Today I get to share how to DIY. After lots of learning, I have solidified this formula and am ready to break it down into digestible bites. Buying a house, there will always be parts of it that don’t fit your personal taste, needs or wants. And that’s where DIY comes in. I had never held a paintbrush before buying our Riverdale Ranch in 2020. And now, I’m here to help you DIY from start to finish!
Although Instagram makes it seem like these DIY projects are quick, easy, and almost magic, I want you to know there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into these stunning before & after transformations. I’m going to share the whole process from start to finish with you so that you know what to expect and how to achieve DIY success.
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience which may reward me in the event of a sale. Note that I only recommend tools and products I have personally used and loved.
STEP 1: Identify the Need for your Project
If you are new to DIY, I’m sure there are all kinds of opportunities in your home for a DIY project! At least that was true for me when we were new to our Riverdale Ranch. But, if you’ve been doing DIY for a minute it gets harder to justify the need for new projects.
I never want to DIY just for the sake of blog or Instagram content. So, I ask myself these questions to determine if I have a worthy DIY project idea on my hands. The last thing you want to do is something that will potentially take away value while costing you time and money.
Is there a problem?
I like to look at a space and think, “is there a way this could serve my family’s needs better?” The answer may be yes, whether big or small.
For example, there was a blank space above the desk area in our kitchen. Blank space does not always need to be filled. But in this case, that was space was prime real estate that wasn’t being utilized to its fullest potential.
I dreamed up this DIY wine wall cabinet, and followed the project through to completion (all the DIY route I might add!). The space now serves our needs much better, and actually looks more balanced.
The problem may also be simple. Maybe the home that used to belong to someone else (or built generically builder grade) doesn’t feel like “you”. Not your style, vibe, etc. And that is a valid problem too!
You want your home to feel like an extension of you- what you like, value and enjoy. My guest bathroom is a great example of how multiple small projects fixed the problem. No big, large scale projects were needed. But instead, little things that allowed to space to flow better with the aesthetic of the rest of the house. You can read more about the little DIY’s that fixed the guest bathroom here.
The last “problem” may be larger and require layout changes, added walls or even deleted walls. This was our situation in our master closet. It was small and would not accommodate our lifestyle.
Thinking outside the box, we changed our vantage point and viewed our home from above. From a bird’s eye view, we were able to notice that our master closet backed directly up to a hall closet. Hall closet #2 to be exact. That meant there were SIX doors in our small hallway, with TWO separate hall closets.
We had no need for two hall closets. With help from my dad we took down the wall between the master and hall closets, essentially doubling the space. We then removed the door and trim to install drywall to close the old closet entryway from the hallway. We were able to modify the floor plan ourselves to better fit our needs!
STEP 2: Gather Inspiration & Research
Find Inspiration
Once you’ve identified the space you plan to modify, it’s important to keep an open mind to decide how to fix it. My absolute favorite place to find inspiration is Pinterest.
Pinterest is a visual search engine complete with website links. You can read all about the photo you were visually drawn to. I always use Pinterest first and create a new “board” (essentially a folder) to organize and hold all my inspiration pictures. This is the time for you to search keywords that align with your project and “pin” (or save) anything that catches your eye. Hopefully, this will create an entire vision board for you to pick and choose elements from to carryout your own unique project.
An additional way you can perform a visual search is a relatively new feature on Instagram. On the app, you can go to the search bar (symbolized by the magnifying glass) and type in keywords related to your project. Instagram will then show you Posts and Reels that have a subject matter matching your keywords. You can use Instagram’s “save” button (looks like a bookmark underneath the post to the right hand side) to directly save any images or videos you find helpful and create an electronic vision board, similarly to Pinterest.
Do Research
Research goes hand in hand with gathering inspiration. Many of the images you will pin on Pinterest come with a tutorial or description on a website. Pull together notes, various tutorials and tips from other DIY’ers to ensure a successful project. Remember, there is no need to re-invent the wheel. It’s always best to learn from someone else’s successes and failures, especially now during the age where that information is so readily accessible.
Create a Design Board
My last recommendation to tie this inspo and research process together is a design or mood board. I made one for my pop-up camper flip project and outdoor patio One Room Challenge project electronically using Canva. It helps to visualize all of the elements together to make sure everything looks cohesive and flows. It’s a great addition to the planning process if you are more of a visual person (like me!). I like to see it all together before I begin, instead of just imagining it together. See what I mean?
I don’t have a tutorial on this, but Lauren at Blesserhouse.com put together a great resource here. Also, Alisa at A Glass of Bovino is known for her beautiful design boards. You are sure to catch them frequently on her Instagram. And last, Madeline at Made.by.Madeline.Design actually provides virtual styling services! You can find her here on Instagram– she has loads of design board inspiration on her feed as well.
If your DIY project is smaller in scale, I recommend using the drawing feature on your phone to edit a current photo of the space. For example, I have thought about painting our garage door black. To help visualize this, I drew black to cover the garage door space on a current photo of the exterior of my home in the Photos app.
STEP 3: Create a Step by Step Outline
Did you know that I typically have the bones of a blog tutorial post written before I’ve even broken ground on a project? I think it’s so important to plan and think through every single step of a project before you get started. Putting pen to paper to break the project down into steps helps to ensure that you know exactly what you will be doing and in what order.
Don’t get me wrong, although this written step by step outline is a great idea, it doesn’t mean you won’t still hit a few road bumps. That is unavoidable in DIY. But I can assure you it cuts down the number of mindless mistakes drastically.
STEP 4: Gather Supplies
Once you have a rough outline drafted, it’s time to make sure you have all the supplies you need. If you are new to DIY, this step may be expensive and overwhelming. You may be wondering if it’s even worth it to invest in all the tools. If this is you, read more about my 5 tool recommendations for beginners that I think are definitely worth the plunge to purchase.
If you have a couple DIY projects under your belt already this step may actually feel rewarding! I love nothing more than planning a new project and realizing that I already own more than half of the supply list.
Recently, I reupholstered my dining room chairs and added picture frame moulding to the walls. The only supplies I needed to purchase for these projects was the fabric and wall trim pieces. All other tools and supplies I already owned.
So if you are brand new to DIY and the supply list feels overwhelming at first, know a time will come where you own all the basic tools and using your own supplies actually saves you money.
STEP 5: Execute your Plan
At this point, you should have successfully planned your DIY project. Hopefully, your project solves a problem with your current home. Whether it is a space issue, functionality problem, or style faux pas- fixing that “problem” sure feels good. Especially when it is fixed with your own two hands.
Hopefully, you created an electronic vision board using Pinterest, Instagram or both. And bonus points if you created your own mood board using Canva to see the space and your plan first. This vision is meant to guide and inspire your own unique creativity.
Once you have decided on the project you want to tackle and how you want the end product to look, I hope you took the time to plan out each and every step. I know it sounds tedious, but it is so important to make sure you know exactly how you will get from A-Z. Having a written plan can also be helpful if there is more than one cook in the kitchen (ie. your husband is helping, mom, FIL, etc.).
And last, I hope you took the time to gather all of your supplies. Trust me, there is nothing worse than having to stop a project mid-groove only to make a trip to the hardware store. Nothing. Worse.
If you are feeling inspired but don’t know where to start, check out some of my favorite beginner friendly DIY projects here:
Good luck and have fun!
