Useful Home Quarantine Activities: 55 Cozy Household Ideas

Make the Kitchen More Convenient

Create a list of everything that irritates you in the kitchen: grains spill, pots are hard to reach, spices are scattered everywhere, there's not enough light, chairs bump into the cabinet and refrigerator? With this list, it will be clearer what to start with and what to prepare more thoroughly. Our tips will simplify the process.

Design: Olesya Shlyakhtina

Organize Everything on Shelves

Finally, you have the opportunity to decorate open shelves: here you are only limited by your imagination, and therefore not limited at all. Hundreds of examples from Inmyroom, Pinterest and Instagram are at your disposal.

And Scatter in Jars

Finally, you can do what you’ve always lacked time for: scatter grains in jars and label them. There's plenty of time to make labels: you can use glass paint, sticky tape or a printed design.

Jars for Spices – from Baby Food Containers

The lids were painted. The whole kitchen renovation cost 60 thousand rubles

Learn Graphic Software

Download a convenient app and become a graphic designer for at least one day while creating labels for grains. If you get into it, this could become another hobby.

Wash Curtains

When, if not now? Your curtains have absorbed all the winter soot. There's enough time now to dry and iron them one by one.

Design: JUICY FLAT

Let More Light In

Now that you’ve taken down the curtains, it may turn out that they aren’t needed at all. Move the dining area to the window and enjoy sunny breakfasts. With such lighting, you’ll be able to take professional Instagram photos.

Become a Microblogger

Create an account dedicated to your home. Post every idea you’ve managed to implement. Add hashtags and your audience will find you on its own.

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Start Green Friends

It’s time to think about ecology and a healthy lifestyle. Begin with the kitchen: green plants make the perfect match for sunlight. You can buy cheap plants on "Avito" or grow something yourself: just put a bulb in a jar with water and see what you get by the end of quarantine.

Wash Windows After Winter

Thousands of our readers, inspired by this article, successfully washed their windows in their apartments. You have enough time to do it this year without excessive energy costs and nervousness. We’ll help you figure out how.

Re-sew Curtains

Now that you’ve washed the windows and washed the curtains, it’s time to re-sew them. Admit that you’ve been annoyed by how they sweep the floor. Now is the time to change this situation.

Clear the Attics

Yes, before you didn’t know how to approach this task, but now you’ve gotten into the groove. Sort out the clutter, throw away everything you haven’t used for a long time, collect and wash clothes that can be donated to charity. Add winter shoes and jackets from this season: you’ll probably want something new next winter, and homeless and low-income people need warm second-hand clothes.

Sort Broken Appliances

How many broken phones, chargers and adapters that don’t fit anything? An old tape recorder, a cracked mixer, and a juicer that doesn’t squeeze anything? Add the self-shutoff vacuum cleaner and the burned hairdryer, and you’ll have a cart of items that need to be disposed of. Take them to a special collection point for obsolete electronics, and you’ll be happy. Don’t forget to wear protective masks and gloves and bring a hand sanitizer with you. Or just send a courier.

Sort Books

Sort books into thick, thin, ones you’ve read and ones you haven’t, old, new, children’s and adult, as well as by genre. Wipe each book with a damp cloth, wash the shelves. The apartment will immediately feel easier to breathe in. During the cleaning process, select the most interesting books for life at the moment and put them near the bed. Forced home quarantine is a great time to change habits: no to anxious phones, yes to wonderful old (and new!) literary friends.

Design: Olesya Shlyakhtina

Learn a Foreign Language

To learn a language at least at the beginner level, you’ll need: an app, an online translator, YouTube lectures on grammar, a book and a radio station (or TV show) in a foreign language, as well as a film in the original language with subtitles. Devoting at least half an hour to the language each day, by the end of quarantine you’ll be able to discuss the coronavirus with Italians in Italy.

Collect Playlists

Since school days, you never had time to sort the music you listen to occasionally, from the one you need every evening, say, before bedtime. Now that home quarantine has slowed life’s pace a bit, there’s time to meditate on the content of your music library: create playlists for driving, romantic evening and night, runs, friends’ gatherings, drawing and relaxation, playing with kids, taking baths, celebrating family dates, noisy parties, and bicycle rides. You’ll need all this soon.

Start Watching Lectures

Don’t know how long the virus can survive outside the organism? Forgot what discoveries have already been made in genetics? Want to know more about professional burnout psychology or the potential of the “sixth sense” technology? It’s time to listen to lectures by professionals in various fields. Since you didn’t have time for it earlier due to lack of time.

