The lockdown, social distancing, and quarantine measures being enforced by the public health authorities have all of us keeping away from other people and public places making our home the only safe place to be at the moment.
While it is not easy to cope with how times have changed in the world today, we have to accept it as it is our new normal. Instead of looking at this quarantine as a black swan, you can spin so that you make the most of it. Well, there is no excuse to procrastinate anything and it all begins with transforming your home so that it is appealing and safe to stay in.
Here are six tips on how to make your home safe and comfortable:
1. Get an air purification system
An air purifier is an equipment that works to remove air contaminants so that your indoor air quality is improved. But, why do you need an air purifier during this quarantine? According to the CDC, when you have asthma whether moderate or severe, you are likely to get complications such as acute respiratory disease or pneumonia should you contract COVID-19. As you know asthma attacks are triggered by allergens such as dust mites, cockroaches, and molds which are common in the household setting. An air filter will work to get rid of these allergens so that you stay in a safe setting.
Some of the top-rated air purifiers that you should consider getting for your home include Fellowes AeraMax Baby Room Air Purifier, Dyson Pure Cool Wi-Fi Enabled Air Purifier, or the Modify Air Medical Grade Filtration. When putting up an air purifier, ensure that you do set it up closest to the source of the impurities that you want to get rid of. Another ideal location to put your air purification system is inside the smoker in your home. When you procure this equipment, it is best that you get a state-licensed HVAC technician or electrician to assemble it for you so that you do not damage it. An attempt to install it might tamper with the air conditioning unit and attached air ducts which might cost you money.
2. Let in sunlight
We are fighting a virus and not an apocalypse so do not be afraid to draw those curtains! A recent study that has not gone through peer review yet showed that exposure to environmental factors such as ultraviolet light might lower rates of COVID-19. It is critical to note that exposure to sunlight does not mean that the virus will be killed entirely; it means that its severity will be somehow reduced. For this reason, you need to lift those drapes in your home to get some much-needed sunlight as you stay quarantined. The beauty of letting the sun in your home is that you will keep your indoor air fresh and sanitary.
Make it a habit to often open all your windows in the mid-morning to let some fresh air in your house. The fresh air and sunlight are also good for your health in that it allows you to get the vitamin D that you need to maintain the calcium levels in your body and keep your bones strong. The sunlight also keeps you happy as exposure to it leads to the production of serotonin which is a happy hormone. Thus, make it a habit to draw the curtains often!
3. Perform maintenance on your HVAC system
Like the air purification system, your HVAC system is essential as it works to provide you with comfortable conditions and better indoor air quality. So you know, clogged air filters can cause your whole HVAC system to fail instantly! It has been established that COVID-19 transmission occurs often in enclosed spaces. Thus having a functional HVAC system might decrease potential transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. So, how do you maintain your system? There are three common problems such as leaks, corrosion, and dirt. Often the HVAC connector and drain tend to develop leaks after some time causing your system to run harder. Therefore, when contemplating revamping your system, this is the first thing that you should check.
Also, ensure that you check for corrosion on the terminals and wires. When these components corrode, they are likely to turn off your system completely. The best way to maintain this system is by keeping a checklist of what you need to check daily, monthly, and seasonally. When your HVAC system is running properly, you will automatically be comfortable in your home during this quarantine.
4. Ensure that your kitchen is fire-safe
Whether you live alone, with a roommate, or a family, one of the things that you are doing a lot during this quarantine is cooking! When you think about it, cooking is safe during this pandemic compared to eating out at a restaurant or ordering take-out. This is because these meals have been handled by people whose COVID-19 status is unknown to you. For this reason, you have to take precautions to ensure that there is no chance of a fire breaking out in your kitchen. Among the things that you can do include moving flammable items such as oven mitts and dish towels away from the top of your stove. You should know that during your cooking adventures, a grease fire which is quite common in most kitchens may start.
Remember that you cannot put it out with water! Thus have a pot lid nearby so that you can use it to snuff out such a fire. You can also use baking soda or salt to put it out. Lastly, you can get a Class B dry chemical fire extinguisher and have it installed in your kitchen. You will be surprised at how comfortable you will feel knowing that your kitchen is fire-safe!
5. Organize your library
This quarantine is providing you with an opportunity to read all the books that you have been stashing in your home. It is time to get that library organized so that you can locate books and magazines with ease. Arranging your collection of fine books will also serve as décor to the interior of your house. To achieve this, you need to get a display cabinet or a bookcase and place it in the space that you prefer. You can purchase these bookcases or you can make them yourself in a DIY project. Additionally, you can arrange them in a closed cabinet where they will not accumulate dust. While the former suggestion will give your house some artistic character, the latter will save you from cleaning and dusting.
There are three categories that you can use to arrange your books, you can either do it by authors, height, genres, or cover colors according to your preference. Ensure that you do not fill up your shelves with books as it may not look appealing for a home library. Thus, break the monotony with some framed photos, small artificial live plants, or figurines. Importantly, make sure that you read them! Immersing yourself in literature is good for your mental health as it will keep entertained while in quarantine.
6. Clean your home and sanitize
You need to take advantage of the time that you have in your hands to clean your house thoroughly. The first thing that you need to do is make a to-do list. At the top of your list should be taking out the junk that you have lying all over your house. Clutter has the potential to cause confusion in your home and dirt pile up. Decluttering will leave you with a house with minimal items that you can dust regularly. However, you need to spread your cleaning routine to daily, weekly, and monthly duties for you to retain a neat house.
As you quarantine, you also need to maintain a sanitization protocol in your home. Whenever you come back from your errands, you need to take off the clothes that you wore all day while in the outdoors and put them in a separate laundry basket. This approach minimizes contamination of your household with a potentially contagious virus. You also need to set up a wash station near the entryway where you sanitize before going into other rooms in your house. To stay safe, ensure that the people you live with follow this protocol as well.
Conclusion
The safest place to be right now is your home. While you may not be accustomed to staying home for this long, you can make changes to your living space so that it is habitable, safe, and comfortable. Among the things that you can do is improve the air quality in your house by installing an air purification system. You can also allow sunlight into the house to kill bacteria and elevate your mood, perform maintenance of your HVAC system, ensure your kitchen is fire-safe, organize your library, and clean and sanitize your home.
I emphasize that letting fresh air and sunlight in your house will help make your indoor quality better. If your house is lagging a ventilation system, you must ask a home remodeling service for window installation in your house. So that your house becomes properly ventilated and fresh air and sunlight come in.
These are just a few of the things that you can do to keep yourself going. The truth is that the list of things that you can do in your home during this quarantine is endless. Therefore, the purpose is to get involved in one or more of these activities for you to enjoy your stay at home!
