaking the bank…and most of these can be done in just one weekend.

Update Lighting

Don’t stay in the dark…light up your rooms and brighten your life.

Natural light is great but if your space seems dark or drab, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Changing the lighting around your home doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming…and you’ll be surprised by how much impact updated lighting can have on a space and your mood.

Simply adding a few table lamps and/or floor lamps to a dim room can make your home and your spaces feel bigger. And overhead light fixtures can be updated dramatically by simply changing glass globes, painting old fixtures, or installing new bulb styles.

Re-Arrange Furniture

It can be all too easy to place your larger pieces of furniture in a particular formation and then leave them arranged that way … FOREVER. But you’d be surprised how much changing up the layout in your spaces can refresh a stale room.

Start off small by changing the layout in a home office or spare bedroom and let your creativity flow as you come up with new ways to arrange your furniture— keeping in mind how you’d ideally like to use the space and to highlight the pieces that you love

Changing it up can be fun AND improve how and how often you use the room

Rejuvenate Décor

Last week we talked about freshening up spaces by removing wall smudges and touching up paint…but what about the elements that give your rooms that extra shot of pizazz and inspiration?

If your walls are covered with outdated photographs or art that was hung years…or even decades ago, it’s time to see your room and its décor through new eyes.

Here are some quick and easy ways you can rejuvenate outdated décor:

–        Update frames for art or photographs

–        Change out old photos for more recent ones

–        Create some DIY art pieces to replace or supplement your décor

–        If you’ve got children, create a gallery to show off their recent work

–        Keep the same pieces, just shake things up by rearranging layouts and location

With your renewed vision and point of view, take a glance around and decide what needs to stay, what should go, and what can be updated to transform your tired spaces into fresh and beautiful places to enjoy in your home.

Add Plants

When spaces are organized and functional it can feel like a breath of fresh air…and adding indoor plants to a home or office can literally make you breathe easier.

Indoor plants not only create a beautiful space but also improve your health. So, breathe new life into your space by adding in some green.

And even if you don’t have a green thumb there are plenty of plant species that are easy to manage, not to mention apps for your smart devices that can help you create the perfect environment for your new plant.

While more expensive and impermanent, if you can’t keep a plant alive, consider fresh flowers or even cut branches to bring something green into your spaces. After all, what are all those vases you’ve been saving for?!

Let In Fresh Air

Stale air can flatten out the most beautiful, bright rooms…so the next time there is a nice day, open those windows to let in some fresh air.

Indoor spaces are not always exposed to fresh air as often as they should be and that can be bad for your health.

Dust from cluttered areas and toxins released by everyday items can aggravate or even cause respiratory issues like congestion, coughing, sneezing, headaches, and fatigue.

Airing out indoor rooms will update your home and provide you, and your new plants, a happy and healthy space to breathe deeply and grow.

The Bottom Line

Our homes should be places we love to be in and places that reflect the most current version of ourselves and our families…not an outdated museum from the year we moved in.

With these 5 tips you can TRANSFORM YOUR HOME quickly, without breaking your budget.

The secret is to (re)discover the stuff you already own and decide if it is still aligned with your vision for your home, or if it’s outdated and just taking up space out of inertia and not seeing it anymore.

Then you can rearrange things to fresh room up AND get rid of anything that you no longer want or need.

If you’re looking for proven strategies to manage or let go of the stuff that has accumulated over the years, consider joining other like-minded people embarking on a 10-week journey to shift their relationships with stuff and declutter.

You can create a life beyond your wildest dreams—where you have enough time, space, money, and freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you choose … and it all starts with the choices you make every day about how you live with stuff.