Plan Reminder System

You always forget to meditate on time, water the flowers, take a pill or do facial massage? You’re ready to bet that you’ve downloaded dozens of apps to make life better. Simply set notifications for each one: now you’ll definitely remember when it’s time for the next workout, yoga practice or English lesson.

Revisit Videos on Our Website TV

Not everyone has time to watch YouTube for a long time, but now that you have an abundance of it, definitely subscribe to our channel. There’s a lot of inspiration for design and renovation here, and you’ll enjoy spending time with it.

Repack Movies

Now that you have plenty of time, you want to watch movies, but which one? Sort all downloaded content into: old and new, what you’ve watched and what you haven’t, by genre or director. Now when you’re in a melancholy mood, you’ll quickly find the right melodrama, and when you suddenly need to entertain kids, you’ll quickly pull out a movie about friendship between humans and dolphins.

Start Listening to Vinyl Records

Evenings spent listening to vinyl records with the crackling of the record player and classic albums — priceless. This is the most cozy thing you can imagine. Records are listened to at half volume so as not to interfere with intimate conversations. The Beatles, Miles Davis, Nina Simone — melodious classics of the 20th century on vinyl — this is what you really should collect.

Design: Nina Ivanenko

Clear the Balcony

While walks and trips are severely limited, create a window to Paris in your own balcony: clear out all the clutter, remove old structures, paint the fence, change the floor covering. Turn your balcony into a French café and bake fresh baguettes! Well, what else to do but wait for flights to resume. But wait in pleasant surroundings.

Organize Donations

In the world, many people need help: sick children and adults, lonely elderly, homeless, political prisoners, and just people in difficult life situations, women who have suffered domestic violence, independent charitable and human rights organizations, animal shelters, help centers, volunteer groups. By setting up a subscription to donate at least 10 rubles to each organization, you’ll develop a good habit of helping those in need.

Hang Platters

Do you have empty walls in the kitchen? Wall platters are back in fashion, surely you have too many beautiful ones to hide them in the cabinet.

Get into Pottery

It’s too early to go to classes, but you can make a list of the best studios and choose one near your home now. In good studios, there’s usually a queue, but if you sign up now, you’ll be able to attend after quarantine.

Optimize Kitchen Storage

There’s always a lot of small things, accessories and kitchen utensils on the kitchen counter that can be hard to organize. Here we explained how to organize storage systems and simplify life with simple tricks.

Repaint Walls

Finally, there’s time to do it: order several paint samples and make color swatches on manila paper. Place them next to the wall you were thinking about repainting and finally make a choice.

Repaint Furniture

We’ve written about how to repaint furniture, including IKEA and even lacquered ones. It’s very timely now to try this out and get rid of the boring wardrobe and unattractive stools.

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Give Children Full Freedom

Allowing them to repaint shelves, chairs and even part of the wall will solve the silence problem at home for a long time and give you the opportunity to work with pleasure.

Sort Wardrobes

Have you long wanted to try the KonMari method but always had no time for it? Now is the time to learn how to fold clothes in tubes and come up with organizers for clothing and shoes.

Create Travel Maps

Now that quarantine is in full swing and all borders are closed, there’s never been a better time to want to travel. Tuscany, Switzerland, London? Create a list of places you’re particularly upset about right now: this list will come in handy later, during the painful deliberations on where to go for vacation.

Learn Online Planners

You probably planned to arrange a dacha or update your urban apartment this year. Online planners for space will help you create an interior without a designer.

Generally, Learn Programs

They’ll come in handy! In music programs, you can organize a real karaoke and spend a Saturday evening, in video editing software — edit videos and add audio to them, in Illustrator — create posters for decorating your home. Organizers are useful to keep everything on track, and financial planners help you save more and spend less.

Make Bird Feeders

First, they’re not having it easy now, and second, this is a great way to keep children occupied and free up time for quiet activities.

Learn to Make Bouquets

Didn’t you always think that anyone could become a florist? Try it. First, you need to read about the basics on the Internet, then order flower delivery and try mixing them. If it works out, you’ll be able to decorate your home yourself without spending money on expensive bouquets or even open your own Instagram business. Pay attention to dried flowers: they can decorate spaces for a long time. At minimum, you’ll get plenty of enjoyment from this activity.

Make Tablecloths and Napkins

You probably have extra fabric, but if not, you can order linen or cotton online. A homemade tablecloth will help create a country or Provence style interior in the dining room. Combined with self-made bouquets, such a tablecloth will make the space much cozier.

Create Additional Zones

Using a carpet and floor lamp, you can set aside a reading area, and using a countertop, an additional spot by the window for breakfasts or drawing. We wrote about how to make a table by the window. And about how to reupholster an old chair that you’ll love spending time with a book in.

