Helpful How-To's & DIY Tutorials

Looking for your next DIY project? Perhaps you need some inspiration on how to make your house a home? Our growing library of how-to's, DIY tutorials, and home improvement articles are here to guide you through your DIY adventures.

5 Areas in Your Home to Renovate This Winter

Five Areas in Your Home to Renovate This Winter

Winter is the perfect time to tackle those indoor renovation projects you never seem to get to in the beautiful, warm months.

Make a list of your renovation priorities and work down the list to keep your home in top shape. Redecorating, upgrading, and even bigger reno projects are ideal for those months you don’t mind being indoors.

Stop by Notre Dame Castle today to talk to a team member about your winter renovation ideas. We are ready to assist you.

1. Paint Your Rooms and Hallways

Tackle those painting jobs you never seem to get to in the summer when you’re outdoors. Even though it’s cold out, painting indoors in the winter is ideal. The drier conditions and lower humidity help paint to cure more quickly than in the humid summer months.

You’ll find safe, low-odour and low-VOC products that dry quickly to make painting a breeze in the winter. Use fans to speed up drying when you don’t want to open windows on extra cold days. Winter is an opportune time to paint doors, trim, windows, and baseboards.

2. Renovate Your Storage Spaces

Get a head start on spring cleaning this winter by decluttering to gain more storage space. Once you’ve parted with items you no longer need, you’re ready to start improving your storage spaces.

Kitchen Cabinets and Storage

If you haven’t already decluttered your kitchen cabinets – when was the last time you used that punch bowl? – it’s time to be ruthless!

You’ll find many space-saving cabinet storage solutions for your kitchen:

Sliding pull-out drawer organizers for easier access to supplies and pots
A Lazy Susan in a corner cabinet – spin the tray around to find what you need
Clever storage units for spices
Dividers for cutting boards, pans, and cookie sheets
Special stacking units for pots

How are Your Closets Looking?

Are you spending too much time searching for a particular shirt? Maybe it’s time for a closet makeover. Install a closet organizing system to fit your closet’s dimensions. You’ll be amazed at how much time you will save with your clothes and belongings organized in plain view.

If you’ve been yearning for a spacious walk-in closet, why not build one? Use one end of your bedroom to create a walk-in closet. Build a wall a few feet from the original, install a frame and door, and set up the rods, shelving, and baskets in the newly created closet space. You could also use a small unused den to create a walk-in closet.

Tool Storage in the Garage

Winter may be a bit cold for working in the garage to build storage solutions, but if you don’t mind parking your car outside for a few days and have a portable heater, why not try?

Once you know what you will store in your garage, you can choose from various storage and cabinet systems to use your space more efficiently.

Start with the basics:

Mount pegboards, fasten hooks, and anchor shelves securely on the walls.
Place large bins on the floor or mount sturdy shelving for your tools, camping and sports equipment, and the kids’ outdoor toys.
Suspend heavy-duty large hooks from the ceiling for your bicycles.
Store sharp tools, power tools, and equipment in lockable cabinets.
Safely store gardening and automotive products out of reach for children in lockable cabinets.

3. Upgrade Your Lighting and Smoke Detectors

Upgrading your lighting in the winter will help you reduce your energy bills. LED bulbs have a longer life, are brighter, and come in many shades, from cool to warm, for task lighting to ambient and accent lighting.

Over-the-Stairs Lighting

Light up your outdoor stairways on dark winter nights with motion detector lighting fixtures. Indoor stairs also need good lighting for safety.

Kitchen Lights

Install LED under-cabinet strip lighting to light up your food preparation countertop areas. Some allow you to connect multiple fixtures from one cord. You can also find linkable magnetic undercabinet lights and rechargeable battery-powered strip lights.

Pot lights are now smaller, brighter, and energy efficient. They last longer and don’t create as much heat.

Lighting for Living

Do you enjoy curling up with a good book on a cold winter day or entertaining friends and family in your living room? Lighting sets the tone for your living spaces. Create a new look and feel that suits how you spend your leisure time at home.

Choose energy-efficient LED bulbs and lighting fixtures to complement your décor, and install dimmers to provide the level of light you want.

Experiment with where you position lamps to get the best overall atmosphere, functionality, and glare reduction.

Note: For safety, hire a licensed electrician to install lighting.

Bedroom Lights

Create a calm and soothing ambiance in your bedroom that encourages you to relax and sleep soundly. Install a dimmer switch to adjust the lighting level on your ceiling fixture or bedside lamps. Pendant lights suspended above your night tables are an attractive and functional alternative to table lamps.

Garage Lights

You’ll find a variety of fixtures and bulbs to suit how you use your garage, from daylight bulbs for working on workshop tasks to bulbs that will light up your entire garage for sports activities.

You can replace standard fluorescent tube bulbs with brighter, energy-saving LED tubes. Use the same fixtures or upgrade them to include Smart technology for remote control.

Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Ensure your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are functional. You can have detectors hardwired into your electrical system by a licensed electrician. Change your backup batteries regularly to ensure the alarms work during a power failure.

4. Renovate Your Basement

Renovating your basement is an excellent project for those cold winter days. It will help you stay active and occupied if you’d rather not be out in the freezing temperatures. The winter will go by very quickly if you are working toward completing your renovation by spring.

Imagine how you will use your basement – do you want a family entertainment centre, gym, office, guest room, or bathroom?

5. Replace Bathroom and Kitchen Faucets

Add an instant improvement by replacing your faucets in the bathroom and kitchen. If you don’t want to tackle this yourself, purchase the faucets and call a licensed plumber to install them on the same day.