7 DIY Ideas for a New Home

So, you’ve taken the plunge and bought yourself a house. Congrats! 

The next thing on your list, after a good celebration of course, is probably decorating your new home. Very rarely do we buy a house that is totally perfect. 

In fact, one thing you’ll learn very quickly as a homeowner is that there is always something that needs doing to the house. 

To start you off, we’ve put together a list of DIY tasks that can be completed fairly easily. Once done, you’ll really start to see your house as a home! 

1. Painting

One of the easiest, and often cheapest, ways to get your house feeling more like your home is to give it a new lick of paint. 

You can cover all manner of sins with a decent coat of paint, including the horrible, lurid, floral patterned wallpaper that’s been there since the 70s!

When you decide to paint your house it is best to go room by room. You might be tempted to hop around the house if you’re using the same color in different rooms but this makes it more difficult for you. 

Before you begin to paint you need to clear out the room. Remove the furniture if you can and cover it if you can’t. 

Make sure you cover your floor as well. Trust me, it’s very difficult to get paint out of the carpet! 

When you start painting, don’t forget to tape the edges of your walls and ceilings for nice neat lines. Painter’s tape is your best friend, you can use it to protect light fixtures, skirting boards, and doors. 

2. Kitchen Splashbacks 

Another fairly simple way to personalize your new home is to create your own kitchen splashback. 

The splashback is the tiled area behind your sink and draining board. It’s there to stop water from ruining the walls when you’re splashing around washing the dishes. 

Some splashbacks cover the whole wall between your bottom cupboards and your top cupboards. Really, it’s up to you how big you go.

Because it’s usually a relatively small area, you won’t need to spend days putting new tiles on. You can probably get it done in an afternoon depending on how intricate you want to be. 

That brings me nicely to my next point. The great thing about doing your own splashback is that you can get really creative with it! Check out this article for some excellent ideas.

3. Make Some Storage

I don’t know about you, but when I moved from a pokey one bedroomed flat into a three-bedroomed house, I suddenly seemed to acquire a lot of stuff. Despite having 3 more rooms than my flat, I am forever running out of storage space! 

Try your hand at making some shelves or storage units. You can find lots of tutorials online. There are simple options like attaching some crates to a wall, or more complicated projects that involve making whole entertainment units out of wood. 

I will say, the more you can get on your walls, the better off you’ll be. We’ve hit the point where we have no more floor space for furniture. However, we are able to put shelving units on the walls. Focus your DIY efforts on these things.

4. Make Some Planters

Your house doesn’t need to come with a huge garden for you to develop a green finger! You can make some planters that can give you the space to grow flowers, fruits, or vegetables wherever you want. 

Old railway sleepers can be turned into modern planters. The same goes for old pallets. All you need is a hammer, some nails, and perhaps a saw. 

If you want to upgrade your planters, buy some metal legs or fixings to give your planters a chic, industrial look. 

5. Update Your Bathroom Fixtures 

Starting bathroom renovations might seem like a major undertaking but it doesn’t have to be. Often, bathrooms are the rooms that look the most aged. This is because the metal fixtures such as the taps, showerheads, and handles, tend to go out of fashion quite quickly. 

A great way to make things feel more modern is to simply replace your taps and showerhead. If you want to save some cash, look for secondhand taps on eBay or local auction sites. 

If you have cabinets in your bathroom, changing the handles and drawer pulls can also help give the room a new lease on life. You can pick these up really cheaply online and you only need a screwdriver to replace them. 

6. Hang Some Pictures

Nothing makes you feel more at home than having the face of your nearest and dearest staring down at you! 

Whether you want to hang some photos or some artwork, there is a knack for getting it right. I’m talking about making sure your frames are straight and that the wall looks balanced with all your pictures and photographs on it. Check out this article for some expert advice.

Once you’ve perfected the arrangement you need to make sure that your frames are secure. You have lots of different options for hanging frames or artwork. You can stick a nail in the wall, hang hooks, use adhesives. Whatever you go for, make sure it can hold the weight of your frame!

7. Upcycle Your Furniture

There really are endless possibilities when it comes to upcycling your furniture. You could sand and paint that battered old dining table, you could reupholster the well-loved rocking chair, you could marbleize the top of an old dresser.

When it comes to upcycling, if you can dream it, you can do it! 

The great thing about upcycling is that you can get a fresh new look without busting the bank. Usually, you only need to pay for new paint or new fabrics. 

Also, upcycling means you’re not making tonnes of waste by throwing out all your used furniture. Giving your sofa a new lease of life helps the planet get a new lease of life! 

When you choose to upcycle a piece of furniture, it’s always a good idea to practice the technique first. Choose an inconspicuous part of the furniture like the back or bottom, and see how your material and technique work out. 

You don’t want to start sanding down your wardrobe to realize that it’s actually plyboard and does not look good when sanded…I’ve made that mistake so you don’t have to.

Final Thoughts

Buying a new home is exciting. 

However, that excitement comes crashing around your ears when the first mortgage payment comes out of your account! 

To keep the hype going, and make your house feel like a home, consider taking on some of these easy DIY projects.

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