14 ways to celebrate Home Improvement Month

April is Home Improvement Month, its aim is encourage everyone to #makeonechange to help you #loveyourhome. Last year, over 17 million people across the UK got involved and pledged to make a single change to their home, so here’s a few ways - big or small - that you can get involved this year!

1. Spruce up the garden with more plants

As warmer weather approaches, the garden is a great place to start your home improvements. It doesn’t need to be a huge project, it could be a simple change like adding some exotic plants or weeding. You may even want a colour theme, like using the rainbow to inspire your flower arrangements.

2. Make your own picnic area

Why not create your very own picnic area in the garden where you can enjoy sunny days with the family? You could add picnic furniture or simply lay a picnic blanket on grass or decking. Whether you prefer sun or shade, make sure to consider where’s best to set up. One idea is to beautify your flower beds and surround the picnic area with a range of bright and picturesque flowers.

If you are adding a picnic table, don’t forget outdoor candles and pretty decorations like tablecloths and outdoor cushions. If you have trees in your garden, you could add outdoor fairy lights and hang decorations to bring your picnic spot to life.

3. Renovate the shed and make it more useful

Is the shed looking a little tired? Maybe when you walk in, you’re greeted by cobwebs and eight-legged uninvited tenants. Or are you struggling to even tell what’s in there anymore? Let this month’s home improvement theme spur you on to sort your messy shed. It doesn’t have to be a boring or exhausting job either. Even if you do a bit each week, you can come out of the month with at least one good improvement that will make you feel tons better and do wonders for your garden and storage solutions.

Start by sorting through any rubbish or things you don’t need anymore. Ideally you need a dry day to sort your items into different piles in the garden to create good organisation. Have a pile for rubbish or ‘need to get rid’ items, and then separate everything else into similar piles e.g. garden tools, cleaning items etc. so when it comes to reorganising, you’ll find it so much easier to locate everything.

If the shed is made of wood, give it a clean and consider a timber treatment. Then you can look at wood stains or paint to give it a fresh look. If you have keen artists in the family, get them involved with designing and planning, or even the painting itself.

4. Add a whimsical garden path

Using simple wooden planks or wooden pallets, you can create a lovely walkway to admire your plants and greenery. You can use saw tools, claw hammers and pry bars to chop down the wood to your required width for the path and to remove nails. From there, lay down the wooden planks over your bed of soil and line them up to create the path. Then drill down a hole on either end of each plank. Then hammer down landscape edging pins (or something suitable) into the holes to anchor down the planks to the soil.

5. Create a better home office

With more people working from home now more than ever, it can be the perfect time to actually create a home office or update what you already have. Help drive productivity by setting up an inviting work area instead of slouching on the couch with your laptop.

Whether it’s adding funky shelves, buying a desk, adopting a hygge style or refreshing your stationery and storage, inject some order and life into your home office. Not only will you be improving your home, but your productivity too!

6. How good is your home security?

When improving our homes, we may only think about painting or a DIY project, but we can forget about the fundamentals, like our home security. What better way to show your home some love than by giving it the best protection possible?

You don’t need to worry about installation and maintenance either, as you can set up a DIY, wireless security system in less than an hour that can connect to security cameras, intelligent alarm sensors and smart home technology systems.

7. Time for a seasonal colour change?

As we enter the warmer seasons, it might be time for some colour scheme changes. This Home Improvement Month, you may want a completely different colour scheme for every room or stick to one simple change.You could repaint a bedroom, get a new bed set and replace draws and wardrobe handles with matching colourful ones.

8. Create the perfect pantry

Get your pantry organised using trays, boxes and jars to separate ingredients, utensils and other items. To make everything easier to find and add a unique touch, make some handy labels. Now the next time that cupboard opens, you’re instantly satisfied and can make food prepping and cooking more of a breeze.

9. Put up some funky shelves

Shelves are brilliant for organising and creating a stylish display. You can have them in any room, from the kitchen and bedroom to the shed. They don’t just have to be a standard plank of wood, you can get box shelves, parallel shelves, basket shelves and corner shelf units in various shapes and sizes. There are so many ingenious shelf designs to suit different spaces and home styles. They’re great for tidying to put things up, but also can breathe a new lease of life into a room by displaying art, pictures, your favourite ornaments and inspirational, framed quotes.

10. Organise the porch

The entrance hallway or porch can be a messy and abandoned place in our homes, as we get used to passing it every day to get straight into chillout mode. Use this time to get it looking refreshed, inviting and super organised by going through coats, umbrellas and shoes that are no longer needed (donate them if they are in good condition). Organise the shoes by either having a shoe rack or try shoe holders that can be attached to the wall.

11. Refresh your wardrobes

If you love colour-coordination, this task will be a fun one. Why not organise wardrobes by colour or seasonal fashion - or both! You could have one section for jackets, body warmers and long-sleeved tops, sorted into colours. Or maybe you just want to sort your whole wardrobe arranged by colour. Again, go through what you no longer wear or haven’t worn in the past few years to clear the clutter, and donate or sell the items.

12. Recycle and upcycle

When it comes to recycling, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be by having separate bins in the house. Going off your local council’s recycling, you can separate this by general waste, paper recycling and can / glass recycling. So when it comes to taking it to the council’s bins, it’s efficient and you can rely on the whole family getting it right.

Do a recycle and upcycle tour of your home to look out for things that can be used for arts and crafts, DIY projects or recycling. Old bits of fabric can go a long way in upcycling clothes, cushions and other interior. Cardboard can be used for art projects, and you can even turn glass bottles into vases or put fairy lights inside for extra decoration. There’s so much you can do with everyday household items that can save you money and keep your home tidy and efficient.

13. Solar power

Maybe you’re looking for a bigger change to help reduce your home’s carbon footprint. Solar panels are an excellent way to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Solar panels that sit on the roof can absorb the sun’s energy all day to power your home, saving you energy costs in the long-run and helping the environment in a huge way.

14. Switch to energy-saving light bulbs and bring candles back

One of the easiest things you can do to go greener in your home is to switch light bulbs to energy-saving ones. Also, you could try to get battery-operated lights and items to also save on electricity costs. Don’t forget about candles - you can instantly create warmth and a quaint, cosy vibe by opting for candles, whilst also saving electricity and energy.

Whether it’s small improvements or one big project, there are so many fun ways you can celebrate Home Improvement Month this April. If you want to improve your overall home security and are ready to make it smarter, we can help with just that, thanks to our incredible home security systems. Just get in touch to see how we can help improve your homes this year or shop systems here.