Home diy ideas: 10 small jobs to do during the holidays.

Painting a wall, putting up shelves, and hanging a lamp, are not the ideas that are lacking to occupy yourself intelligently during the holidays. The opportunity to do the small jobs that we have long been reluctant to do at home. Here are some diy ideas.

If the holidays are synonymous with rest, staying at home is an opportunity to take care of your home and do all those things that we usually put off until later: sorting out your belongings, cleaning the house down to the smallest nooks, or tidying up. And if you take the opportunity to take out your toolbox and also give a few turns of the screw? Repair everything that has been waiting to be repaired for too long, renovate a small piece of furniture or do some painting? Without embarking on major work, there is always something to do to improve your home! With next to nothing and a little imagination, or after browsing the big DIY stores, you can do wonders to renew your interior. Here are some ideas to occupy your vacation.

1/10 Install shelves

This is the kind of thing that we always put off until tomorrow and that we will finally be able to take the time to do. Whether decorative or purely functional, installing shelving requires very little material and gives a lot of satisfaction. If you have a ready-to-install model, a few nails or screws (often supplied) should suffice, as well as a level or tape measure to make sure you put them straight. But it is also possible to make them yourself with very little: a few boards of medium, plywood or even why not old skateboards... Just sand them with a little sandpaper, paint (with a brush or spray), and/or varnish them before fixing them to the wall using a few brackets. In decoration putting some trinkets, in a kitchen to store utensils or in the back of a cupboard to optimize storage, installing shelves is an excellent way to improve the interior layout.

Difficulty level: 3/5

Material: Rigid boards + Sandpaper + Paint + Brackets

2/10 Painting a wall or a small piece of furniture

Without embarking on a pharaonic project by repainting the whole house, you can still give a nice boost to your decor by arming yourself with simple brushes. The contours of a mirror or a window, shelves, a small piece of furniture, a door or an entire cupboard, all you need is often a little sandpaper and the appropriate paint for the support of your choice to make wonders. You will first have to find one (or more) color(s) that suit both the object to be repainted and the rest of your interior, then equip yourself with brushes or rollers adapted according to the surface and shape to be covered.

For detail and precision, opt for a brush as fine as possible, and to avoid overflows, use adhesive. It remains to prepare your support by cleaning it (with a brush, then with a slightly damp sponge) and then by sanding it carefully with sandpaper (coarse, medium, and small grain). If the surface is damaged (rust on the metal or small holes in the wood), use a treatment (anti-rust, wood filler) then let it dry for the necessary time. Finally, before applying your paint (2 to 4 coats depending on the case), it will sometimes be necessary to start with an undercoat (if the surface to be painted is dark and your paint is light) or even a primer on the supports atypical, respecting the drying times at each stage. Finally, do not forget to apply a coat of varnish (matte or glossy) which will allow better maintenance.

Difficulty level: 4/5

Material: Paint + Sandpaper + Brushes (and/or rollers) + Varnish

3/10 Make a moodboard

Also called a trend board, a mood board is usually used by creators (architects, decorators, artists, etc.) to bring together all their current inspirations. A method that you can perfectly borrow from them to support more personal projects: an upcoming renovation, a change of look, your next vacation or the preparation of a particular event. Very visual, the idea is to bring together different concrete or figurative images, patterns, materials, colors, or even a few keywords in a single table, readable at a glance. Often produced virtually (using image software such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator), it is however possible to create a very real mood board by hanging everything that inspires you on a board, in a notebook, or directly on the wall. Arm yourself with scissors, a printer, and a little adhesive and gather everything that inspires you: photos, drawings, plants, fabrics or even plants. Graphic and decorative, this activity will allow you to channel your creative ideas and prepare for your next projects.

Difficulty level: 1/5

Material: Scissors + glue or adhesive

4/10 Install a suspension or wall lamp

Because you have to handle a few electrical wires, you often dread installing a pendant lamp or wall lamp yourself. However, the operation remains relatively simple, provided of course that you take all the necessary precautions. And the first is invariable, it is necessary to cut the power supply where you want to intervene (and if in doubt, do not hesitate to cut everything for a few minutes). Two scenarios remain possible and depend on the age of your installation. The new homes are equipped with DCL boxes which facilitate the operation. Because they are equipped with a hook that allows a flush finish, but above all because the connection is simplified. Simply remove the socket from the plug, then unscrew it to connect the cables (respecting the colors) before closing it. All that remains is to connect the plug to the DLC box and then hang the suspension on its hook. In older homes, you will first need to attach a hook yourself using a drill and dowel (taking care not to drill into the cables behind the wall or ceiling). It must then be attached to a suspension bar in which the wire of your lamp also passes. The wire must finally be connected to those of the ceiling using a domino which makes it possible to isolate the connections, and which is closed with the help of small screws. All that remains is to hide the whole thing with the cover of your living room suspension, your wall or ceiling lamp, always using screws. Although it is relatively easy, this operation requires perfect safety and obvious notions of electricity.

