When it comes to home improvement, winter might not seem like the ideal time to pick up your power tools. Fortunately, there are a few key home upgrades that you can absolutely get started on before spring rolls around. Not sure where to start? Here are three home upgrade projects that you can get a jump on this winter.
Plan Your Summer Garden
While playing in the dirt isn’t exactly feasible with the cold winter air, it’s still possible to get a jump on your springtime gardening. Planning out your garden now will save you loads of time later when it comes to actually purchasing and planting the items you’ve decided on. The floral industry, being worth more than $100 billion, certainly won’t be going anywhere during the winter. If you have questions about which perennials to plant or what flowers are native to your area, someone at your local plant nursery should be able to help you out. Likewise, if you want to plant vegetables you’re best off starting your planning now. If this is your first time planning a garden, it’s a good idea to research some good starter vegetables. Veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, kale, and zucchini are typically good for first-time vegetable gardeners.
Invest in New Furniture
When delivery is available for just about everything nowadays, why not order some new furniture? The average lifespan of a sofa is only about eight years, after all. If your couch is coming up on the end of its useful life, it could be time to revamp your sitting space. While it’s still possible to browse in-person at your local furniture store, it’s just as easy to start determining what pieces you’d like with an online search. In fact, the only reason you should go to see a set in person is to see what it feels like sitting on what you’ve chosen. And while you’re selecting a new couch, why not upgrade the rest of your living room furniture too? Odds are you can fetch a good price for any lightly used items or donate them to a local secondhand store. That way you’ll be helping someone else furnish their home while upgrading yours.
Clean Out Your Garage
Yes, winter is the perfect time to tackle that organization job you’ve been putting off for months. Since it’s so cold outside, it’s a good idea to tackle a thorough purge of your garage and get everything organized. There’s more than enough incentive for you to get this done, too. Especially if you own a vehicle that currently doesn’t fit into your garage. When you clear everything out, you’ll be able to park your car inside and away from all that snow, sleet, and hail. Drivers spend an average of 17 hours annually looking for parking spaces — don’t let your own home become one of the places you need to hunt for a parking spot. In addition, you might find that all of your other necessary equipment fits much better in a freshly purged and organized garage. Then you’ll definitely be ready to hit the trails during the spring!
Tackling home upgrades during the winter might not seem like the most thrilling thing in the world, but you’ll thank yourself come spring.