As our journey of self–isolation continues, we’re all getting to the phase of looking for things to do around the home. You’ve re-organized the cutlery drawer, put together dozens of photo albums (who was that dude with the purple runners, anyway??) and learned how to fricassee chicken legs. Great, now what? Teach the cat Spanish? Collect dust bunnies and start stuffing pillowcases with them?
Nope. You know. You all know. After staring at the walls (and counters, and cabinets and closets) for a few weeks, suddenly you’ve become hyper-aware of some little do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that could use some attention.
Which is actually a great idea. Also, a terrible one. If you have the vision, planning, patience and technical skill to take on a DIY project you can add value and increase the aesthetics of your prison home. On the other hand, if you’re me it’s just a terrible idea. Too many paint-spattered ceilings, drywall gouges and scratched floors are testament to that.
So I have consulted (okay, googled) some DIY experts to find some quick and relatively easy upgrades that you can do on your home that will make a big difference.
In all seriousness, this is a great time to take on a few projects, especially while home improvement stores remain open. And who doesn’t want their place looking its best? Any upgrades you can do now can also help if you are thinking of selling your home sometime soon. Here are some project areas to consider:
- Upgrade your Curb appeal – Paint or replace your front door, as well as upgrade the mailbox, house numbers and exterior light. Looks way better!
- Bathroom makeover – Add some pizzazz to the WC with new faucets, toilet, mirror, toilet paper holder, toothbrush holder and towel racks, et voila!
- Sliding kitchen shelves – Hate digging around at the back of your cabinets for pots and pans? Buy the hardware and frames and install roll-outs in your existing cabinets. For detailed instructions click here.
- Painting – Whatever needs a refresh, touch up or makeover, painting (walls and baseboards) is a relatively cheap way to revitalize any room. If you feel like your relationship is solid, try installing a wallpaper feature wall with your partner as well…
- Closet organizer – tear out your old, spindly hanger and replace it with a wire system that maximizes your closet space. Just be sure to measure carefully.
- Laundry Centre – If you have a dungeon-like laundry room, put in a folding table, extra storage shelves, better lighting and a durable floor. It might almost make laundry fun.
As with all these suggestions, check online for more details on how to actually do them. If you have kids at home, give them some tasks in your DIY project too, so they feel like they’re contributing. If you’d rather just distract them while you’re working, we also have a solution.
Simply go to our Instagram account to access our kids colouring contest. Get them to draw or colour their “dream home” and post it. We’ll pick a winner next week. Grand prize is a Crayola 200-piece art kit with markers, paint, pencils, glitter and more. That’ll buy you about 20 hours of solitude! Totally worth it.
As always, stay safe, be kind to everyone, practice gratitude and we’ll come out the other side of this better than when we went in.
– Bob
