I'm tackling these 3 little jobs around my home before winter – and it's made such a difference

Home decorator Ammarah Hasham is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts infusing her rental house with plenty of personality. See the rest of her articles here.

I am a summer person through and through, so I always struggle with the gradual shift towards the colder months. As the days begin to get shorter, I tend to feel a bit iffy. The gloriously long summer we’ve had this year is partly to blame.

Unlike me, guess who is actually excited about the change of season right now?

The cats.

They seem to have embraced autumn with far more enthusiasm than I have. Both are already sleeping more than half the day away and have claimed their cosy spots beside the radiators. The only time they grace us with their presence is when they hear the food call.

I might not be able to compete with the cats when it comes to hogging the cosiest spots, but in preparation for the upcoming winter evenings, I have started ticking off a few manageable improvements around the house. Just a few weeks ago, I was airing my soft furnishings, as you might remember. Big makeovers bring plenty of excitement, but I think these little, low-effort fixes are all it takes to help me fall in love with my home, even when long winter evenings begin to loom. In a rented home, where you don’t always have much control over the major changes, tackling these overlooked details brings a sense of satisfaction.

Let’s call them my small victories to overcome the winter blues.

First, I make a list of everything around the house that needs attention or improvement,room by room. Then I simply choose a few jobs each week and tackle them whenever I have a couple of spare hours. I always end up finding so many little things that we walk past every day without really noticing them anymore.

Here are a few fixes I have tackled around the house over the past few weeks, and I can guarantee you that they’ve left me feeling incredibly satisfied. On a side note: the list just keeps getting longer and longer!

Cleaning the walls

No matter how careful you are, walls, especially beige ones, inevitably collect marks and stains. Some stains leave you questioning how on earth they got there in the first place. And then there are those chipped corners. You know, those little bits of paint that come off when you are moving furniture or carrying anything bulky upstairs? Mine had been bothering me for some time, so that was the first job I wanted to tackle.

After a quick trip to B&Q, I picked up this Dulux tester pot, which is in the same shade as my magnolia walls and got to work. I started by cleaning the marks using the magic eraser. It is such a wonderful product to remove scuff marks from the paintwork. Then I touched up the chipped paint with my tester pot and used a small brush to fix any remaining imperfections. The walls looked fresher and the corners definitely felt tidier. I can’t stop admiring them.

Giving the radiators some attention

The radiators in our house seem to have a summer job. They become temporary resting places for tea mugs, keys, letters and whatever else someone can’t be bothered to put away. I hadn’t realised how much I had neglected them over the past few months.

Before the heating season begins, it is always a good idea to give them a thorough clean. First, I make sure the heating is off and the radiators have cooled down. I spread an old cloth underneath to protect my carpet and hoover any loose dirt and dust from the top. Then I use a long thin brush to dislodge all the trapped dust inside.

Next, I mix a few drops of washing-up liquid in warm water to give them a gentle clean with my Scrub Mommy, which is designed to be non-scratch.

This method leaves the radiators clean and removing the dust can also help warm air circulate more effectively when the heating comes back on.

Sorting out the cables and cords

Do they multiply or what? Everyone needs something charged, and for some reason, we have all become quite territorial over chargers in my house. And why do these consoles come with six different leads?

Then there are my lamps. If you have followed me for a while, you will know I have quite a few of those.

I have been ignoring the cord rebellion around the house for months because I simply couldn’t face untangling everything. There was always something better to do.

But once I got started, I realised it wasn’t really as big a job as I was imagining it to be. I used cable tidies to gather loose wires and secured dangling cords out of sight, which instantly calmed the visual clutter behind the furniture. Just avoid tightly bundling anything that could overheat. As for my lamps, I used small cable ties to neatly coil the excess lengths, and what a difference it made! I can finally hoover without having to wrestle with any stray cables.

I must say, having fewer of those wires peeking out from behind the cabinets and our bedside tables makes everything feel much neater.

The funny thing about starting these small fixes is that you begin to notice even more things that need attention. One job leads to another, but that rewarding feeling that comes from ticking them off the list, one by one, makes you fall in love with your home a little more each time.

Especially during these colder months, when I know I will be spending more time indoors and these little corners will become more noticeable, I can give myself a pat on the back for putting an end to all that procrastination.

I read something somewhere that stayed with me: If you like it, take care of it. And I think that is exactly how I feel about looking after my rented home.