Let’s say you’re feeling that January itch, you know the one that craves a noticeable and rather immediate change? Your clothes seem completely unappealing and you’re spending more and more time standing aimlessly in front of your closet. Your taste buds are nearing strike-time after having consumed the same meal for the past three months. And your space, well, it’s begun to feel rather stale, slightly boring, and somehow too lived in. The bad news is I can’t help you at all with the first two lamentations, but the third, the third is what we’ve got on lock.

It should be noted that the current state of your space will require varying levels of intervention. If your home is buried under a thick layer of clutter and dirt then this post (sorry to be exclusionary! There’s like a million other posts on this site just for you) is not for you. This post is for the home that’s decently well-kept, albeit a tad predictable. How to remedy that, then:

1. I like to move it, move it.

The easiest way to immediately and drastically change the feel of your space (without spending a penny) is to do some rearranging.

As I’m always reminding you, familiarity is blinding and ultimately it becomes boring. You might have forgotten that just because the furniture has always been in its current configuration doesn’t mean it has to stay that way, nor that the present set-up is even the ideal one.

Play around with things: move the bookshelf from that wall over to that one, try the table next to the window instead of the center of the room, swap the sofa with the arm chairs. Think of it as a fun activity and enjoy solving the puzzle. If moving things and then moving them again and then moving them again sounds more stressful then it does thrilling, you might do well to utilize a room planner website that generates possible layouts for you (there are lots; google).

You’ll be amazed at not only how different the space feels, but how much clearer you’re able to see it.

2. Put it to a new purpose

Obviously, there’s a line to which furniture items can be subbed out for each other. It would be rather difficult, I imagine, to suddenly call upon a lazyboy to act as a console table. But there are plenty of opportunities to repurpose various items within your space, the point in doing so being to create a noticeable change, and thus a feeling of freshness.

Shelves can easily be put to new purposes by swapping out the items on them. Most tables (height dependent) can be swapped out for each other, with side tables becoming nightstands, desks becoming vanities, and so on.

3. one coat’ll do ya.

Painting a room is not quite as easy as moving furniture (the hardest part undoubtedly being committing to a color), but painting is a relatively low-effort and cost effective way to drastically refresh the look and feel of a space. If you’ve ever painted a room in your life you’ll know how true this is.

If painting a whole room (or hiring someone to do it) feels like too much to take on, you might consider painting an accent wall, or stenciling a little pattern on your door, or whatever!

4. Lighten upppppp.

If you’re not aware of how large a role lighting plays in your life and mood, you’re in need of a major wake up call.

Maybe your bulbs are giving off fugly orange light that’s making you feel like you’re spending your days in a Chuck E. Cheese plastic play tube. Maybe it’s so dark in your house that you feel like you’re living in an 8 year-old’s roller rink birthday party. Either way, (the bulbs they make these days!) you can find a certainly find a suitable and more pleasant alternative. Head to the hardware store and ask about the various bulbs and light-hue offerings. Then screw your new bulbs in and watch as, like a dainty little flower, you begin to blossom and…ummm, photosynthesize…?

You can also easily and affordably swap out lamps or lampshades, both of which will contribute to creating a revitalized environment. 

5. Clean yourself up. 

Oh yeah, that old idea! Yeah, cleaning’s a great way to change how your space feels! Like from dirty and gross to clean and fresh! So hire someone to do an expert job or slap on those yellow gloves yourself and get to scrubbing, dusting, and wiping.

Remember, spring cleaning is fine–as long as it’s not the only time you do a cleaning. How about a January cleaning, huh? Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be just divine?

Make a real day of it. This isn’t to be some swish-swash okay I’m done I can go pick my nose kind of job. Turn on the tunes, recruit the troops, do the special tasks you never do on a daily basis.

Prize goes to whoever finds the most interesting artifact between their couch cushions.

Image credits: Helly Lidy via Style Me Pretty, Katie Raffetto via Casasugar, Brittany Ambridge, Révélateur Studio via Home Adore, Shop Sweet Things, Photography by Heidi Lau via Style Me Pretty