5 Home Improvement Projects to do During the Summer

Summer is upon us and what better time to tackle some indoor and outdoor house projects. In preparation for the summer, we have been planning some of our own home improvement projects and it feels so good to begin checking things off the list. Nothing makes a home feel more inviting and comforting than some fresh paint, organization and special touches to make it your own. If you’re thinking about doing some home improvement projects but aren’t sure where to start, today’s post is for you. Here are 5 home improvement projects to do during the summer. Let us know in the comments if you have any on your list!

5 Home Improvement Projects to do During the Summer

Freshen up the Front Door with A Fun Paint Color

A fresh coat of paint on your door is a great way to brighten and clean things up from the outside. This is one the projects I am most excited for this summer! Jack recently went and bought all the supples we need (paint, brushes, sander, etc.) So we are ready to go when the time presents itself. We haven’t been a fan of our front door color since we moved in. And somehow it has taken us two years to do something about it. We have decided on “Hale Navy” from Benjamin Moore with a satin finish for interior/exterior door and trim enamel. If you’re looking to re-paint your front door, first it needs to be sanded. And may require several layers of paint (primer and front door paint as well as paint for the trim).

You will also need supplies like painters tape, brushes and a drop cloth to protect the ground/stairs. Be sure to get paint that is suited for your door type (wood/steel) and speak with your local paint shop about the process, so you do it correctly the first time. Some other fun door color options: neutral colors, statement and vivid, warm colors (Sundance, Brick Red-for a farmhouse appeal, Sweet Orange) or cool colors (Mopboard Black, Blue Dragon).

Expand Or Establish Gardens

It is so helpful to move into a house with pre-established gardens. But not everyone has this privilege. Even if the pre-established gardens aren’t necessarily your style, it helps to have something to start with. Remember, you don’t need to make it perfect all at once. Gardening is a lot of work, so take it one small project at a time. If you start too big, you may have trouble keeping up with it. And there is nothing worse than a garden that has gotten out of hand. If you are starting from scratch, maybe pick one or two locations for flower or vegetable gardens and start small.

Start with a few of your favorite things and each year you can add some more. This year we added another veggie garden for squash, pumpkins and zucchini and a few berry bushes. We also added to our currently well-established flower gardens with flowers that will bloom in July/August since the flowers planted prior to our move-in are primarily spring blooms. Here’s some of Jess’s favorite gardening tools.

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Clean and Organize the Garage

We had childcare on Memorial Day and we decided to tackle our garage. This has been at the top of our list for a while, but has been put off because it is not a very appealing task. We started by clearing every single thing out of our garage into a huge junky pile in our driveway. Yuck. I must admit this part of the process was not fun and there was definitely a point of overwhelming anxiety that I wanted to crawl in a hole and forget about it all. BUT, we persisted and thank goodness we did, because the final product is amazing.

Once everything was cleared from our garage, we began making piles: yard sale items, things to give away (Salvation Army/Listen Center), dump, burn, and keep. We added old wood to our burn pile, loaded up my husband’s truck with sorted trash to bring to the dump and organized items to give away/sell. Then we began organizing the items we wanted to keep. We hung summer and winter sports gear in one section, sorted small tools and utilized cabinets and drawers to organize. We put gardening and other yard tools in another section and utilized other cubby spaces to sort pots, buckets, and fertilizer. Our garage looks so clean and spacious now and we can easily track down any item. It was such a satisfying undertaking and I highly recommend it. It took us about 4 hours to complete and was well worth it!

Clean and Organize the basement

The next big project on our list in cleaning and organizing the basement. If you are anything like us you have what feels like a million plastic bins full of everything from Christmas decorations to camping gear that are stacked up and taking up space in your basement. Every time you go to get something from a bin, you have to wrestle through the masses in order to find what you are looking for. It is a nightmare. We have been planning for a while to purchase some shelving from the Container Store to create a home for our bins and allow for easy access and clear up space in our basement. This will make a huge difference.

We also plan to go through a similar process as we did with the garage in order to donate, sell and get rid of things we don’t need anymore. These things accumulate quickly and easily and I can’t imagine what will happen years down the road when we have only been in our house for two years! The basement, when clean is a great space for kids to play and to have games and other fun activities. Organizing this space will make it more inviting and useable.

Decorate Outdoor Spaces

Decorating your backyard and patio for the summer is such a fun way to utilize your outdoor spaces and prepare for hosting fun gatherings all summer long. Investing in your outdoor spaces can get expensive so it helps to set a budget. You can always add to your space each year. Last summer we invested in some string party lights, solar powered pathway lights and tiki torches. This summer we got a small outdoor furniture set, solo stove and plan to put in a stone patio.

The outdoor furniture set from Target was VERY affordable. Outdoor furniture can be incredibly expensive and we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it. Although it was a pain to put together, it has been great so far! It seems sturdy and good quality for the price. Exactly what we were hoping for. Jess has outdoor furniture from Pottery Barn’s Indo Collection that she loves too.

The summer is a great time to get check some of those projects that have been on your mind for a while off your list. The ability to be outdoors in the sun, makes doing these things so much more enjoyable. Come winter, you will be happy to have invested the time and expense into these projects that will benefit you for years to come.

Are you tackling any house projects this summer? Let us know in the comments!