Home ownership is truly wonderful, BUT sometimes it’s just . . . not. Today, I want to share some tips on home maintenance and a little reminder of things that can have a negative impact on your home’s property value.
Over the years, I’ve worked on compiling lists of helpful home maintenance tips for each time (or season) of the year. I’m constantly looking for ways to streamline my day to day life, personally and professionally, so making some streamlined lists really helps.
Here are a few of my tips and some lists I’ve made over the years! And remember, I’ve got my list of my favorite home necessities right here!
Tip 1: Create a weekly schedule. Me?! A schedule?! Maybe you change all the sheets & linens every Wednesday. Recycling and trash have their days of the week. Swiffer, dusting, and floors are on Mondays. Sunday is the big catch up on laundry day (Confession: I do laundry almost every day because I hate it sitting). Find what works for your household, set the dates and stick to it.
Tip 2: Be as consistent as you can. Yes, life gets in the way. Yes, not every Wednesday or Tuesday looks the same. But. Make the effort to make each day have some sort of routine. It really helps in the long run.
Tip 3: Do not go to bed with dishes in the sink. This is one of the my biggest home icks. If a pot or pan has to soak overnight, that’s fine, but otherwise the sink is empty and CLEAN before I go to bed. I love to end an evening quickly wiping down my kitchen countertops, dining room table and coffee table. It’s just nicer going to bed knowing those are clean for the next day.
Tip 4: Tidy up your living room before you turn in for the night. Coming into my living room in the morning with blankets not folded and pillows not in their spots makes me think the day is starting off in a mild chaos. It takes 90 seconds max to put everything in the living room before going to bed.
Tip 5: Calendar Reminders make a huge difference. Make an effort to set quarterly and biannual calendar reminders for smoke detectors, batteries and carbon monoxide detectors. You can also do monthly reminders for changing out your HVAC filters. Pro tip: write down the date on the side of the filter every time you change them out!
Tip 6: Pair holiday/birthday/milestone months with scheduling routine maintenance. If your anniversary is in February, schedule a home maintenance check up then. Birthday in April? That’s a great time to have your HVAC serviced before the summer months! Yes, these milestone months are full of fun, but you’ll feel much less post-vacation overwhelm when you know you’ve checked off some home to-dos around the same time!
Tip 7: Create your own ‘check out’ lists. I have a routine for every time I leave my house for more than one day. Trash, recycling, sheets, fridge clean out, thermostat adjustments, confirming the alarm system. All of these sound so menial and monotonous, but they make such a difference in knowing you’ve left your home in its best condition. The likelihood of something happening within your walls is much lower when you’re out of town or on vacation when you’ve taken the time to prep your house.
I could go on (and on and on) about this, but here’s some lists I’ve made. What am I missing?! What are your tips?!
