While being in lockdown hasn’t been much fun for a lot of people, one of the silver linings has been that it’s allowed people to have more time to do things that we would have been too busy for otherwise.
Most of us have homes that could stand to be improved in some way, and whether we’re doing it for fun or just because it needs to be done, there are all kinds of DIY projects available to us.
We’ll give an overview of some of the best of them here, so you can pick your next DIY project with ease.
Paint A Wall Mural
This is a particularly great way to decorate your kids’ rooms. You can create an entire room around this concept, using the wall with the mural on it as a feature wall to contrast with the others.
It’s not only a really cost-effective option if you want to put up something new in your home, but it can also make the space feel a lot bigger and more interesting than it actually is, especially for small spaces.
Since you’re painting it yourself, you can pick just about anything you want. Whether your kid loves Spiderman or Cinderella, you can make it a reality in their room.
Of course, there’s no need for you to limit it to your kids’ rooms. If you like, you can paint whatever kind of mural you like anywhere in your house!
Build A Bookshelf
This might seem like kind of obvious advice, but building bookshelves isn’t as hard as you think!
You may need to buy additional shelving units from builders merchants or visit your local shop to purchase wood.
Cut the boards into appropriate sizes and then screw the shelves together to form your final product.
As long as you have a drill, a saw, and some screws and nails, you could probably put a simple bookshelf together in a day or two.
Once built, you’ll need to stain the wood before adding any finishing touches such as designs or art work.
You can even use your bookshelf to hold magazines or other reading materials when you aren’t using them to display books, if you’d prefer.
Add Storage In Your Kitchen
Most homeowners have more cabinets and drawers than they know what to do with, and while you might not be able to add extra cupboards (unless you live in a mansion), there are still some easy ways you can increase storage in your kitchen.
For example, instead of storing items in bowls on your countertops, why not get a couple of bins and place them under your sink? These will help you keep everything organized and accessible.
To fill in the gaps between the existing cabinet doors, install pull out shelves.
This can really help you organize your items inside your cupboard, since they take up less space than full sized drawers.
There are many options at places like IKEA, and they are going to look great and fit perfectly in your home.
Design A Garden Planter
Planters for your flowers are simple to build, and then you have the fun of deciding which flowers should go in each one!
Some plants can simply be planted in your regular planter; however, if you don’t have space constraints, you might consider making several types of garden pots to accommodate different shapes, sizes, and heights.
You’ll only need basic materials like wood and nails to make a simple pot, but take care to get wood that can stand being outside.
Failing that, you could use other materials like metal or even plastic instead.
Make A Laundry Room Upgrade
Laundry rooms are often overlooked in all the excitement of planning out every detail of your home.
However, since laundry rooms usually aren’t very big, they tend to be the perfect candidates for a bit of remodeling to transform them into handy spots.
Maybe you already have a washer and dryer, but maybe you haven’t had much square footage for them.
If so, consider installing roll-in style laundry tubs instead. They provide plenty of room for doing loads of laundry and can easily double as a spot to store linens too—a real time saver!
Install Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
It’s an easy way to save money on your electric bill, and it also helps protect our environment by cutting down on harmful greenhouse emissions.
This is an especially good idea for lockdown because it means that you’ll probably be using the electricity in your house a lot more than usual, meaning that it’ll save you the most amount of money now.
Build Fire Pit And BBQ Area
If you want an outdoor sanctuary filled with warmth and comfort, then this type of project would be right up your alley.
It will allow you to enjoy a relaxing fire pit in the warm months and a grill area during those cold winter nights.
All you need to start is a hole in the ground covered by dirt where you can set up your fire pit.
You can line it with metal or brick to seal off the heat, and you can even pour concrete around it later on if needed.
That’s the relatively simple part. Then, it’s up to you to decide how elaborate you want your fire pit setup to be.
If you’re feeling up to it, you could even add a patio or decking area where you can spend summer nights eating BBQ and drinking wine with friends.
