Carlene Duffy's simple ways to improve your home in 2024

I know you’ve all been doing what I’m doing in that dreamlike time over the holiday break, when you have space in your head to conjure up plans and you’re rejuvenated enough and are feeling ambitious. You’ve been making a mental list of all the things you want to do to improve yourself, and your home.

Here’s what I’m doing to refresh my place and start the year on a clean slate. Your list may be a little different to mine, but I bet we all share number one – who doesn’t enjoy getting rid of all that junk in the kitchen cupboards?

1. Declutter and cull

As I age, I am becoming increasingly minimal (with the exception of sunglasses – I have a problem with those).

I’ve never been a big consumer and I’ve long been a ruthless culler, but I want to be looking at and sifting through “stuff” even less. This will include getting rid of towels that feel like sandpaper and bed sheets that are past their use-by date, which will be donated to my hoarding parents who keep these things to use as rags.

2. Deep-clean the carpets and upholstery

There is nothing more satisfying – albeit a little gross – than seeing the dirty water that’s been extracted from your carpets and upholstery by an industrial carpet cleaner.

You can hire the machines from Woolworths and Coles for a very affordable price, so there’s not much stopping us.

3. Create a mudroom

There is something so thrilling to me about the idea of having a dedicated spot for the kids to dump their school bags, hats and shoes, because the current situation where they throw their things in our hallway is not working for me.

Mudrooms have gained popularity in recent years. In the past, we would never have been so fanciful as to think we could have an entire space dedicated to shoes, bags and coats, especially not in Australia. Now it seems we can’t live without them, and I am all on board.

4. Plant a veggie garden

Every year, my husband pulls all the weeds from the veggie garden and has every intention of planting and growing his own produce. Every year, the would-be veggie garden is overgrown with weeds once again, after only a matter of weeks.

This time, it’s our son who has declared he wants to resurrect the veggie garden, and while I’m very sceptical of his capacity to stay on top of it, we like the idea of him being an avid gardener, so we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt.

The garden has already been cleared, and now, we wait.

5. Improve the front yard

The husband and I have recently been discussing what is to become of our front lawn. It’s been nothing but a pain in the butt. The turf has never been great, and over the last few years it’s succumbed to dirt and weeds.

I’ve had quotes for a new and superior buffalo variety to be laid, but with a $10,000 outlay we have decided that the cost and effort of new turf doesn’t really serve us.

We’ve agreed to turn this area into something more purposeful with durable plants, pavers, gravel, a variety of grasses for ground cover, and a dining setting finished with festoon lights.

6. Start a paint project

I recently had unlimited creative freedom on a client project, and boy did we go all out with colour. It’s inspired me to branch out a little in our own house.

We have a downstairs area that we call the “games room” but it’s also used as my husband’s office. It’s a space that gets very little natural light and I’ve never loved the green paint on the walls down there. Low-light spaces need warm colours, so I’m going to change it up and add a mustard hue to the walls, and ceiling. It will feel like being cocooned in a pot of honey, and who doesn’t love that idea?!

Led by a passion for interior design, Carlene runs Cedar and Suede, a full-service interior design studio based on the Gold Coast.