5 Easy #StayAtHome Projects You Can Tackle Right Away
Welcome to April, friends! We are 2-1/2 weeks into quarantine life and it feels like it's been 2-1/2 months! There are days that just fly by because I'm focused on a project and when I check the clock, I'm shocked that it's already mid-afternoon! Please tell me I'm not the only one. Since we are all staying at home, you may be noticing things that could be upgraded in your home and I'm not talking about major renovations (although make those lists because you'll want to tackle those as soon as we get the green light to resume life without physical distancing). There are many little projects that can be done while you have time at home.
Here are 5 Easy #StayAtHome Projects You Can Tackle Right Away for a quick win:
Junk Drawers - these drawers can get out of hand so quickly. I'm not a fan of "junk" drawers. I prefer utility drawers because it means the items in there are useful. I recently upgraded my utility drawer with an inexpensive drawer organizer and what a difference! Prior to the upgrade, I had been using old card boxes to keep the items contained and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. As you can see from the after, having one uniform color backdrop alone makes it look calmer to the eye. This literally took 10 minutes - from removing all the contents, wiping down the interior of the drawer, and putting everything back. It also gave me the opportunity to re-evaluate what I was returning to the drawer. I also did my top vanity drawer. Make it fun and time yourself to see how long this project takes you to do.
Clothing Drawers - if you've been following the Marie Kondo movement over the last few years, you know that everyone is folding their clothes into little packages and standing them up like a file rather than piles to create more space. The problem is that the lines can get a little messy since there are no guides keeping them in place and as you remove items from the drawer, not having a full line can cause the order to fall apart. Drawer dividers to the rescue. My daughter installed these in her drawers and it instantly made a big difference. Unfortunately, we didn't take before photos, but you can see how much tidier the after photos are.
Miscellaneous Little Jobs - are there minor little things that you've been meaning to get to and just didn't have the time to do it? Mine was replacing the batteries in my battery-operated ceiling lights in a closet and in our hallway. It only took a few minutes to do and it felt so good to just get it done. What's on your list? Replace the air filter? Assemble the shelf you ordered months ago? Just do it, you'll feel so accomplished!
Mini Room Makeovers - this was a slightly bigger project and something I had been considering for a few months and I'm so happy we took the day to just do it last weekend. We gave our dining room a quick makeover with two coats of dark gray paint and wow, it looks amazing! This room has been undergoing slow changes over time. We used to have a buffet cabinet against the back wall and we moved it into the living room and moved the curved bench from the living room here to create a cozier seating around the table. It's now my daughter's distance learning space. The dark paint really cozied up the room and completely changed the overall vibe. Another motivation for the dark paint was the new canvas art we ordered from PhotoWall. We chose a palm print photo with the sunlight peeking through and it had a dark backdrop. Extending the dark backdrop onto the wall made a big difference in the end results. Had we kept the original wall color, the art would not have the same impact.
In case you're in search of wall art, Photowall has thousands of options available on their website. We initially considered installing wallpaper on that wall (in the same print), but after taking into consideration the added expense of hiring a wallpaper installer and the time required to do that, a large canvas was the next best thing. I chose the largest size they offered and ordered the art for a horizontal installation rather than a vertical one. This filled the wall very well. The great thing about photowall canvas art is it comes unassembled, so regardless of how large your art is, you don't have a massive delivery at your front door. Everything is rolled up and compact and very easy to assemble. It comes with all the parts you need and since it's super lightweight, I was able to hang it on the wall with just two screws. It came with the hardware to hang it vertically but since I flipped the photo, the hardware wasn't sufficient for my needs. The most intensive part was marking the location of the screws so the art would be centered and level. I highly recommend photowall canvas art. They're inexpensive, the quality of the prints is very good and there are so many designs to choose from.
Spring Cleaning - this is on my list of things to do. Since the #shelterinplace has been extended through the month of April, we might as well tackle our homes. I know everyone has been cleaning more than usual and if that's you, yay you! The biggest task on my spring cleaning list is cleaning out all my interior kitchen cabinets which means removing everything from them and giving them a good wipe down. I'll have to get really motivated for that project. Good thing I have plenty of audible books and podcasts to keep me company. So far, I've only cleaned one room so far, the living room. I dusted all the shelves by removing everything from them. We all know that is not done during routine cleaning!
Which of the 5 suggestions will you tackle? I'd love to know. I strongly recommend reorganizing a drawer. It's that little bit of accomplishment that'll motivate you to do more. When you do, tag me on social at @alicetchan with your before and after photo.
Good luck and have fun!!!
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