Got 10 minutes? 21 quick ways to love your space this Springfeatured

Small effort, huge impact: That’s absolutely my motto these days. You may not think that 10 minutes are enough to substantially change the look and feel of a home…but I promise that each completed task is akin to a breath of fresh air. (And lest you think I’m just tossing out random ideas- I tried ’em all this weekend! Mix n’ match at will, peeps.)

Got 10 minutes?

1. Pair up the kicks that’ve wandered throughout your home and return all shoes to their rightful spots.
2. Swap out throw pillows. New colors, new patterns…get wild, you guys.
3. Grab a garbage bag and do a trash run of randomness throughout the house. (Recycle where applicable, friends. There are rules.)
4. Choose an indoor plant! Re-pot something from outdoors or do a quick run to a garden center. Find a sunny spot…and be prepared to want to sit by your new favorite sunny spot.
5. Rearrange a bookshelf (or two…or three…) Got duplicates or something you know you’re never going to read? You know what to do.
6. Acknowledge Spring and change out heavier blankets for lighter-weight bedding.
7. Remove 2 things from your nightstand (and go ahead and dust your lamp, your remaining books, so on, and so forth…and enjoy the fact that this one takes way fewer than 10 minutes.)
8. Have those windows that pop in for easy cleaning? Spray outside windows with a mix of half white vinegar/half water. Wipe down, sit back, wonder why it just got 10x brighter up in this joint.
9. Remove 3 mugs from your kitchen collection. You know which ones. And you also know what to do with ’em.
10. Touch up window sills and door frames with semi-gloss paint. (If your home is anything like mine, you were surprised by the sooty elves who apparently spent the winter leaving handprints and bashing small hammers into things.)
11. Have patio or deck furniture? Spray outdoor chairs and tables with a mix of Murphy’s oil soap and water. Hose, baby, hose.
12. Find a bag, find your pantry, and find all items that’ve expired, gone stale, or have become things you know you’ll never eat. (Lookit that- room for stuff you would like to find in there!)
13. Take down curtains you hate and replace them with something you love. (I did this yesterday and, after repairing curtain rod holes, realized I loved the windows- and the light!- even more now.)
14. Toss 2 towels. Maybe start with the ones that you’d never, ever like anyone to see and/or use!
15. Walk into your kitchen, bathroom, and living room, and get rid of 4 random possessions from each room. (Whose watch is this? Has that picture frame been propped by that window since we moved in? Who’s to say?)
16. Plant a window box or patio planter. (The Home Depot has some great drop-in options for stunning displays with veeeery little effort.)
17. Got kids? Give each child a small bag to fill with donate-able and trashable toys. (Yes, McDonald’s toys count. McDonald’s toys count twice.)
18. Gather up every pen in the house. Test every pen in the house. Keep ten. (By the next time you do this one, you’ll have another ten thousand to test.)
19. Take a good, hard look at your dishtowels. Are any faded, discolored, stained, or frayed? Turn ’em into rags (and get a new, pretty set)!
20. Pet toys need refreshing, too! Find where they’ve all been stashed around the house, rinse off the ones that can be washed, give the fabric ones a spin in the dryer, and buy your good little boy a new squeaky bit of delight.
21. Remove everything from your counters. Everything. Coffee pot, mixer stand, and those piles and piles of paper. Give it a good scrub-down, and wipe off everything returning to its countertop home. (And be super strict about what gets to return to a countertop home.)

And, as a bonus, my favorite: Take a power nap in your newly decluttered, gorgeously refreshed home. (Heck- nap for longer than 10 minutes. You’ve earned it!)

Tell me what you thought about these ideas over at Twitter!

(And, as always, comment below!)

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