One thing a lockdown teaches you is that you can stay at home for a long while if you needed to. Of course, it also shows you how rundown your house can be, but that can fire up your desire to make a few improvements. Here are some things you can to enhance your humble abode:
Shinier Floors
Floors make up a big part of your house — and they’re often neglected. Give your wooden floors new life with a bit of care and polish. Clean them up a bit and use wood floor cleaners (preferably ones that don’t use wax). If you want to go natural, you can use a mix of vegetable oil and vinegar to make a non-toxic and effective cleaner. Buff your floor with lambswool, and you should get back its original shine.
If your floors are a bit more high-end (granite or marble) — use a mild detergent or store-bought stone cleaner, together with a soft mop or cloth. If you haven’t taken care of your floors for a while, you might need a particular cleaner. Add a bit of water to the polishing powder, enough to make it creamy and create a marble polishing powder formula. Use this mixture and a floor polisher with a white pad to buff your floors. After rinsing with water, your floor should be back to a mirror finish.
A Little More Privacy
Spending more time at home will make you realize how loud your neighbors are. Unfortunately, if you can hear them, chances are, they can hear you. Add soundproofing to your home and enjoy a little more peace, as well as a bit more privacy. Soundproofing doesn’t need to make your house look all bizarre. A strategically placed curtain (the heavy kind) on a wall can dampen and absorb sounds, keeping the goings-on in your home private.
You can also purchase acoustic panels that you can hang similar to paintings. Some of these panels come designed as art, adding to the aesthetics of your house while serving their purpose. If you have a bit more time on your hands, you can opt for a full or partial Slatwall project. Slatwall can look beautiful in any house. Just add acoustic felt underneath to improve their soundproofing further.
Your Own Garden
You won’t need to queue for long lines at the grocery if you can grow vegetables in your backyard. While stocking up on emergency rations is essential, living on dry food constantly can become tiring. Add a bit of variety to your meals (in case of another disaster) with a vegetable garden. With a little tilling and a few seeds, your garden should be up and running in a jiffy.
Vegetables like arugula, radishes, spinach, lettuce, kale, broccoli, turnips, and green onions can be harvested in a month or two, making your soup stocks more nourishing and appetizing. Gardening is a great stress-reliever, and you’ll get some exercise while you’re tending your plants.
Lockdown or not, small improvements here and there will make your home more appealing. Use the time you have to make small changes to your home because you’ll never know if you might just get stuck there again.
