7 easy DIY projects to try on the weekend

Easy home DIY projects around the garden and outdoors

Green up your fence with a stylish trellis

You will need: Trellis, wood offcuts, saw to make spacer blocks from cutoffs, drill, screwdriver, spirit level, tape measure. 

Add a touch of greenery to your fence by attaching a trellis and creating a vertical garden. For a touch of fragrance, try jasmine, or for colour and a perfume plant, a climbing rose.

• Before you start this DIY project, carefully measure the area you want to cover to make sure you buy enough trellis.
• To ensure your creepers have room to grow, you’ll need to allow space between the fence and the trellis.
• Make small ‘spacers’ about the size of a matchbox from wood offcuts, and fix these about a metre apart to the horizontal rails of the fence, rather than the vertical palings.
• Then screw, rather than nail, the trellis to the spacers, ensuring your screws are long enough to penetrate the fence, spacers, and trellis.

Tips 

• Check your fence is strong enough to hold the trellis by giving it a shake.
• Turn your trellis vertically and attach to all three horizontal railings.

Traps

• Don’t start without using a spirit level to ensure the trellis is straight.
• Don’t use screws that are too short. You want them to bite 15 millimetres into the railings, but you must add the depth of the lattice and the spacers, so make them around 75 millimetres long.

Call the expert: If your fencing job is complex. 

Organise the garage

You will need: Shelves, cabinets, clear containers, labels, wall hooks.

For this weekend DIY project, turn your garage into a well-organised space by categorising items and creating designated storage areas behind the garage door.

You may want to look at converting your garage to a useable space like a home office, gym or games room, or perhaps you simply want to be able to find storage items easily. To make it a useable space, it will first need to become organised.

• Categorise items, install shelves or cabinets, use clear containers, label items, and declutter regularly.
• Install shelves or cabinets for tools, sports equipment, memorabilia and other items.
• Use clear containers for smaller items, and label them for easy identification.
• Consider hanging bicycles and other gear on wall hooks to maximise floor space.

Tips

• Continue to regularly assess and declutter items you no longer need.
• Check that your garage can be locked to deter garage theft.

Traps

• Make sure storage items can be clearly reached, and don’t put items used frequently up high, especially if they are heavy.
• If required, make sure to practise ladder safety when needing items high out of reach.

Call the expert: If you’re looking to replace, install, service or repair your garage door or your garage locks.

Add mulch to your garden

You will need: Organic mulch (wood chips, straw), rake.

Mulch helps retain moisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature. Improve the health of your garden by adding a layer of mulch around your plants in this easy DIY project. 

• Learn how to get started with mulching here.
• Choose organic mulch, such as wood chips or straw, and spread it evenly around your garden beds. 
• Mulching is an easy and effective way to enhance the vitality of your plants.

Tips

• Mulching should be done twice a year, just before winter, and again toward the end of spring.

Traps

• Be mindful not to pile mulch against the plant stems. Less is more, so make sure your plants still have room to breathe.

Call the expert: For gardening tasks like landscaping, mowing and gutter cleaning.

Start a vegetable garden

You will need: Compost, seeds or seedlings, watering can, support structures, raised beds.

Create a small vegetable garden to enjoy homegrown produce for this weekend DIY job. Make sure to select vegetables that thrive in your climate, keeping note of the season.

• Choose a sunny spot.
• Prepare the soil by adding compost – we have a guide to getting started with composting here.
• Plant seeds or seedlings, or even veggie scraps.
• Consider using raised beds for easy maintenance.
• Water regularly.
• Enjoy the satisfaction of harvesting your own fresh vegetables.

Tips

• Keep note of the planting calendar – this will help you to understand which vegetables will thrive in your space.

Traps

• Ensure your vegetable garden is watered regularly to avoid any fungal diseases and promote growth.
• Make sure not to pick too soon – you want them when they are ripe to enhance the flavour.

Call the expert: For gardening and home maintenane tasks like landscaping, mowing and gutter cleaning.

