With its short days and endlessly long evenings, the middle of winter can sometimes seem the dullest time of the year. The long-awaited holidays passed unnoticed as always, and now the time seemed to slow down, forcing us to count the hours before the onset of warm and sunny spring. That's why January and February are the ideal time to do your home. Take inspiration from the coming of the new year to clean up the mess, make plans and make new useful habits!

Here are 10 ideas for efficiently chilling winter evenings:

1. Make smart cleaning

You can start with an organized approach to cleaning Christmas and other New Year's decorations: instead of randomly stacking them in one big box, try to find a separate place for each ball or garland (for example, as shown in the picture below).

The next step you can take is cleaning in the storeroom or wardrobe. With special responsibility, go to the order in the wardrobe closet. Think of a convenient storage system for various small items: underwear, socks, jewelry etc. For inspiration on this you can see our selection of photos "Ideas for storage and demonstration of your jewelry." In addition, get rid of the clothes that you do not wear and subconsciously know that you will never wear them. Yes, these things may have been preserved in excellent condition, but they do not necessarily have to be thrown away like garbage: start a new useful habit in 2015 - donate unnecessary items to the Red Cross, orphanages, refugee assistance centers or other charitable organizations.

2. Buy flowers and light candles

After harvesting the Christmas tree and other New Year decor, bright flowers and romantic candles can greatly enhance your mood for the time of the last winter nights. Instead of freshly cut flowers from the market, better start a new house plant that will not only please the eye, but also refresh the air in the room.

3. Create a corner for sports

In especially cold days you can give yourself a long promise to go to the gym "next week". And you can create a small corner in your own home for sports, which will always be in your mind, motivating at least for a short time to work out with dumbbells or jump on the rope while watching your favorite TV series. Maybe arrange it in the corner where the tree recently stood?

4. Put your order on the desktop

The place where you store your documents, receipts for public services and various office supplies, attracts disorder like a magnet. Get rid of it once and for all by organizing a simple storage system from separate folders, drawers and stands for each type of paper, charger, USB and other items. Go through the papers and throw away all the unnecessary: ​​old newspapers, checks, ads sent by mail, drafts etc. (or start to collect them in a separate box, then to hand over as a junk). Also, do not spare money for a large desktop and / or pocket cardholder for storing business cards and plastic cards. Clear the surface of the desktop from distracting elements, remove old notices from the bulletin board and put a new motivating calendar.

5. Sharpen knives

Cooking with sharp knives shortens cooking time and helps to save your nerves.

6. Give the kitchen a healthy appearance

As we already wrote in the article "10 ways to create a kitchen that will help you lose weight," the look of your kitchen can really help you lose weight and finally start eating right. Start by putting things in order and organizing the items in the kitchen cabinets, the pantry and the fridge, then also get rid of the mess and on the countertops. Place fresh fruits and vegetables in the foreground, as well as a juicer, a steamer and a blender, but the fryer and toaster should be taken to the furthest shelf.

7. Draw up a repair plan

Do you want to repair the whole house or just change some elements in it? Buy a new carpet in the living room, replace the lamp in the bathroom or plant greens on the windowsill? Spend one or more winter evenings on how to make a whole family plan for future changes and search the internet for useful ideas for inspiration.

8. Create your own decor

On the Internet today you can find thousands of examples of restoring furniture or creating a beautiful decor for the house with your own hands. Dekorin does not bypass this trend by side, and among our articles you can find a selection of the best such ideas:

30 ideas for decorating a house on Pinterest

Ideas for lighting your own hands

Ideas for decorating the walls with your own hands

The best ideas for home (photo)

Restoration of furniture: 25 best ideas

Knitted crafts for home

30 best home decor ideas from Pinterest

9. Plan the spring work

If you have a private house, a dacha or a vegetable garden, it may be time to try yourself as a landscape designer? Take a sheet of paper, draw an approximate plot of the plot (for example, 1 square = 1 weave or on any other scale) and mark on it what and where you want to plant. After that, you can conveniently calculate the number of seeds and seedlings that you need, make a cost plan and work calendar.

10. Relax and Relax

At the end of all cases, try to simply enjoy this calm and measured season, enjoying home comfort, a snow-covered view outside the window, cups of hot cocoa with marshmallow, or reading a good book. Practice preparing new useful recipes and invite your friends to play board games. You look, and on a hot summer day you with a smile will recollect these cozy winter evenings.