A sprinkling of Latte Creations makes an everyday coffee break extra special
Complete your most procrastinated home projects
Now is as good a time as any to organise home improvement projects that either need to be done or that you would like to do
For many of us, the 'to do' list is so long that we don't know where to start, or we only start a project when it becomes an emergency, like when the slow leak under the sink turns into a flood in the kitchen.
My tried and tested approach to organising home improvement projects is based on the philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi: 'Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.'
With that in mind, I keep a constantly updated set of three lists:
What's Necessary
This list should be filled with things that are top priority - projects that need to be done just to keep your home in good working condition, or decorative projects you've wanted to do for a while. The projects you place on this list should generally take around an hour. In fact, I refer to this list as 'Under-an-Hour Projects.'
Under-an-Hour projects:
- Fix leaky tap
- Seal around bath
- Give old sofa a makeover with colour-themed throws and cushions
- Tighten loose handles on kitchen cabinet doors
- Hang two shelves above desk
- Paint wastebasket and picture frames for hall bathroom
- Solve problem of sticking door
Under-an-Hour Projects can vary in number. The goal is to keep this list as short as possible. Most will not take much time or money if tackled immediately. However, the longer your fix-it projects are put on the back burner the more involved they get. These are the kinds of projects that don't go away. Often, they only get worse, take longer to deal with and cost more money.
1 | 2 | next
printer friendly
send to a friend
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB