Reset Your Space Challenge: Style

Week 4 is full of tiny tweaks to make your home look its best

Hello, friends. This is the final newsletter of the four-part Reset Your Home Challenge. This week I’m talking about styling, which might sound frivolous, but stay with me. When I worked on staff at magazines, I shot my fair share of homes–and we always had a stylist to make those spaces shine. Even in the most beautiful, perfectly-organized home, there’s a final layer of aesthetic refinement that can make a difference in how your home feels.

If you’re new to the Reset Your Space Challenge, here’s where we’ve been so far:

Reset Your Space Challenge WEEK 1: PREP

Reset Your Space Challenge WEEK 2: EDIT

Reset Your Space Challenge WEEK 3: SYSTEMS

WEEK 4: STYLE

Below are a few prompts for little, extra-mile ways to reset your home. You could also think of these mirco makeovers (a topic I’ve written about in the past). I don’t imagine you’ll do all of these (although you could!), rather I hope you’ll choose a couple prompts from below to tackle this week:

Upgrade your lightbulbs. Lighting is notoriously hard to get just right, but one problem I notice in a lot of homes is easy to fix. You want all the lightbulbs in one room to be the same color temperature, or at the very least, the bulbs should match in chandeliers, multi-bulb fixtures, and all the table lamps. Look around your room at night and observe if your lights are mismatched. And please, if you have any CFLs or other fluorescent bulbs, consider upgrading to LEDs which are also energy-efficient, but come in warmer temperatures that are easier on the eyes. Save the off-color bulbs for places they’ll be less obvious, like inside closets.

Deep clean your bed. This makeover is invisible, but I promise it will be palpable. Take off the sheets and give them a thorough laundering with hot water and an extra rinse. Wash the mattress cover and the quilt too. While the bed is stripped, vacuum under the bed and any crevices in your bed frame. For extra credit, iron your pillowcases before you remake the bed.

Decant your liquid soaps. If you’re still living with the ugly, single-use plastic bottles that dish and hand-soap come in, it’s time for an upgrade. Invest in a handsome soap dispenser and then buy your liquid soaps in bulk and decant them into the pump, which PS is less wasteful. If you’re feeling extra thrifty or sustainable, peel the label off the current bottle to upcycle a soap pump you already have. I’ve refilled the labeless bottles many times.

My friend Shira Gill’s bathroom, as seen in my first book, The Little Book of Living Small

Streamline your shower. Showers can get cluttered fast; my friend Whitney Leigh Morris calls this the “bottle build-up.” Try to pare back to only one shampoo, one conditioner, one soap or body wash—for the whole family. Then, if you’re feeling fancy, decant those into labelless pumps too. (This one’s on my to-do list for this week.)

Reset your fridge door. Take everything off of your refrigerator door. This will automatically make your whole kitchen feel more organized–and it will be filled with photos and kid drawings again before you know it.

Put away the booze. I find that wine and liquor bottles left out on a counter get dusty, look heavy, and generally feel like clutter. Even if you’re a committed oenophile, consider putting them in a cabinet instead. If your issue is space, ask yourself how much alcohol you really need to have on hand at all times. 

Improve or conceal a view. I was shocked to visit a friends’ house and discover her kids' blackout shades were drawn in the middle of the day, but she explained she didn’t want anyone to see in. Get the daylight and obscure the view with window film. Self-adhesive plastic film will give your windows a frosted look that totally obstructs the view to the interior. You can get basic frosted film from big box stores like Home Depot, including ones that cling with static (not glue). I’m personally curious about faux reeded glass film. 

Rebecca made her home office instantly more serene when she hid her clutter behind super-simple curtains.

Use a curtain to hide something. This is an idea from

Rebecca @ Your House Machine

, who hid a whole bunch of visual clutter in her office with some cafe curtain rods and simple linen panels. I hung a curtain to hide half of my messy shelves by our bathroom and it has made a world of difference (I’ll share an “after” photo of that space next week). 

Hang a strategic hook. Search for small space hacks and you are guaranteed to find images with creative hook uses—and for good reason: A well-placed hook can totally change the function of your room. Last year, I installed a multi-hook right next to our shower and it was a gamechanger to have your towel hanging right where you need it when you get out. Other places you might add hooks:

• Inside a closet door for belts, bags or scarves

• Under your kitchen cabinets for pot holders

• Near your front door for keys, hats, or backpacks

But don’t go hook wild! Anywhere you hang a hook is somewhere that stuff will reside. Adding too many hooks can visually clutter your space.

Style your bookshelf. I am not going to suggest you take every book off the shelf. Instead, go shelf by shelf and prune out any books you're ready to part with. Remove anything that doesn’t belong on your bookshelf, consider rehoming decorative objéts, if the shelves feel crowded. Dust, straighten spines, and rearrange books to make a more pleasing rhythm.

Treat yourself to something living. Whether it is a house plant, flowers, or a pot of herbs for your kitchen, there is nothing like greenery to breathe life into a home. And don’t skip the houseplants because you’re a “black thumb” – even if they only last a month or two, they’ll cost less than a fresh bouquet each week. 

20 more quick ideas for micro makeovers + a giveaway and this week’s 3 More Things below: