We tend to do a burst of DIY projects in a series of weekends, then take a break and enjoy life, and then dive into planning DIY projects again. When you both work full time, it’s impossible to spend every weekend working on your house or you will die of exhaustion or just bicker endlessly. Sometimes you have to go eat a burger and drink a beer on a patio!
Right now, we are planning DIY projects for the early part of the summer so we can fully enjoy the later part of the summer, which is the golden time in the PNW. No surprise that we are working on our outdoor spaces! Here’s what we’re planning:
Summer DIY Projects
- Bedroom Balcony Edible Garden: paint balcony, stencil the floor, create DIY floating raised beds out of wine boxes, and plant a lush garden of vegetables and fruits.
- Front Yard Garden: clear out of all of the scraggly baby pink flowers, plant a lush cottage style garden, add metal circle raised beds, and build classic cedar plank raised beds.
- Sunroom: install baseboards, DIY refresh doors, replace window, add blinds, DIY refresh paint and install retro teal booth, wrap beam in wood, and add tropical plants.
- Main Bedroom: add curtains, install closet doors, and include a touch more décor to finish the bedroom.
A key element of #SpeakeasyStyle is cocktail hour, so many of our current projects are focused on growing the fresh herbs to create unique, refreshing cocktails to enjoy in our beautiful new outdoor spaces. Here’s how we approach planning DIY projects together:
Planning DIY Projects: Some Tips:
- Grab a notebook or a shared Google doc and write out the possible projects you want to tackle in the next phase of DIY.
- Then look at the calendar and map out which weekends you have free to work on DIY projects. It is best to have a whole weekend available.
- Check the weather if part of your project is outdoors. This is especially important in the PNW.
- Budget out how much the projects will cost and see if it is feasible. It’s hard to postpone projects due to cost, but it is more realistic.
- Then do the pre-work: measure spaces, map out design, get paint samples, bookmark a bunch of tabs in your browser, etc.
- Plan out lunches and easy dinners for the DIY weekend, or budget to order take out.
- Put on your overalls and get started!
It is impossible to do everything yourself, so work together as a team–each utilizing your unique strengths to make the DIY weekends as fun as possible. Then pour a crisp glass of wine and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
English