Your home after the holidays – 8 changes to help you get back into your daily routine

When you return from holiday, you begin using your home more intensively again. You leave at a set time in the morning, work at your desk, prepare things for school, cook at home more often and spend more evenings indoors.

That is why the first few weeks after a holiday are a good time to make a few small changes. This does not mean renovating or completely transforming your home. Above all, your space should support you in your day-to-day life again and make it easier to return to your usual routine.

Where should you start? Begin with the things that stand out most after your holiday or start getting in the way of your normal daily rhythm.

1. Put away holiday items you no longer need

A short dress draped over a chair, a beach ball in the corner, a hat on the chest of drawers or a suitcase beside the wardrobe can all bring back pleasant memories. If they remain on display for the next few weeks, however, your home continues to function in holiday mode to some extent.

The first few days after a holiday often look very similar: travel documents lie on the table, a beach bag stands by the door, and sunglasses, a wash bag and small items brought home from the trip are still on the chest of drawers. Nobody minds for a while. Over time, however, these things begin to take up space that you need every day.

Instead of starting with a full-scale clear-out, reclaim the areas you use daily. Unpack and put away your suitcases, then tidy away beach accessories, guidebooks, travel wash bags and other items you are unlikely to need over the coming months.

Clear the dining table, kitchen worktop, desk, hallway chest of drawers and bedside table as well. Move distinctly summery items into the wardrobe or place them in a separate container, keeping only what you need now close at hand.

You do not have to put away every holiday souvenir. A photograph, shell or small keepsake can remain part of the interior. The main aim is to organise practical items and reclaim the space you need.

2. Create a dedicated drop zone in the hallway

Mornings on holiday generally do not require the same level of organisation as regular work or school days. Once you return, you need to remember your keys, wallet, headphones, bag or umbrella again. The morning is not the best time to search for things left in different parts of the home the previous day.

Create one place near the entrance for everything you regularly take with you. A small tray for your keys and wallet, somewhere for documents, a hook for a handbag or rucksack and space for an umbrella are enough. If you take headphones, a work pass or other small items with you in the morning, give each of them a permanent place too.

If several people live in the household, everyone can have their own hook, shelf or organiser. This will stop the things needed before leaving the house from being scattered throughout the home.

You can also take this opportunity to change the hallway from a holiday-oriented space into one that is better suited to everyday life. Beach bags, hats and sandals can make way for lightweight jackets, shoes for cooler days and an umbrella. This small change is enough to make ordinary mornings more organised.

3. Reorganise your wardrobe around the clothes you actually need

After the holidays, the easiest things to reach in your wardrobe are often shorts, swimwear, dresses and lightweight tops. Move summer clothes that you will wear less frequently to a different shelf.

This does not mean you need to take out your winter coat as soon as your holiday ends. Temperatures fall gradually, but a wardrobe arranged for the hottest weeks of the year soon becomes impractical. Keep sweatshirts, jumpers, long trousers and a lightweight jacket for cooler mornings within easy reach.

This simple reorganisation can save plenty of time before you leave the house. Rather than searching through your wardrobe for something warmer in the morning, you will have clothes suited to the current weather close at hand.

4. Adapt your furniture layout to your work, school and study routine

Your home functions differently in summer because you spend more time outside it. After the holidays, work, school and homework return, and your home once again becomes a place where you carry out many everyday tasks.

This is a good time to take another look at the arrangement of your furniture and the space around the areas used for work and study.

A desk that received plenty of daylight for most of the day in summer may fall into shadow sooner later in the year. Meanwhile, the lower sun may begin to reflect off your monitor just as you start spending several hours a day at your desk again.

Remove anything from the desk that takes up space unnecessarily or distracts you. Check the position of the chair, lamp and items you use most often. Sometimes simply turning the desk, moving an armchair closer to the window or repositioning the lamp can make the space better suited to your everyday responsibilities.

We explored ways to divide a room into different zones in more detail in the article ‘Teenager’s room – how to combine privacy, studying and relaxation?’. The same principle can also be useful in other interiors. If one room is used for work, rest and entertainment, even a symbolic separation of these zones can help organise the daily rhythm.

5. Check whether your plants are still in the right place

Every plant has its own needs. Some cope well in a more shaded position, while others need more natural light. Plants also differ in how often they need watering and the type of care they require.

After your holiday, check not only their condition but also where they are standing. If one part of the room becomes noticeably darker, some plants may need to be moved closer to the window.

6. Adjust your indoor roller blinds as the days grow shorter

During summer, our main priority for much of the day is to reduce intense sunlight. After the holidays, the way we use window coverings begins to change. In the morning, we want to make the most of the available daylight, while later in the day the lower sun can become a distraction when we are working at a computer.

The first few weeks after you return are a good time to check whether your existing indoor roller blinds still suit the way you use your home.

If the living room, dining room or another room also becomes a workspace again, being able to adjust the amount of light easily is useful. Day and night blinds allow you to alter the incoming light by adjusting their alternating strips of fabric. You can leave more of the window uncovered in the morning, then reduce the light later when it begins to fall directly onto your screen or table.

This solution is particularly practical in rooms that serve several purposes. You might eat breakfast there in the morning, work during the day and relax in the evening. Being able to adjust the blind makes it easy to adapt the amount of incoming light to how you are using the room at any given time.

7. Improve privacy at the window – how can you use a pleated blind?

During summer, we can make use of natural light until late in the evening. After the holidays, the difference becomes noticeable almost from one week to the next. We switch the lights on earlier and earlier, making the illuminated interior more visible from the street or a neighbouring building.

In this situation, you do not always need to cover the entire window. Pleated blinds allow you to cover a selected part of the pane. You can conceal the lower section at eye level while leaving more of the upper part uncovered.

This is useful, for example, in a living room overlooking a residential footpath, as well as in the kitchen, dining room or at a desk positioned close to a window. When darkness falls earlier, covering the lower section of the pane helps limit the view into your home from outside.

8. Introduce a new colour or accent into your home

After returning from holiday, you may feel like refreshing your home a little. This does not need to involve major purchases or a complete change of décor. Sometimes one new colour or motif, repeated in a few places, is enough to make a familiar interior look slightly different.

It could be olive green, caramel, terracotta or burgundy, but an entirely different shade that suits your home will work just as well. You could introduce the chosen colour through a cushion cover, a small throw, a candle or a plant pot.

One recurring accent is enough to give the interior a fresher and more cohesive feel. If you want to make a subtle reference to the approaching autumn, choose warmer or more muted colours. A neutral roller blind or pleated blind can provide a calm backdrop for the new accessories. Beige, cream and grey are easy to combine with stronger colours as well as wood, ceramics and natural fabrics.

Summary

Getting back into your daily routine does not require a major transformation of your home. It is best to begin with what genuinely gets in the way after your holiday and introduce changes gradually, so that the space once again matches the way your ordinary day unfolds.

Sometimes it is enough to organise a few areas, reposition the desk or adjust how you use your window coverings. These small changes help prepare your home for the coming weeks without making you feel that everything has to change as soon as the summer holidays end.

Frequently asked questions