Spring cleaning can be an incredibly cathartic experience. Winter is over, warm weather is on the way, and your home is sparkly clean. But why stop at just clean? If you're looking for ways to further enhance your home this season, you're probably considering a few DIY projects. While that's great, if this is your first time with home DIY, there are a few important tips you might want to keep in mind.
Do Your Research
Google is already responsible for about 90% of all searches, so it's safe to say they can handle you doing some DIY research before you get started on your new home improvement project. Whether you're thinking about a major remodeling project or you just want to refinish your kitchen cabinets, research is key to making sure your first DIY project doesn't end in disaster. If at all possible, utilize a step-by-step guide from a home DIY pro. If you have to use power tools or other heavy equipment for your DIY project, make sure you have instructions at the ready. In addition, do your research on proper safety precautions to take while operating any power tools.
Have a First Aid Kit Ready
While the point of this article is to help you prevent a major DIY disaster, it never hurts to be prepared. In most cases, taking the time to prepare for injury or mishap can help you be more mindful about preventing it in the first place. Power tools, sharp objects, and the like can often be the perfect recipe for injuries. The better prepared you are to prevent this kind of a mess, the less likely you are to make it happen.
Create a Budget
It doesn't matter if you're gutting your entire bathroom or if you're just updating your window treatments. One of the best things you can do to prevent DIY disasters is to create a budget before you even begin shopping for supplies. Developing your DIY idea is great, but the next step needs to be getting the financial picture in order. As part of the research you completed earlier, make sure you write down a few rough estimates of what it would cost to make your dream a reality. For example, if you want to buy leather furniture, which is a $217 billion market, for your home after you finish the floors, you need to know how much that costs before you ditch your old couches. Once you have your rough estimate, do some math to see if you can make that work. If not, create a savings plan to get you there. Few things are worse than having to abandon a DIY project halfway through because you didn't budget well enough.
Check the Weather
Nobody said your DIY project had to take place inside. Maybe you're laying new stones for a path through your yard or updating your flower arrangement in the garden. If you're planning on doing any kind of outdoor DIY work, make sure you check the weather beforehand. There's nothing more disappointing than having everything DIY-ready and being forced to abandon your project on account of rain. Do yourself a favor and pay close attention to the forecast in the days leading up to your DIY debut in the great outdoors.
Know When to Seek Help
Just because you're committed to DIY doesn't mean you can or should do it all by yourself. In fact, since this is your first DIY project, it's likely you'll need a little bit of help to bring it to fruition successfully. There may be heavy lifting that you're not used to. Maybe you don't own the right equipment, but a neighbor you know and trust does. Involving someone with more experience, whether it's with power tools or painting, can help you prevent unnecessary damage to your home. There are a lot of little mishaps that can happen during a DIY project. If you have a question or need help, don't hesitate to ask.
DIY projects are incredibly satisfying when they're done right. And considering that almost 42% of people who purchase vacation homes intend on fixing them up for family getaways, you're not alone in dipping your toes into the world of home improvement DIY. With these tips in mind, your first DIY project will go off without a hitch.
