Fall DIY Home Improvement Projects

Quick DIY Home Improvement Projects

We are in the last days of summer, headed into fall, and it’s a great time for quick DIY home improvement projects that can beautify your home and add home value. Our days are still longer and lend themselves to working on projects after work and on weekends. Most of the projects we share with you are quick and simple projects that can be done in a few hours or split over a few days. Many of the home improvement projects we discuss can be a family affair, with your older children being able to help.

DIY Outdoor Home Improvement Projects

The last days of summer and fall are a great time to knock out outdoor projects because our days are still longer and the weather is still pretty warm. Some of the projects you see below are good annual home maintenance projects that are best undertaken on a warmer day.

• Add New Outdoor Lighting: Outdoor lighting options have come so far, especially with all the options for outdoor solar lighting. Installing or upgrading your current outdoor lighting is a great creative project. With so many solar options, you don’t need to have any electrical skills to add beautiful outdoor lighting to your home. We added solar lights around our pool last year, and they are beautiful when the sun is setting in the evening. There are solar post lights, solar post caps, solar step lights, and staked solar lights, so you can add solar lighting along an entire path easily.
• Refresh Your Home or Outdoor Building Paint: When people think of refreshing their home’s paint, they think of painting the entire house, which is a large undertaking time-wise and monetarily. One of the quickest ways to give your home a refresh is to paint the exterior doors a new color or to choose a new trim color for your home. Even updating the smallest details can have a large impact on curb appeal.
• Pressure Wash Your Home & Outbuildings: The last days of summer and early fall are a great time to pressure wash your decks, driveway, patio, and siding. Pressure washing is a great task to do on a hot day. When it comes to pressure washing siding or decks, only pressure wash on the lowest settings unless you are planning on painting within a short span of time.

• Update Your Landscaping: Minimizing plants that are high maintenance or need an abundance of water with native plants serves a two-fold purpose: lower utility bills and less upkeep yearly. By choosing perennial flowering plants with different bloom times, you’ll have color and cut flowers for your home throughout the year.
• Clean Your Gutters So You’re Prepared for Winter: Clean gutters are a good idea year-round, but especially before winter storms set in. You want your gutters and downspouts free of debris so your gutters don’t back up and cause damage to your fascia trim and your roof underlayment.

• Lower Your Grocery Bills with a Fall/Winter Garden: Planting a fall/winter vegetable garden or adding vegetable plants to deck pots is an easy way to add fresh produce for your family and lower your grocery bills. There are so many options these days for smaller vegetable gardens with smaller raised bed kits, especially made for patios or decks. Some of the smaller raised beds have legs, so your vegetable garden is truly raised, so bending is not needed to have fresh vegetables.

Many of these projects make a positive impact on how your home looks, curb appeal, while lowering costs over time.

Indoor DIY Home Improvement Projects

When the weather is still warm towards the end of summer and the beginning of fall, it’s a great time for DIY indoor home improvement projects. Many of the DIY projects we discuss can be accomplished in a few hours, and some may take a couple of days. Realize that even large home improvement projects can be broken down into smaller steps that can fit into a busy schedule.

• Upgrade Home & Outdoor Building Windows: Window technology has come a long way in the last few years. Many homes built years ago only had single-pane windows in the garage and sometimes no windows in the bathroom. Bathrooms with only exhaust fans tend to have more challenges with retaining moisture than bathrooms with opening windows. Shed Windows and More has awning windows, transom windows that open, and you can order custom double-pane windows for any room or outbuilding from Shed Windows and More. If you have single-pane windows in your home, replacing them with double-pane windows can reduce your utility bill. Windows are available tinted to reduce glare, reduce UV rays, reduce energy costs, enhance privacy, and improve the aesthetics of your home. Shed Windows and More also carries Florida-approved windows that can withstand harsh weather conditions.

• Organize Your Home: Fall is a great time before the holidays to organize and declutter your home. Take on one area or room at a time, such as the pantry, bathroom, or a bedroom. You can donate extra food to a food pantry or a grocery barrel donation site. There are so many useful organizing products available today that add style and space to your home.

• Update Your Home’s Interior Paint: Summer and early fall are good times for indoor painting because the weather is still warm enough that paint dries quickly. Updating the color of one wall with an accent color can freshen an entire room’s look and feel.

• Add Ceiling Fans to Your Home: Ceiling fans can make a substantial difference in your home energy bill because they help circulate the air. We have ceiling fans in nearly every room that can switch between summer and winter settings. When we lived in a more humid climate, we had ceiling fans on our covered decks, and it made a huge difference in comfort in the summer from the heat and bugs.
• Replace Light Bulbs with LED Lights: LED lights use less energy and last longer. LED lights have many options: dimmable, natural light, bright white, and warm white. We recently replaced our bathroom vanity lights that were 40-watt with 20-watt natural light LED lights; what a difference that made in the look of our bathroom. You can always choose a lower-watt bulb if it works better for the look you are trying to achieve, and you’ll save some money on your utility bill, too.

Be sure to check out all the new products on Shed Windows and More. We are bringing in new products each month, many times at the request of our customers. We hope you enjoy the last days of summer, and we wish you a fall filled with enjoyable DIY projects!