3 quick tips for a fresh start without moving

As you know, we just moved into a new apartment, and I'm loving the feeling of a "fresh start" that it gives. This is the fifth place Adam and I have lived in our almost eight years of marriage, so I've become accustomed to the feeling of starting over. As we've compromised on curtain colors and book arrangement, I've wondered: how would I get this same feeling of a new beginning without moving? I thought up 3 quick ideas for a fresh start without moving to a new place or undertaking a large-scale project:

1. Rearrange the furniture

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but important. By moving your sofa -- or even moving that painting of Italy to a new wall, you gain a new perspective, and it's amazing what seeing your home from a new perspective can do to help you feel refreshed.

2. Leave an empty shelf

Moving forces us to fit our belongings into new spaces and sometimes this helps us to get rid of things we thought we needed to keep in the old place. How to mimic this in your same old home? Force yourself to leave an empty shelf (or cabinet, or closet corner, etc.) and then purge and organize your stuff until it fits in that space.

3. Re-do one small space

It's relatively inexpensive to buy a new shower curtain, rug, and some towels, but it can make the bathroom feel brand new. In our case, we went from separate bathrooms in our old apartment to a shared one here, so we wanted something new to make the bathroom feel like it belonged to both of us and where we would be happy to have guests. But, of course, you don't have to move to refresh your bathroom, and you don't have to paint the walls or redo the tile to make it feel fresh. (As renters, we're stuck with what we've got in that department anyway).

Other small spaces that could be refreshed easily include the closet, the bedside tables, a small workspace, or the kitchen.

We still have a large pile of broken-down boxes and a handful of filled boxes that have yet to be sorted through, but in general, we are settling in nicely in our new place, and I know that it will inspire all kinds of projects for this year's ongoing Project COPE.