Outdoor Bottle Top Bar
Having a bar outdoors makes life easier when cooking meals, entertaining guests, and just enjoying the view.
So, you definitely want something that doesn’t require a lot of upkeep, but will still offer enough storage to hold all your essentials once you’re having parties all day long.
In addition, you also want something that looks good too. Simply add some bottle tops and resin to the surface to create an amazing bottletop design.
Put Up New Curtains Or Blinds
You may not feel like hanging curtains at home right now, but it sure does look nice and brighten up any space without costing you a ton of money.
Controlling the amount of light in a room also makes it easier for you to use computer screens and get your beauty sleep.
You can get new curtain rods and hang curtains with ease from a variety of stores online, and there are tons of ways to decorate them too.
For instance, pick up some fabric and get creative to create unique patterns or choose coordinating fabrics to complement your existing decor.
You can try adding ruffles, stripes, prints, or even bold color. Or, just keep things super basic and stick with plain white curtains.
If you’re not a curtain fan, then consider blinds. Venetian and Roman blinds can both look great and are a good alternative to curtains.
Convert Your Shed Into A Bar
A shed might seem like a weird place to convert into a bar, but think about it: it’s already perfect for storing tools, gardening equipment, camping gear, and craft supplies.
That means it’ll be just as good at storing booze! It’s also a great space for parties, picnics, and hosting events.
But, what really separates sheds from other rooms is their versatility. You can make them as rustic as you’d like or turn them into sleek modern spaces easily.
There are lots of ways to spruce them up, including putting together a rustic wood bar, tables, chairs, and artwork and knickknacks.
You can even try to recreate your favorite real-life bar, or one from TV – who wouldn’t want to drink at a copy of Moe’s from The Simpsons?
However, this might be a bit of an ambitious project, so make sure you plan it out properly before you get carried away.
Create A Gallery Wall
It’s one of the best ways to display pictures, family portraits, art, and memorabilia you have collected over the years.
It’s easy to do, and it won’t break the bank either, unless you decide to buy lots of new artworks to display specifically for this purpose.
It’s a simple project – just decide on which area of your wall you want to use, frame the artworks you want to hang (if they’re not already framed) and place them there.
You can also paint around the borders of the frames to add extra detail.
The fun here is in collecting and curating the contents of your gallery. You can mix prints by famous artists with your children’s artwork, plus other interesting things you’ve collected over the years.
Not only does lighting help bring out your decor better, but it helps you use computer screens more effectively by giving you the right amount of light.
Remember that the higher wattage bulbs last longer, so don’t go for the cheapest option.
To ensure you find quality lights, search online for reviews and recommendations.
Once you’ve found the right fixtures, read about how to install them properly, such as using dimmers.
Finally, to save electricity and reduce your carbon footprint, switch off all unnecessary electrical appliances when you’re not using them.
Rearrange Your Furniture
If your furniture doesn’t fit anymore or needs rethinking, why not give it a fresh look?
We all get so used to the way our furniture’s arranged that we can find it hard to imagine it being any other way.
However, if you try moving things around a bit, you might find an arrangement that’s way better.
Doing this can not only give you much more space in your room, but change the whole look as well.
You might even find that you can fit in a piece you always wanted but couldn’t fit before.
This could be ideal if you’ve been making new furniture as part of another DIY project.
Build A Drinks Cabinet
A drinks cabinet can look classy and is a better alternative than just keeping all your bottles in your kitchen cupboards.
As with other projects, you’ll definitely need some time and planning in order to complete this successfully.
Start by measuring out where you want the cabinet to go, then draw a rough sketch of the design on paper.
After you know roughly where everything will go, start cutting out the pieces of wood and attaching them together.
Of course, you can choose how fancy you want to go with this wood – both cheap and expensive ones will work.
You can use different colors or stains too depending on your taste. And remember that you can always finish it up later on with an awesome coat of varnish!
