Updating your home design can cost a pretty penny if you bring in professionals. If simple DIY home makeover ideas are what you’re after, then read on.
We have chosen three areas in the home that can easily be livened up by simple DIY home makeover ideas.
1. Kid’s room: as far as home makeover ideas go, this one will delight your little one and bring out your inner child.
There is nothing quite as simple and yet ingenious as chalkboard paint being used creatively in a home. A child’s bedroom is the perfect place to make use of this paint while encouraging their imagination and fine motor skills such as writing and drawing numbers or shapes. All too often we hear of children drawing on the walls or tiles in the home. By creating a wall of chalkboard paint, you can give your child a creative outlet to draw to their little heart’s content.
As with all paint, ensure that you buy as much as you need. If you run out and need to purchase more, you might see a distinct difference in the two paints once they are dry. Prepare the wall and surrounding area as you would when painting an area with regular paint and make sure the painting surface is clean and free from dust. It is advisable to gently sand the area you wish to paint to create a smooth surface. Use painter’s tape to protect the areas where you don’t want to paint and to create straight lines.
Lastly, chalkboard paint is susceptible to breaking apart if it is stirred too vigorously so gently stir the paint with your paintbrush. If the paint starts to separate, it will cause the properties that enable the paint to be written on to break down.
2. Braai area: bust out the braai tongs with this top-notch outdoor home makeover idea.
Braaing is a South African tradition and an excellent way to enjoy the outdoors. DIY home makeover ideas show South Africans how to create new and innovative braai areas with panache.
If you have the space, we suggest doing away with the regular built-in braai or Weber and installing a fire pit. Usually, a fire pit is built into the ground.
This provides a very social setting where seating on the ground may even be an option, should you be entertaining a large crowd. Throwing some scatter cushions around the fire provides an excellent way to stargaze on hot summer nights.
To build your own fire pit will take some muscle, brick and mortar. It will require you digging into your lawn, laying a foundation and building up a stone wall to contain the fire. Alternatively, you can purchase a manufactured fire pit, which is portable. With the right cushions, picnic blankets or outdoor furniture, you can create a fairy tale setting.
3. Home office: home makeover ideas that give everything a place.
Creating a workspace at home sounds idyllic. It certainly can be, and many homes have made provision for this type of space due to professionals having high work demands. In the area you create for your home office, organisation is the key consideration.
The home office is bound to be filled with all your gadgets and electronics, such as your laptop, iPad, hard drive, printer, scanner and fax. These devices all have power cords and these wires tend to get tangled and dusty. Keep you wires in good working order, clean and free of entanglement by attaching them to your desk. An excellent way of doing this is by using binder clips attached to the edge of your desk with the wires laced through the metal finger holds.
Organise your desk so that not only do all your stationary items and notepads have a designated place, but they are also contained. Repurposing old dinner trays will do the trick. Have a tray that holds all the containers with your pens, staples, scissors and the like on one side of the desk and another with your notepads and sticky notes on the other side. This makes the area look neat. You could also use old boxes from new shoe purchases or gift sets as they are a good size within which to store smaller containers of stationary items.
On the topic of old shoeboxes, instead of spending money on floating shelves on which to store, say, your notebooks or folio folders, get creative by using shoeboxes. Group a number of hardwearing cardboard boxes and attach them with binder clips, stand them up vertically and nail them to the wall with only one nail through the top box. To create a shoebox shelving unit that co-ordinates with the rest of the room, choose a matching colour paint from your kid’s paint set and give the boxes a quick colour makeover.
