Once you finally sign the last piece of paperwork and grab the keys for your new place, it’s inevitable that you’re going to find something that you want to change right away. For that reason, we’ve created a list of DIY projects for your new living room. Some of these can be done over the weekend, or some may take a bit longer, but you’ll be proud to call these projects your own.
Update Your Window Treatments
The window treatment is often the first thing that people see when they look in a room, so why not give it a facelift? Switch out the drapes and allow more light into the room. Throw out that old curtain rod and get a brand new one. Updating your window treatments doesn’t cost much, and it’s very easy to do.
Fix Those Annoying Little Things
Image via Flickr by Sam Howzit
Now’s the time to fix all the little things that have bothered you around the room. Has the knob on your entertainment center been loose? Either tighten it up or buy a new knob. Do you have a chair that’s unbalanced? Drill a tiny hole into the leg of the chair and fill it with glue. Quit putting off that tiny project you’ve meant to do and take care of it!
Make a Landing Pad
After a long day at work, you come home and immediately shed everything, including your wallet and your keys, leaving you retracing your steps later while you try to figure out where you left them. Stop doing that and make a landing pad! This could be as simple as buying a small bowl and leaving it near the door to put your wallet and keys in. Make a pattern of dumping everything in that bowl when you come in from work, right before you prop your feet up and watch TV. You’ll never lose your keys again.
Add a Dimmer Switch
Have you wanted your living room to have that perfect theater feel, but never got around to making that happen? Now’s the perfect chance to install some dimmer switches in the living room. When it’s time to watch a movie, lower the lights to create the perfect theatrical atmosphere. Dimmer switches are fairly inexpensive and can be installed in just a few hours. Since California is all about saving energy, most of the Orange County new homes already have dimmer switches, but if yours doesn’t they’re really easy to add!
Create a Mail Holder
Do you constantly have mail scattered everywhere in your house? Eliminate that with a mail holder! These are very easy to make — in fact, all you’ll likely need is a shutter! You can drill the shutter into the wall either vertically or horizontally, depending on how you want to display the mail. You could appoint one side for yourself and one for another person, or split it up into multiple sections, depending on how many people are in your household. There won’t be a need for mail on the counter ever again.
Paint the Room
Though it’s not the easiest of tasks, you’ll be surprised at how great a newly painted living room can make you feel. It can change the vibe the entire room gives. Go with a bright color if you have stylish art, or choose a more muted color to give off a relaxed feel. It all depends on what you want to do and how you want the room to feel. Make sure the paint that you choose doesn’t clash too much with the items you have in your room, or you’ll end up with a room that no one’s a fan of.
There are hundreds of things that you can do to your living room once you move in, and these are just a few. When you moved in to your new place, what was one of the first things you did? Was there something specific that you hated about the room? How did you work to improve it? Leave a comment in the section below.