5 DIY renovations you can do in a weekend

What’s the solution? Use your weekends to complete the small projects and you won’t have to spend your holidays working at home. Here are five doable weekend DIY renovations.

Paint your entry door

One of the most impressive DIY renovations you can do is to paint your entry door and trim. On Saturday, you’ll need to get an early start because you’ll need to remove the door hardware and scrape and sand the door and trim. Take your time with this prep work, because it will make the completed job look better and last longer. Try to paint the door before lunch so it has time to dry before the evening, when you’ll have to replace the door handle. You can leave the trim until after lunch.

When the painting is done, enjoy the afternoon until the paint sets. Replace the hardware so your home is secure that night. On Sunday, all you’ll have to do is remove the hardware and apply a second coat of paint. You’ll be finished by lunch time and have the whole afternoon to enjoy.

Paint or wallpaper a feature wall

Is there a wall in your home that could use a little sprucing up? Painting or wallpapering a feature wall is an ideal weekend renovation that can have an impressive visual impact. The great thing about feature walls is that you don’t have to stick with neutral colours. As long as the colour or wallpaper pattern you select fits in with your decor, you can do whatever you like. Think of a feature wall as a work of art rather than a wall and you get the picture.

Weekend kitchen renovation

No, you can’t do a complete kitchen renovation in a weekend, but you can make big improvements to it. During the week before you start, take stock of all your kitchen storage areas. Can things be arranged better in your pantry, your drawers and cupboards? On Saturday morning, go to IKEA or your nearest well-stocked hardware store and buy the drawer inserts and wire baskets you need. You can easily install everything at your leisure over the weekend. Maybe add a hidden bin in a cupboard or a spice rack while you’re at it.

Weekend bathroom renovation

You’ll be amazed by what a difference weekend renovations can make in the bathroom. If your shower is looking dingy, it won’t take long to clean the soap scum off the tiles and glass shower screen. Take a closer look and see if your tiles need re-grouting. You can tackle this job a stage at a time, but even if you regrout all your bathroom tiles, it shouldn’t take longer than a couple of weekends. Read ‘Renovating wet areas: What can you do yourself?‘ for more weekend bathroom renovation tips.

Outdoor renovations

If you take a look at the big picture, you might think your outdoor renovations are too big to tackle yourself. Take a closer look, though, and you can find DIY projects that are doable in a weekend. Some weekend projects to consider include:

• Installing some pot plants in your patio to liven it up.
• Building a short retaining wall.
• Planting a veggie garden in a planter box.

You might have to plan ahead if you want to lay pavers in a weekend. First, you may need to prepare the ground and spread a layer of sand to help the pavers settle and prevent weeds from growing. If you have all the materials you need delivered ahead of time and are ready for some work, you can finish over the weekend and still have time for breaks.

Look for interlocking cement retaining wall blocks and you can quickly build a decorative retaining wall. It has to be a short one, though. In most states, a DIY retaining wall can’t be any higher than a metre without getting council approval and in some areas 600mm is the limit. Check with your local council to find out what the regulations for retaining walls are in your area.

If you build your own planter boxes, your veggie garden might take two weekends to complete. Good nurseries and garden supply shops often sell planter boxes designed for vegetable gardens. All you’ll need to do is fill them with soil and plant your seeds or seedlings.

Have a look at ‘DIY Basics‘ for some more ideas. Just remember: you only have a weekend, so don’t get in over your head. If the project is going to take more than a weekend, divide it up into manageable chunks. Give yourself time to clean up and don’t undertake a project that will leave you without a kitchen or bathroom the following week.