If you’ve got a little time on your hands or you just love being a bit crafty and DIY creative, then there are loads of things you could be making for your own home instead of spending a fortune on them. Upcycling is all the rage so if you have any old furniture knocking around then don’t throw it away just yet as you might be able to transform it into something amazing. Also, creating your own home accessories is the best way to personalise your home, to make it your own and to add some of your personality to it. So, here’s a few ideas of things you can do to give your home a bit of a spruce, upcycle some furniture or just create something special on a rainy day.
Dressers and cupboards
If you have an old dresser or even a new one, but it’s a bit plain and boring, then there are a lot of things you can do to give it some new life. There’s the obvious painting it; you can paint it any colour, even a few shades. Get some new knobs or handles for it, and you’ll already have transformed it completely. If you want to go one step further though, try creating a pattern, this could be on the top, on the side, just one draw or all over. If you’re arty anyway, then you won’t need much help with this. Just let your imagination run wild or find a design you like and copy it, however, if you’ve no idea what to do then try and find a pattern which you can trace on with a pencil first. Then you can go over it with paint or get yourself a stencil so that you won’t go wrong. You could also get some wallpaper and put that on top or on the side to spruce it up. There is a tonne of ideas of how to make old dressers, cupboards and even bookshelves into something new, modern and totally unique just for you, so get searching the web for some inspiration.
Photo frames
There’s no better way of personalising your home than adding a load of photos of your family to your walls, even better than that though is creating your own photo frames which no one else has. Whether you go and get some new multi photo frames or you have some single ones knocking about the house, then you can get cracking as there is a load of uncomplicated ideas of things you can do with them. If you have three similar frames then give them all a lick of paint, they can be the same or different, it’s up to you, then arrange them as a hanging photo frame and join them to each other with ribbon. Another thing you can do with a simple frame is to add done twine around the edge or use a large frame, add some string and use little pegs to hang lines of photos up to make the most of the space you have.
Plant pots
Again if you’ve got some lying around then that’s great, if not you can buy some terracotta pots quite cheap and then paint them however you want to. Plant pots don’t have to be for plants either; they can be used for holding hair brushes, cleaning stuff, you could make something arty with them. Try gluing them together and use them for holding wine bottles, get a set of three different sizes, paint them the same colour and use them for storing your bathroom products in, or use them for bins. Check out my houseplant jungle for inspiration!
Paint crockery
Pottery painting cafes are rocking up all over the place now, and while it’s a lovely way to spend a morning with some friends or your kids, you could just do your own at home. Painting your crockery just how you want it will give you a unique set of plates, cups or a teapot which no one else will ever have, plus they will be in your favourite colours and designs so how can you go wrong? Have a look for ceramic or porcelain crockery which is plain and get yourself the right paints and you’re away. You can even copy designs you’ve seen elsewhere or create something that you just love and haven’t been able to buy anywhere else.
Pillow pocket
If you’re good at sewing and you also always lose the remote control for your TV, then it’s time you got out your sewing kit, cut a pocket off an old pair of jeans and stick it on a cushion and create a home for that remote control. It again gives you a unique little pillow and a small project to do if you need something to keep you busy.
Laundry bag
It’s a good idea to keep your underwear and your delicates separate from the rest of your dirty laundry, so make yourself a little bag to keep them all together in one place. All you need is a pillowcase (choose a nice one if you want a cute patterned bag), a ribbon, and an embroidery hoop, then clamp the pillowcase into the hoop and then tie the ribbon to the hoop’s clamp, and there you have it, it’s ready to hang up and fill with your socks and pants.
Create A Linen ClosetIt isn’t as hard as it sounds, but if you don’t have a particular closet for your linen, then you can make it. All you need to do is attach some baskets to the wall, not only does this look great and unique but it means you have somewhere to put your cloths and towels out of the way but also to have them handy to grab when you need them.