Weekends are made for home! One of the best things to come out of the pandemic is a new appreciation for home and what it means. Our homes need love and attention from time to time, and weekends are just the time to tackle projects big and small. And it’s those little things that can mean a lot and give you a great sense of accomplishment.

One of the reasons I love cleaning, decluttering, organizing and decorating so much is the sense of instant satisfaction when the project is done. (Confession: sometimes I’ll get out of bed in the middle of the night and go admire a freshly re-arranged closet or a new art display. Seriously.)

Here are 10 ideas for simple home projects that you can easily tackle in less than hour each. (Some are maybe 10 to 15 minutes max.) Take on one or two this weekend, and you will feel like you accomplished something and have plenty of time for other weekend pursuits!

1. Spruce up your workspace.

Remove everything from the top of your desk. Dust the desk and give it a conditioning treatment appropriate for the type of wood and/or finish. Replace the items on your desktop. Then, liven it up! Choose a new accessory or two, like a new plant or a beautifully scented candle. Swap out your pen cup for a mercury glass vase or a decorative mug. (Dive deeper with a workspace makeover with these 5 steps.)

2. Finish an unfinished project.  

The average U.S. household has nine repairs or DIY projects that need to be completed. From painting a piece of trim to fixing a leaky faucet, take a look around your home. What have you been “meaning to get to” and maybe even purchased the supplies for? Now is the perfect time to make it happen. It could be as simple as replacing burned out light bulbs or re-potting some houseplants. Finishing something will give you a sense of satisfaction and actually uplift your spirit. Instead of thinking “Ugh!” every time you see the unpainted baseboard or turn the squeaky doorknob you’ll think, “Ahh! I fixed that!”

3. Give your sofa some TLC.

If you’re like me, you’ve spent a lot of time on the couch over the last year, so give it some love in return. Remove the cushions on the sofa. Vacuum the frame, using a sliver tool to get into the crevices of the piece. Vacuum the cushions before replacing. If the cushions are finished on both sides, rotate them for even wear. Finish with a spritz of fabric refresher. Add a new throw, or change up the covers on the toss pillows. (Tip: Wrap a pillow with a pretty scarf for a new look.)

4. Style your bookshelves.

Bookshelves easily get overwhelmed with books, papers and other clutter. Scan your book collection for titles you’ve read and no longer want to keep, and put those straight into your “donate” box.

If you have a few minutes more, consider putting books with similar themes together, like reference books, business topics, biographies and general reading. Give your books some room to breath and accent the shelves with a decorative box, a figurine, or a vase. Then, moving forward, keep things tidy with a one in, one out rule: when a new book comes in, an old one must go out. Need a little inspiration for your bookshelf makeover? Check out this Pinterest board.   

5. Sort your makeup.

According to Good Housekeeping magazine, the average woman owns 40 makeup products, but only uses five of them daily. That’s a lot of makeup just sitting around, taking up precious space in our makeup bags and vanity drawers.

Discard anything that is expired, smells funky, or you just don’t use anymore. Not sure if a product is past its prime? Here are some rules of thumb for when to toss a product:

• 3 months (it seems like a short lifecycle but think about all the bacteria these collect – yuck!): mascara, liquid eyeliner and makeup sponges
• 1 year: creamy products (concealer, blush, foundation), lip gloss, nail polish
• 2 years: powder products (blush, eye shadow, bronzer, finishing powder), eye pencils and lipstick

If you’re not sure how long you’ve had something, it’s probably a good idea to say goodbye to it.

6. Clean your makeup brushes.

Ideally, we should be cleaning our makeup brushes every day to remove excess makeup, dirt and bacteria that can build up, but experts recommend cleaning brushes at least once a month to help prevent breakouts.

Place about an inch of warm water in a glass or plastic tumbler and add just a drop of mild shampoo (baby shampoo works well) or liquid hand soap. Swirl the brush fibers in the warm, soapy water for a few seconds, then gently work the soap through the fibers with your fingers. Rinse the brush under the tap with warm water until the water runs clear. Tap off any excess water and swipe the brush a few times on a paper towel or a clean bath towel. Lay the brush on its side to dry. Never dry the brush standing with the tips up, as water can seep down into the metal band and loosen the glue that attaches the fibers to the handle.

7. Refresh the linen closet.

This is a quick sort meant to maintain an already semi-organized space. In just 10 minutes you can make a quick scan of the linen closet for any expired medicines or other products, check stock on shampoo, saline solution, or nail polish remover, and weed out any ratty towels. Re-fold anything that’s disheveled and put stray items back into their respective places. Voila! A refreshed and tidy linen closet! I did this a couple weekends ago and it was amazing how many hair ties and barrettes I have (and how many got donated!).

8. Clean the kitchen drawers.

Sometimes I open my utensil drawers and I’m appalled at the crumbs and little bits of pepper or dried basil that have magically appeared. The flatware drawer is pretty simple: just remove the flatware from its organizer and wipe down the organizer with warm soapy water or a disinfecting cloth. If you have a separate drawer for cooking implements like spatulas and tongs, follow the same procedure, but take a second to assess each item and purge as you go. Is the rubber on the spatula cracked? Are the tongs bent? Do you actually need 50 corn cob holders? You get the idea.

9.  Go through your recipes.

Go through cookbooks and recipe files. Create a recipe card for recipes written on scraps of paper, or file away recipes torn from magazines or printed from a website. This may seem like a small project but spending the time now will make finding a recipe so much faster and easier come the holidays.

10. Tackle a pile.

Oh, piles!! I’m convinced every house has them. Whether it’s mail (my #1 pile problem), laundry (clean or dirty), random papers, or all those miscellaneous things on the dining room table, piles seem to create themselves, right? This weekend, pick one pile and just jump in. Keep sorting, tossing, and clearing until the pile is gone.

Just getting one of these projects off your list can brighten your day, relieve a bit of nagging from your mind, and just make your space – and you – feel better!

Which one will you take on this weekend? Leave a comment and let me know! And remember to save this post to a Pinterest board for future reference.