Easy DIY projects around the inside of the home

Paint a room with a stylish makeover

You will need: Roller, paintbrushes, extension pole, masking tape, sturdy ladder, drop sheet, rags.

Use the long weekend to undertake a DIY room transformation with a fresh coat of paint.

Perhaps you’re looking to restore a room to its former glory, you’re restyling your bedroom, or you’ve had the urge to paint a room or feature wall a new hue.

Painting your home not only can have the ability to increase the value of your home, but helps to give the place a refreshed and revitalised look that keeps up with your style and design needs.

• Prepare the space: empty the room of any objects that will get in the way of painting.
• Use masking tape to protect areas you don't want to paint, and lay down a drop sheet across the flooring.
• Repair cracks and prepare the walls by sanding and washing with sugar soap.
• Cut in around edges and use a roller with an extension rod for high spots.
• Apply two coats for a professional finish.

Tips

• Make sure to clean any dirty surfaces before starting for a smooth finish.
• To prevent brushes from drying out, keep in a bucket of clean water when not in use.

Traps

• Distil paint into a smaller container for easy handling, and avoid dark colours that may highlight imperfections.
• Better to paint on a dry day – humidity means your paint may drip, leading to a slower drying time.

Call the expert: For hard-to-reach spots like gutters, eaves and the roof; or for more complex painting needs that require tradie assistance.

Create a gallery wall

You will need: Hammer, measuring tape, picture hangers, nails, pencil, masking tape, frames, artworks or prints, adhesive hooks (if required).

A gallery wall in your home is a terrific way to showcase your unique interests in a stylish way.

An easy DIY weekend project, a gallery wall may be made of art prints, family photos, collectables, kids’ drawings – anything you like that can hang on the wall. The trick is to have a plan.

• Choose the space for your gallery wall – ideally a blander space.
• Choose the items you want to hang.
• Plan out your design – this can be by laying out your items on a kitchen table and tracing them on butcher paper, taking a photo of your layout, and measuring the space. We have some tips on how to plan our your gallery wall here.
• Hang up your artworks, ensuring they are measured, straight, and evenly spaced. This can be done using a drill and nails/screws, or with adhesive hooks that can carry the weight of your items.

Tips

• Your gallery wall doesn’t have to have all the same items or perfectly aligned photographs, but it does need cohesion.
• Bring it together with a central theme – certain colours, space between your works, and proper hanging techniques.

Traps

• Even though a gallery wall may ‘look’ like an eclectic set of items, it does need to be thought out to avoid looking messy. Planning is everything.

Call the expert: If you do not have experience with using tools to hang items, or you’re looking to put them in a space that is difficult to access and requires expertise.

Curate your bookshelf

You will need: Books, book ends (optional), items including plants, vases, plants (optional).

Displaying a book collection is a unique way to display your interests while also providing easy access to reread your favourite classics.

For this easy DIY project, dust off the old pile and make your bookshelf a focal point of your home

• Do a book audit – have a rifle through your book collection and choose those you wish to keep and have on display – it may be favourites, classics, kids books, your own travel photobook, or all the above.
• If you have no more need for some books, don’t throw them out – there are many charitable organisations who would appreciate the donation.
• Choose a location – an empty shelf, a windowsill, a book tree – the choice is yours.
• Organise your bookshelf – we have a range of ideas on how to turn your bookshelf into a work of art here.
• Add in any accessories that may add to the look, such as book ends, hanging plants, and collectables.

Tips

Organisation is key to avoid your books looking messy – pick a theme and dedicated space to highlight your collection in the best light.

Traps

Regularly dust and change up your bookshelf with your ever-changing reading habits, interests, and purchases.

Call the expert: if looking to build a new inbuilt bookshelf, or require repairs from a carpenter.

When to call a qualified professional

While DIY projects can be satisfying, there are instances when calling in qualified professionals is necessary.

For tasks involving changing light fixtures, electrical work, plumbing, roofing, or significant renovations, always contact qualified experts.