Improve your Home With these Weekend Projects
Spruce up your space this weekend with these quick home-improvement projects.
22/04/2022
Kitchen revamp
A fast way to give your kitchen a new feel is to replace the factory-provided handles on the cabinets and drawers. There are so many styles of handles out there, so spend time choosing ones that reflect your personal taste. While sleek, metallic handles work well with most kitchen styles, don’t be afraid to experiment. Antique-looking handles used in one corner of a kitchen, like on a set of drawers, can complement the more modern handles used alongside on cupboards - the mix of which will be an eclectic look unique to you. To further boost your weekend revamp, ditch all tatty kitchen towels and replace with bright, new matching sets.
Refresh your backsplashes and floors
Give your kitchen and bathroom an instant makeover with a gorgeous peel-and-stick tile decal for basin, sink, and oven splashbacks. Tilevera is a local company that makes easy-to-use tile backsplash decals, which you simply peel and stick onto any smooth, porous surface. Their stunning designs are steam- and water-resistant and last up to four years. Glue-down vinyl flooring is another fast way to revamp dull floors. Vinyl flooring has undergone a design revival the past few years and today’s beautiful, luxe-looking options will instantly add impact. Try Airloom for swoon worthy options.
Create a feature wall
Add hotel chic to your home with an accent wall in the bedroom or sitting room. Use a vibrant colour for instant drama and depth or play it safe and paint the focal wall a few shades darker than the surrounding walls. A smart way to choose which wall to paint is one that already highlights another focal point, such as an attractive bed headrest or a couch.
Plascon has a useful online colour chart or try the free Dulux Visualizer app to help you find the perfect colour. If you aren’t the DIY type, getting in expert help is always worth the effort - try the SweepSouth Connect app for a list of reliable handymen, painters and electricians in your area.
Light it up
A new light up is an easy and effective way to change up the look of a room. Whether it’s a striking new ceiling fixture, a bold oversized standing lamp, a small table-top lamp with a trendy shade, or pendant lights strung up in the kitchen, new lights can instantly dress up a room, and even become an attractive focal point. Give thought to what the light source is for so that you can buy accordingly, advises Alen Ribic, Co-founder of SweepSouth. Will it be the main source of light in a room, will it be used for a specific task, like reading or for extra light over a kitchen island, or would you like it to create a low-light mood? Installing a dimmer switch will also allow you to switch up your lights according to what you need them for - bright for everyday use or a softer glow for added ambiance.
Replace interior doors
A home’s interior doors are often the last item on a revamp list, yet replacing worn, chipped doors can have a huge effect on the visual appeal of a room. With so many low-cost door options on the market, switching a door is a quick and reasonably affordable way to upgrade your home over a weekend.
Before you buy, make sure the new door you choose is the same size as the old one, advises Ribic. Consider the style of the room the door is for and select a finish to match - whether it’s classic, modern or antique. And, he advises, if budget allows, upgrade with solid-core doors, which are far more effective at blocking out noise than the hollow-core doors commonly found in new-build homes.
Weekend workouts
Combine home and self-improvement by creating a workout space. Gym memberships can be expensive and with the rising cost of petrol, who wants to drive to the gym when you could get fit at home? By renting gym equipment on a month-to-month contract, you can transform a room or area in your home into a fitness zone, says Jonathan Hurvitz, CEO of Teljoy. “Control the intensity of your workouts by choosing equipment for your fitness level. This could be an elliptical bike with 32 resistance levels or the Angry Fit Box Gym that offers more than 20 workout functions.
What makes this home fitness equipment so convenient is that it can easily be moved around if you want to take your workout outdoors or to another room.” As the inclement weather sets in, you could also rent a treadmill that will keep the heart rate up even when the mercury drops. The benefit of renting this kind of equipment versus buying it is the flexibility and affordability of having access to it for as long (or as little) as you want with the option to own it after a predetermined period or cancel it at any time.
Turn on the twinkle
With winter approaching it may seem an odd time to string up outdoor fairy lights, but on a cold, clear winter evening, when lights strung up on the bare branches of a tree light up, it can create a magical feeling to drab winter gardens. Attach the lights with steel screw eyes instead of plastic attachments, advises Ribic, so that they will last throughout the seasons.
Be inspired by new trends
If you’re looking for
new decor ideas for your home, be inspired by
Airbnb! Towards the end of 2021, TikTok and
Airbnb revealed some trending design buzzwords
used by their respective communities. There were
some common aesthetics that popped up including
eclectic, vintage maximalism, cottagecore, and
the ever popular botanical trend. Top of the
list was cottagecore - an aesthetic that appears
in the descriptions of over 110,000 listings on
Airbnb.
pinterest.com/pin/703756184284725/
According to TikTok, the buzzword is quite new – appearing as a hashtag on their platform in recent years. Since then, TikTok has seen the hashtag take off, possibly due to the uplift in crafting since the start of the pandemic. The aesthetic embraces the idea of living a simple, rural lifestyle, utilizing materials like patterned vintage wallpaper, floral upholstery and wood.
