Looking to do some DIY in your spare time? Róise McGagh shares some tips for getting started with minimal materials
Hanging around the house for such an extended period of time is no easy feat. One of the nice things about these times is that you can finally start to get stuck into that list of things you always said you would do to improve your living space.
You might be especially noticing the areas in your home that really just aren’t fully serving their purpose: cluttered desks, unorganised storage and uncomfortable cushions. However, at the minute with supplies being slightly harder than usual to obtain, it can be tough to get motivated and even tougher to actually make any improvements.
There are some lazy hacks, that some would just call smart hacks, that can really spruce up your living space with minimal time, money and effort. Don’t worry if you’re the opposite of a handyman or if you’re living in a rented space, you won’t be making any major renovations.
A good idea is to take one room at a time, don’t go straight in for a total house overhaul. The first thing you will want to do is have a long think about what happens in this space every day. Take your living room for example. How can you make it so that you have space to do your home workouts and store your yoga mat? Maybe you want to have a well-lit cosy corner for reading, or the couch to be facing the TV so no one’s neck gets strained and the TV beside the window so there is less glare. You might like to have a table at the ready to play cards on or a poof to place your feet upon when you kick back for the evening.
Once you have thought through the way you want the room to be arranged you can get started. The simplest thing that you can first do when reinvigorating your space is to paint it. Most people have a good bucket, or five, of spare paint lying around. If you don’t have enough of a new colour left to go over your walls you could try your supermarket, there could be a chance they have it in stock. If you’re having no luck, you’re bound to have enough left over of whatever colour you last painted to at least clean up your walls. If you have some white or magnolia to go over the ceiling it can also add a subtle freshness to the room.
Next take some time to declutter and reorganise the room. Charity shops aren’t open at the minute so most aren’t taking donations. Try and repurpose the things you have lying around if they don’t fit that room anymore, and never throw away things that can be reworked. Old cushions, dusty books, well used candle sticks and curled rugs can all be restored with a little tender love and care.
There are loads of online tutorials on how to restore your old belongings. One simple thing you can do to create space in a room is to add mirrors. Maybe you don’t want that full length mirror in your bedroom anymore reminding you that what you considered ‘getting dressed’ today is basically just another pair of pyjamas. You can turn it on its side and put it in the hall or the living room. This is great for injecting some light and space into a dark pokey area.
Something that can also make a room seem clearer and brighter is to replace heavy curtains with light ones or blinds for the warmer month. Most people of course don’t have the luxury of having a shed full of extra window dressings, so what you can do is make your curtains smaller. You can chop the bottom and sew a new hem (make sure it’s straight!). Often curtains are also too wide, you could cut it down to one curtain per window or loosen the scrunch at the tops of them if you can, and take some material off the side. This will mean there is less material blocking the light coming in. You’ll be shocked at how much of a difference you can make.With the extra material, if you’re really feeling that inner tailor and there is enough of it, you could make some covers for old cushions. This will really tie the room together provided the pattern is not an eye sore.
If you have decided to go for a bigger task like taking down a shelving unit and putting it up somewhere else, make sure you keep all of the parts somewhere so you won’t lose them. Also be sure to take a photo of what it looked like before so you can reference back to that if something goes awry.
If you have an idea but aren’t sure how to execute it, YouTube is your best friend. If you can think of it, there is likely a tutorial out there along the lines of what you are looking for. Instagram can be great too. There are some great accounts that post DIY tips and tricks that could add to your project. One ‘She-I-Y’ hero is Laura de Barra. The Cork native’s book ‘Gaff Goddess’ hit the best sellers list after it came out in September 2019. She shares different ideas on cleaning, making things and simple pieces of DIY tricks almost every day – and you don’t need to be an expert to follow along.
One other really simple thing you can do is give your white towels or sheets a proper soak in some whitening washing powder to spruce them up, then give them a few minutes in the dryer to make them soft. Give that shower curtain a scrub with some bicarbonate of soda (which is also great for soap scum on shower doors, sinks and baths) and them throw it in the wash. Dust and repaint the skirting boards, polish the light switches. Even just simply giving your rugs a bash on the washing line and then letting them air out can perk up a room.
Plants and art are also great additions to any room. Get out your inner gardener and create your own little windowsill herb garden. Painting your own picture for your own space is a great way to tie the room together. You don’t need to be an artist, just get the colours you want mixed and let your inner impressionist assemble them on the canvas. Just don’t do so much blending that they turn brown!
There is no end to the ways you can redo your home with what you already have lying around. It is just a case of getting a little bit creative, repurposing what you already have and getting down to it.