Difficulty level: 4/5

Equipment: Screwdriver + Drill + Dowel + Hanging bar + Domino

5/10 Repair your small household appliance

Did you know that half of the electronic objects that no longer work in a house could be repaired, without even having to change a part? It's unbelievable, but it's true. Most of the time, all it takes is a little screw, a bit of glue, or cleaning a filter to give a second life to objects that you were ready to throw away. From the simple toaster to the washing machine, passing by the television or the mower, almost everything is repairable if you want to take the trouble. Rather than putting them in the dumpster, bring them together and try to identify the origin of their breakdown. Often the solution is obvious and when you are a bit of a handyman, you find out how to do it yourself. If not, take a look at the Spareka site (www.spareka.fr) which offers more than 700 easy-to-follow tutorials, thanks to which nearly a million devices have been repaired in France. In one out of two cases, you will only need a few tools and a little dexterity. For others, it may be necessary to replace a part that the site offers to buy online. In the end, it is possible to restore 90% of the HS objects in the house. So whether you want to reuse them, give them away or even resell them, the game is definitely worth the effort.

Difficulty level: 2/5

Material: Small tools/glue/screws/spare parts

6/10 Pimp up your bathroom

Does your bathroom need a little facelift? There again, there is a lot to do to refresh it yourself: tidying up, cleaning up, painting the walls or the ceiling. But it is often the tiling of the bathroom that gives a hard time and deserves particular attention. First, the seals that turn black or dull when there is nothing easier to replace. Simply remove the old ones using a small squeegee, taking care not to scratch the tiles around them, then lay new ones, using a gun for more precision. But if you also need to replace a few tiles, arm yourself with a mason's chisel to break the mortar joint, then a chisel to completely remove the damaged models. Then thoroughly clean the surface and moisten it with a sponge. Then lay the adhesive mortar using a glue knife, before placing the new tile, respecting the gap between future mortar joints that will remain to be made after drying.

Difficulty level: 4/5

Material: Tile tile + Chisel + Mason's chisel + Glue knife + Glue mortar + Joint mortar

7/10 Make a coat rack with wire

Lovers of meticulousness and graphic arts, a simple wire could well fill your boredom. Some simply use them to compose decorative sculptures, in 2 or even 3 dimensions. Abstract or more realistic shapes, or even words to make murals. But others find them more concrete functions. By assembling them, or braiding them to create lampshades, suspensions, or even coat racks, like this one, to hang on a door. Made using a spray-painted electric cable and sculpted using flat pliers, it requires no other material than your artistic sense, which lately has a great need of expressing itself a little!

Difficulty level: 3/5

Material: Wire + Spray paint + Flat pliers

8/10 Revamp or renovate your doors

There are a thousand ways to take care of a door (interior or closet), starting of course with a proper cleaning, or even a little paint. But we can also embark on a more complete makeover by changing the latches. Nothing could be simpler, just remove the old handles first. Depending on the case, it will be necessary to unscrew visible screws (sometimes by removing a cover) or remove pins using pliers. It remains to install the new model by respecting its installation instructions.

A little more complicated, changing the lock of a front door remains relatively simple, even if it is advisable to call on a professional to guarantee the perfect security of the installation. Simply unscrew the screws on the handle, insert the key and turn it in both directions while gently pulling the cylinder until it unhooks, then install the new cylinder. Finally do not forget to put a little oil on a cloth to pass it on the hinges, and avoid unpleasant squeaking.

Difficulty level: 2/5

Equipment: Screwdriver / pliers

9/10 Line the bottom of a piece of furniture or a drawer

And if you put a little decorative touch to old furniture that is starting to date? Nothing like a tapestry workshop to refresh a library, a sideboard, or a dresser, to your liking and for next to nothing. First step: find the ideal cover that will adorn the furniture of your choice and reveal all its charm. Wise or quirky, it's up to you to find which colors, and patterns but also which material will best suit your fancy. If you don't have wallpaper or carpet scraps in the basement, maybe you'll find fabrics stiff enough to do the job, or just order from a manufacturer (usually less than a meter of coating is more than enough). Second step: Identity which parts of the furniture you want to cover (bottom of drawer or shelves, cupboard doors, etc.) then prepare your intervention. First, thoroughly clean the furniture by sanding the parts you want to line with sandpaper if necessary. Then after measuring the bottom, cut out your covering with precision then coat it with universal glue (or wallpaper glue) before placing it to coordinate its edges with those of the furniture. Finally, smooth the whole thing with a brush or a squeegee and you're done!

Difficulty level: 3/5

Material: Paper or fabric + Scissors + Sandpaper + Glue

10/10 Install or repair clip-on floating parquet

A little harder but perfectly achievable if you are a bit of a handyman, laying a floating floor is not very complicated, especially when it is clip-on, provided you have the method. Before even starting the project, take the time to choose the orientation of the boards by visualizing the rendering you want to obtain (knowing that to enlarge the room, they are placed parallel to its smaller side). Then prepare your floor by removing its coating, then checking that it is perfectly flat (and above all that it does not need leveling). Once clean and dry, all that remains is to lay down insulation suitable for the situation. If a simple felt is enough for wooden floors or tiles, it is however necessary to provide a subfloor separator on a concrete screed. Then lay a plank in front of each opening door to check that it will not need to be planned. Then arrange the first boards in staggered rows along the wall of your choice (against a wedge of a small centimeter which will serve as an expansion joint), starting with the corner of the room. Assemble each plank by clipping it and then tapping lightly with a mallet. At the end of the row, measure the space to be filled with the last plank to cut it with a saw to the correct size. Continue in this way until the last row where it will often be necessary to cut the boards across the width to fill the remaining space. Finally, remove the wedges, then wait for the parquet to expand before attaching the skirting boards.

Difficulty level: 5/5

Material: Clip-on floating floor + Insulation + Mallet + Saw