Now when your friends come to visit, you can impress them by showing them your collection of spirits in a nice cabinet.
Make A Bath Board
If you like reading, using your laptop, or eating meals in the bath, then a bath board is a great and simple idea for you.
It’s also great just for organizing the things you’ll use in the bath, like bath bombs and bubble bath.
You’ll only need a few pieces of wood and some screws, and if you know what you’re doing, you’ll probably be able to get it done in a matter of hours!
This is perfect for relaxing after a long day at school or work, especially if you have roommates.
But if you do struggle with this project, don’t worry, there are lots of tutorials out there on YouTube which show people exactly how to make one.
Just search “how to make a bath board”, and you’ll see the whole process.
Create A Rustic Outdoor Bench
Outdoor benches are the perfect addition to your back garden. They provide additional seating options, can double as storage units, and they’ll keep your garden looking amazing year round.
What makes an outdoor bench really stand out, though, is its ruggedness and durability.
This means they won’t fade away quickly and will be ready to use every single time you want to sit down.
So if you have a small garden, these benches may be just the thing you were searching for.
All you have to do now is collect supplies to create the perfect rustic bench for your garden.
The materials you’ll need will depend on the kind of bench you want to make, but make sure they’re durable enough to withstand the weather.
Creating a unique bench from scratch gives you enough time to let your imagination run wild.
With a little patience and creative thinking, you’ll easily be able to make something spectacular.
Upcycle An Old Door Into A Table
Upcycling is a fun way to save money, reduce waste, and recycle old items into new treasures.
If you’ve ever wanted to add a table to your home, but don’t fancy taking on the expense, then this is the right choice for you.
In fact, this particular project is very cheap to complete. Once you’re finished creating this beautiful piece, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to upgrade (or, rather, upcycle).
You can make several kinds of table here – a whole door might be able to serve as a dining table, or you could cut it up for a pair of smaller coffee tables.
Of course, you can also customize them with whatever designs you like to make them suit your home better.
Build Your Own Storage Boxes
Storage boxes are essential for any space. Whether you’re storing clothes or books, craft supplies or electronics, they will help organize everything and make finding anything at a moment’s notice much easier.
Even if you aren’t particularly handy, building your own storage box should require little more than a glue gun and a few basic tools.
Depending on what type of material you end up choosing, your box may last anywhere between a few months to many years.
Make A DIY Lazy Susan
A lazy Susan is a wonderful kitchen tool that lets you put all sorts of food and dishes on display without having to constantly turn around mid-meal.
It does take a bit of knowledge to build one yourself, however. Using a metal frame is easy enough, but if you want to make it look nice and modern, you’ll need to find specialized equipment.
Most importantly, you’ll need a large spinning plate. And before you start digging out all those tools, make sure you have a good plan of how you’re going to make it work.
Final Thoughts
Creating a smart and well planned DIY project list is crucial in making your life easier.
Building projects such as cabinets, shelves, and wardrobes ensure the best possible usage of space while at the same time providing added value to your home.
Adding extra storage space is especially beneficial for anyone who owns multiple pieces of furniture which can often lead to clutter.
Finding ways to maximize each room is a great way to increase both comfort levels and living quality.
By implementing some clever DIY design solutions, you can transform almost any room in your house including the bathroom, bedding area, study, home office, etc. into a stylish and functional place to live.
As we’ve shown above, there are lots of things you can do to improve your living space, and make your lockdown time useful while you’re at it!
I’m Ida Oliveira, and now I want to impart my knowledge of all things interior design onto you. If you’re going through the same process of designing your house, I want to help.
So, I hope that you’ll find everything you need to know on my website. If I make the process even a little easier and more fun for you, Alexander and Pearl will have done its job.
![ow To Design A Room Like An Interior Designer [Step By Step]](https://alexanderandpearl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/How-Much-Does-A-Pop-Up-Camper-Weigh-33.jpg "How To Design A Room Like An Interior Designer [Step By Step]")
