4 Easy DIY Home Renovation Jobs You Can Do Yourself
Grab The Toolbelt [+ Some YouTube Videos] And Off You Go
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It’s pretty darn satisfying to take on a DIY project and actually do it without:
A. swearing
B. divorcing anyone
C. leaving a hole in the / any wall
D. all of the above
And while it’s definitely important to call in the expert trades for tricky jobs or anything you don’t have time for, it’s also fun to roll up the sleeves, pull on the toolbelt and give it a crack yourself.
Here’s some of our favourite DIY jobs that we reckon you can do too!
1 :: PAINTING
The key is prepping. Don’t just wake up one morning, look at that aubergine wall in the bedroom and decide to paint over it with whatever paint you find in the garage or under the house.
Prep, prep and more prep.
Remove all dust and clean the wall with sugar soap, sand any bumps and lumps back and fill any holes up with a multipurpose sealer, sand and wipe down the wall again and voila – you’re ready.
Arm yourself with tape, rollers, brushes for the fiddly bits [hot tip – angled brushes are good for going around power points, switches, window and door frames], paint tray, drop sheets, scraper and stirrer and of course, paint.
Once you’ve got a squeaky clean wall, cut in around the edges before getting the roller out and filling in the gaps. If you’re doing a couple of coats, wait for the previous coat to completely dry.
And take off the painter’s tape as soon as you’ve finished. It can lift the dried paint if you wait until its dry. And pull it away at 45 degrees for a clean, slick finish.
2 :: FEATURE WALL FABULOUSNESS
Fancy giving a room a bit of a jhoosh up but don’t want to paint the whole space? Why don’t you try a feature wall?
They’re great for all indoor rooms – behind the bed in the bedroom, the longest wall in the living room, a cheeky wall in the powder room…..lots of options.
And while painting will give you loads of colour options, you can also wallpaper a wall or use decals for a fun change [+ they’re easy to take off if and when you change your mind or you’re up for another look!].
We are also loving panelling – you can do your own panelling if you’re confident with a saw [circular or handheld]. Just pick up some wood from a local hardware [MDF is good for this purpose], measure up, build a frame to attach the panels to or use liquid nails to secure the panels to the wall.
Painting the panels before you secure them to the wall is a good idea too – less mess and less stress.
3 :: TILING
Now, tiling looks hard, right? But don’t be put off by it…once you get the hang of it, it’s actually quite easy. Start with something smaller and less obvious [a splashback in a laundry is a good starting point!] until you get your tiling mojo going on.
You’re going to get familiar with an angle grinder as you cut tiles to size but apart from that, you’ll spend most of your time with a trowel in your hand, placing, positioning and then grouting. It’s actually cathartic when you do it! And super satisfying.
There are plenty of videos online that you can follow with step by step guidelines. GIve it a crack! Oh wait….bad choice of words.
4 :: UPDATE THE WINDOW FURNISHINGS
There are so many handy window furnishing products on the market now, it’s easy to install your own curtains, blinds and shades.
The key is getting your measurements right to start with. Measure all the windows and doors carefully before buying any prefabbed furnishings.
And when you’re hanging curtains, place the curtain rod at least 5cm above the window casing. If you have a low roof, give the illusion of height by positioning the curtain rod close to the ceiling.
Another rule of thumb for curtain rod placement is to make sure the curtain rod extended at least 10cm on either side of window’s inside frame – this is so the curtain can gather together when its open without covering too much of the glass.
If you’re installing your own blinds, get those measurements right and then decide whether you’re going to mount your blind on the inside or the outside of the window frame. Either / or is fine [personal taste!] and the brackets that you buy are universal so can be used for either formats. Once the brackets are in position, mount the blind [securing the end with the chain on it first].
Easy, right?
You’ll save yourself some dosh, and if you don’t mind mucking in and getting a bit sweaty and dirty, a DIY job done well can be VERY satisfying.
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