Five Ways to Refresh Your Home This Winter

Don’t add a million projects to your list this winter! Instead, focus on small, simple steps you can take to refresh your home and your heart.

New year, fresh start. The idea of a new beginning is synonymous with a new year, but The Bookery’s Winter 2025 theme, refresh, is less about improving ourselves and more about remembering what’s most important.

Every time a new year rolls around, I get the urge to straighten and freshen my house and find new systems that help me keep my home clean and inviting without having to spend every waking moment cleaning and organizing. But this year, I'm trying to push pause on the whole "Fix Everything That's Disorganized" refrain that's on replay in my brain and focus of a few simple acts that leave me feeling joyful and refreshed.

While I do have a few projects and ideas I’m trying out right now, my focus during this season is finding rhythms and practices that allow me to focus on what’s most important. With all that in mind, here are a few things I’m doing this winter to refresh my home and my heart. 

1. Leave a little Christmas out. Years ago, someone told my mom to leave a little Christmas out all year round to remind our hearts of how God worked in time and space to make a way for our salvation. Yes, it could very well be a way to excuse that one decoration you overlooked when you were cleaning up the house, but I’ve practiced it just the same for years. Every time I see that decoration—last year it was a sign someone made for me that reads “Christ is born”—it’s a reminder that in all the busyness of my daily life, God stepped into time and space to rescue us from sin, and it’s a reminder I need often.
   

   
   

   

   
   

2. Clear out a little clutter. I’m not proposing that you empty your entire closet and completely reorganize it in one afternoon. I’m suggesting you find one area of clutter that creates a little anxiety in your life and find a way to make it more peaceful. For me, that’s my nightstand. Right now, it’s a pile of books I want to read, a lamp, photos, phone and Apple Watch chargers and a few decorative items that I really love—but don’t get a chance to truly enjoy with all the other things scattered across the top of the nightstand. And the drawers. . . yeah, that’s kind of a catch-all for a bunch of random items. So this week, I’m devoting a little time to cleaning out that drawer and making the nightstand a little more peaceful and less cluttered. The goal is to still have access to all the things I love but in a more enjoyable way.
   

3. Wash bedding, blankets and other frequently used items. Looking for an easy way to refresh your home without spending a ton of money? Wash bedding, throws, pillow covers and other items you (or your pets) frequently use for a fresh start to the new year. This simple task leaves your home smelling fresh and inviting and, in more difficult seasons, reminds you of the power of taking one simple action. When life feels out of balance and your home feels out of control, freshening up lines can be a simple way to refresh your surroundings and be thankful for the home you have (rather than longing for the IG-perfect ones you see on social media).
   

4. Make a space that’s yours (and carve out time to recharge there). In a busy household, having a space that’s solely yours isn’t always the easiest thing to do. But having a space where you can go to spend time in God’s Word, journal, read or simply sit and listen to your favorite podcast or music is important. As we focus on “refreshing” this winter, the goal is for us to return or renew practices that help us focus on who we are in Christ and value the things he values. Sometimes, it helps to have a particular place or prompt that helps our bodies, hearts and minds know what we’re trying to do. So, if you want to devote time reading Scripture each morning, find a place in your home where you can focus, even if it’s just a particular corner of the couch or the kitchen table. Does reading or journaling refresh your spirit? Set up a small reading nook or claim the comfy chair in the living room next to the lamp. Whatever it is that brings you joy, calms your heart or offers refreshment to your soul, make time and space for it.
   

5. Rearrange or redo … something small. A new year carries with it a desire for change, from new rhythms and routines to fresh paint and rearranged rooms. My home is fairly small, and the stark reality is that most of my spaces only really work with the furniture arranged in one way. I’ve lain in bed at night mentally rearranging, only to come to the realization that the layout won’t work—and even if the furniture did happen to fit in that configuration, it probably wouldn’t work for the reality of my life. So, if you like me, long for something different in a new year, pick a space in your house (even if it’s just the overstuffed coat closet in the hallway) and rearrange. Reconfigure your desk, try out a new shower curtain, reorganize the linen closet or rework that corner of your room that’s a catch-all into a usable space. If you need a sense of “newness” in your life and home, there are probably plenty of spaces that could benefit from a fresh eye and focused attention.

   
   

Refreshment isn’t about a “whole new you.” Instead, it’s about refocusing on the source of life and joy, Jesus. Our prayer is that in this season, your home is a place where you feel recharged, reconnected, refocused, and, most of all, reinvigorated. 

How are you making things new and fresh in your home this season? Share a few ideas in the comments.