Top DIY Projects to Work on at Home Right Now

With so many of us unable to leave our homes at the moment due to social distancing recommendations, it can be easy to get lost in a rabbit hole of boxset binge watching.

However, being at home is a great time to keep your spirits up by carrying out some of those easy DIY tasks that you've been putting off for another day.

In this article, we'll give you some suggestions on a few simple DIY jobs you could do without the need for special tools or knowledge.

Put up a shelf

It's quite popular these days to get Ikea-style floating shelves. These are useful single shelves that attach to your wall without visible screws and brackets.

However, how many of you have bought one of these shelves and left it gathering dust leaning against a wall, to be put up 'when you get round to it'?

This is one of those tasks that's very easy to do if you have a drill and there's plenty of videos around showing you how to do it. These days you can even get spirit level apps on your phone to make sure the shelf is straight.

We're not even talking about a full set of shelves here. If you've got a single shelf that needs putting up, this is an easy task to do and will give you a great sense of achievement!

Put up framed pictures

Much like shelving, things that make our walls look more attractive are very often left in a corner to be dealt with later. The days, weeks and months go by and those framed pictures remain untouched and start to become part of the furtniture.

It might be framed pictures, it could be a mirror, a canvas or a wall hanging. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be leaning against the wall and needs to be hung up.

Often you don't need a drill, with a hammer and a nail doing the job. You might even have some of those self adhesive, velcro tabs that mean you don't have to put holes in the wall.

Use this time to create that gallery wall you've been meaning to create and generally make an improvement to the aesthetics of the walls in your home.

Clean your gutters

If you've got a ladder, then a very easy job your can do without any special tools is to clean your gutters.

Throughout the year, your gutters can become clogged by leaves, twigs and moss. Left unchecked, the weight of the debris can cause your guttering to break which leads to rainwater not being drained away properly. In extreme cases, this can cause damp in your homes.

An easy way to stop this from happening is by putting on some gloves, getting up a ladder and scooping up some of the gunk out of your drains.

Yes it's not the most pleasant of tasks and yes, you're probably going to get dirty. However, this short-term inconvenience can save you a lot of hassle and expense in the long term, so consider getting it done.

Clean your radiators

We might do the vacuuming and wiping down worktops as a matter of course, but how many of us have ever given our radiators a good cleaning?

If you've got some standard convector radiators installed in your home, take a look down the back where the convector fins are. It's highly likely there's a large amount of dust clinging to the back of your radiator.

Equally, if you've got pets or your children, your rads are quite likely to have dirty fingerprints, paw prints and pet hair spoiling the finish and bringing down the tone of the room.

Take a thing brush and run it down the back of your radiators to remove the dust. Then with some hot soapy water, wipe down the main chamber of your radiators, drying it off with a lint-free cloth or some kitchen roll.

You might be surprised at how much better your rads look, especially if they have a polished finish like chrome or stainless steel.

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