Design: Arina Troilova

Learn to Make Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Cacao

Yes, the cold season for these warm drinks has passed, but hugge is a year-round concept. And not to let the rug and chair go to waste, after all.

Bake Charlotte with Children

We’re sure you already do this, just this time let the kids handle everything not related to the hot oven. This way you’ll occupy them for at least an extra hour and give them a lot of enjoyment. Charlotte is served with ice cream: this should stimulate the little ones to clean up the kitchen by themselves.

Replant Plants

Early spring is the best time for transplanting and feeding. In quarantine conditions, you can read everything about this without rushing. Here is detailed information on how to make plant life better.

Plant Seedlings

This is also an option, by the way. You probably never thought about starting to grow tomatoes, but who knows what might come in handy now.

Learn to Knit Without Needles

It’s too early for grandmas to turn into needle knitters, but it’s fun and easy to learn to knit with your hands. By the way, this is how chunky-knit blankets with huge loops are made, which we liked so much. It’s time to get one of these.

Change Pillowcases

Now that you have a new blanket, it’s time to create a matching set with decorative pillows. You’ve already learned how to sew tablecloths, so why not try the next step: covers, even if not with zippers but with buttons. A good idea: learn to paint on fabric and create your own print. If you involve a child in this, you might end up with something artistically abstract.

Design: Arina Troilova

Brush the Cat

Admit how often you do this? Do you trim the animal’s claws? Make it a rule to do it regularly, and start right now. At the same time, say goodbye to scratched table legs and fur on carpets and sofas.

Draw a Portrait of Your Dog

Watch the YouTube course “Sketching from Scratch” and create a cool decoration item using your favorite spaniel or mops (substitute your dog’s breed).

Design: Viktoria Skorobohatko

Create a Shopping List...

One day all of this will end and we’ll all go shopping for a long-awaited purchase. To not get lost in stores anymore, make a list of desired items ahead of time. You can include pictures.

...and Online Purchases

Did you always want to learn AliExpress, but the long delivery stopped you? Well, now there’s no need to hurry. Start now! Tip: first collect everything you need in the cart, and then inspect its contents after a couple of days. It might turn out that you don’t need everything.

Learn to Play Chess

It’s not that hard, but it develops logic, keeps children busy, and most importantly, calms the mind. If the chess set is big and beautiful, it looks great in interior design.

Make Food Preparations

Spring vegetables have just arrived: you can learn the deep-freeze technique on them. Soon, when fresh berries and fruits appear, this skill will come in handy to create winter stores or just learn how to save money. By the way: the nutritional value of foods doesn’t decrease if they are frozen correctly. We wrote about this in detail here.

Make Granola Base

How much do you spend on muesli or granola in cafes? Stop doing this! Now that you have frozen berries, buy nuts. Mix nuts and dried fruits with berries and oats, add honey, bake in the oven and scatter into jars. If you buy a yogurt maker and learn to make homemade yogurt, you’ll have the healthiest breakfasts in the world.

Start Living a Healthy Lifestyle

With such breakfast, half of the job is already done. Now you need to find a five-minute workout on YouTube, download meditation and fitness apps, and set notifications. Dedicate half an hour a day to physical exercises, and by the end of quarantine you’ll see the results in the mirror. Add cold water rinses and dry brush massage, and your elastic skin will thank you.

Make a Redesign

Now that your curtains are washed and re-sewn, chairs and wardrobes are repainted, and the chair is reupholstered, you have nothing to lose in creating a spring mood with a small redesign. Get ideas from our website and experiment!

Design: Nina Ivanenko

Remove “Annoying” Small Things

Has the towel holder in the bathroom been lying around for a long time? Is there a shortage of hooks in the kitchen? Does the lid of the pot keep falling off and the lock keeps jamming? It’s time to systematically look for the necessary hooks, holders, and locks and make a micro-repair of all these structures.

Wash Tiles in the Bathroom

Really, when else to do it? We wrote in detail about how to clean tiles and grout until they shine. Study and act! Your good mood will thank you later.

Sort the Home Pharmacy

With all these safety measures, you probably have more medical supplies in your home. To avoid having everything scattered around, it’s time to organize convenient storage for medications. We wrote about how to do this in detail here.

Make Long-Lasting Antiseptic

The WHO recommended an effective hand antiseptic that can be carried with you and refilled, even if the product is out of stock. These sprays can be distributed to all household members. We provide the recipe here: verify it yourself, it’s not complicated.

On the cover: design by Kati and Egor Vokihin