Keep a happy home with an instant facelift

It’s true, we really do think of our home as our castle! Nothing makes us happier than spending time at home. And when your home looks good, you feel good too! Here are ten top tips to give your home the feel good factor this summer.

1. Move the furniture around. It’s easy to get into a rut, and simply by shifting the odd sideboard or sofa to a new location, you’ll be amazed at how different your home can look.
2. Sort out your linen. Just how many towels does one household really need? Keep a couple of older towels to use on the beach, but if there are some that are really looking past their best, take them to the dump.
3. Spring-clean every month. If you set aside one day a month for a thorough clean, your weekly chores shouldn’t take as long to accomplish and you’ll feel so much better knowing your home is really looking its best all year round.
4. Buy a pet hair remover. Animals tend to lose amazing amounts of hair in the warm weather, most of which ends up on the sofa! Invest in a specialised vacuum cleaner, or a special roll or brush to remove the evidence.
5. Keep your windows clean. At this time of the year, when the sun is at its brightest, a beautiful room can be ruined by a window full of grubby finger marks or evidence of yesterday’s water pistol fight!
6. Get baking! Whether you go for a cheat’s version, or one of your mum’s old favourites, the smell of a freshly made cake permeating throughout a home will give everyone in your family the feel good factor!
7. Put up a pin board in the kitchen. You’ll never lose your children’s party invitations again and, if it’s big enough, you can create a kids’ art gallery of some of their best work brought home from school.
8. Keep your dishes squeaky clean. There’s nothing more satisfying than shiny, clean plates and now you can pamper yourself at the same time too. Look out for new Fairy Clean and Care, which comes in three variants and helps keep your hands soft and moisturised. For more information visit www.fairy-dish.com.
9. Bring the garden inside. Many of the flowering plants growing in your garden will benefit from being cut back to produce more flowers. There’s something so uplifting about a bunch of handpicked flowers. Add a little foliage, climbing ivy perhaps, to help add structure.
10. Hang your washing outside. There’s something deeply satisfying about hanging washing out to dry and think of all that energy you’re saving using natural wind power!