Build To Rent apartment brand Essential Living is giving its tenants five New Year’s Resolutions for 2022.

1. Create Home Working Space: With Covid restrictions increasing, working from home is back on the agenda. Essential Living says: “For those living in more confined living spaces like apartments, you are less likely to l have a choice on which room to set your workspace up in, but if you can, the best place to set up is at the kitchen table or a desk if possible, working near a window is also beneficial as natural light improves concentration. ‘More importantly, invest in comfort and get an office chair with lumbar support. For a cost-effective alternative, place a small pillow at the curve of your lower back. You can also get an ergonomic keyboard with wrist support.”

2. Reorganise Space, Especially After Christmas: “Having to deal with all the clutter caused by Christmas can feel overwhelming, and finding places to put all your brand new coats, shoes and handbags may seem impossible – particularly for renters with little storage. Make your space organised by selling, donating or discarding any unwanted items that have been sitting at the back of the wardrobe for months. By creating this free space, you will already start to feel refreshed and much more neat and tidy.” 

3. Embark on a Spring Clean: Essential Living says: “Giving your home a good spring clean makes you feel good, but as you become distracted during the festive season, leaving your cleaning tasks to pile up can be easily done. To avoid the build up of cleaning jobs, make a cleaning schedule of  smaller tasks to tackle little and often to keep on top of it and prevent you feeling overwhelmed by a bigger clean. A build up of dust on your surfaces can trigger red, itchy eyes or a runny nose, so by dusting your surfaces just once a week you will already feel a huge difference.” 

4. Dispose of Old Food: “For renters who may not have a huge amount of kitchen space, you will instantly feel more organised. Remove everything and give the inside of your fridge a good clean with some antibacterial wipes. This will remove any bad smells and allow you to reorganise each shelf so you can see what items need to be eaten first.  For any foods you don’t need, why not donate them to your local food bank?”

5. Give Your Home A Makeover: “You don’t need to paint the walls – many renters can’t anyway – but just by purchasing some cushions or lampshades in these colours, it may just give your home that modern refresh you wanted all along.”