Before you say sayonara to sunshine and beach days, make the most of your remaining summer energy with our useful DIY ideas. Whether you want to make your home a plant paradise, pack in as many pool sessions as possible or win the battle against flies, you’ll find a top DIY project for your home right here.
Why we should make the most of summer has a lot to do with the sun. We need 10 minutes of health-boosting sunrays each day to reach our daily intake of Vitamin D. Here are the benefits of the golden vitamin:
- Assists Calcium to maintain healthy bones and teeth
- Supports the immune system
- Regulates insulin levels
- Aids cardiovascular healthy
- Assists in cancer prevention
Here are our top useful DIY ideas for summer
1. Swimmer’s Hook & Towel Baskets
Say goodbye to damp swimming towels with a useful DIY idea! Create an outdoor towel rack to make life at home a little easier. Simply install hooks on a wall nearest the swimming pool. For a quirky towel wall, use inexpensive outdoor tap fittings painted in different colours.
Don’t’ forget about the fresh towels! Update an old basket with a colour-dip and add clean towels and plop it next to the swimmer’s hook.
2. Squirt Gun Art
Image by Wonderful DIY
Entertain yourself, your guest or your kids with an uplifting art session! Fill up squirt guns with different liquid watercolours and stick a few pieces of paper to a wall, tree or large easel (preferably a surface outside that can just be hosed down). Now let your kids or your peers discover their inner artist.
BTW, this is a fun summer project idea for adults too!
3. Hanging Planters
Grow your indoor garden and make an indoor planter. This summer project idea is ideal for the plant-loving adult, and it is the ultimate low-effort decor.
Skip the exotic and alien plants in favour of indigenous greenery! Our native flora is adapted to the South African climate and can handle less water. Plants with needle-like leaves and those with a hairy surface retain moisture better than plants with large, smooth leaves. You also have the option of starting a spectacular succulent garden!
4. Feature Wall Shutters
Transform a blank wall into a beautifully beachy feature wall within an hour! You’ll need reclaimed shutters, chalk paint and 30 minutes. Once your paint is dry, measure and install wall anchors at your preferred height, hang up the shutters and decorate them with air plants. A top DIY project for your home, this feature wall tutorial will add a lovely touch to your exterior.
5. Floating Drink Holders
Spend the last sizzling moments cooling down in the pool, with floating drinks all around. Update a pool noodle with glue gun, a craft knife and a bit of paint for polka-dots. You’ll thank yourself once your drink is floating beside you.
6. Lovely Lanterns
Make nights spent outside magical and wind-resistant with glass jar candle holders. Make frosty garden lanterns with salt or, grab all your empty jam jars and paint the bottom third of each. Tip them upside down and allow the paint to take its runny course. Drill 3 holes into each lid and paint in a different colour. After everything is dry, pop in some tea lights and you’re good to go!
7. Rope Coasters
Image by Lovilee
Say no to watermarks this summer with a useful DIY coaster idea. Natural rope coasters are swoon-worthy, and you only need a hot glue gun and rope to make them. Get the complete rope coaster tutorial on the Lovilee blog.
Our three top tips for a summer home
Some of these projects featues in the LivingSpace Mag, but these are our favourite tips to live by this summer!
Perfect your Braai
Heat matters. Amateurs and masters of the braai know that coals have to reach the perfect temperature for foodie perfection. So, how do you really know when it’s just right?
According to local braai legend, Jan Braai, it’s all in the hands: hold your hand 10cm above the coals and start counting.
Once you feel a burning sensation, stop counting. Two to three seconds are ideal for steaks and rashers. Three to four seconds are for chicken wings and fish. Five to eight seconds are when the wors, chicken breast and
Keep Flies at Bay
Take one large clear glass jar, fill it with water, drop in a few coins or small pieces of foil and close the lid. Place the container in the kitchen or somewhere on the patio where sunlight or artificial light can reach it. Entomologists suggest that the refracted light is a problem for complex fly eyes as it interferes with their sense of direction.
A Home Refresher
Sometimes your home needs a little boost to conquer the oppressive heat. So, make a refreshing rosemary and basil room spray! Dissolve 1 tsp baking soda into 1 cup warm water and add 4 sprigs of rosemary. Once it’s cooled add in a handful of basil leaves and pour the mixture into a spray bottle. If you don’t have baking soda use, 2 tbsp of vodka instead!
Happy DIYing!
