5 Interior Home Projects to Tackle This Winter

Winter is coming! Love it or hate it, it’s a fantastic time to be creative and productive at home. Here are five home projects that you can take on to make your home interior feel a little more cozy and warm this winter.

1. Interior Painting

Nothing is quite as uplifting as a fresh coat of paint to brighten up your home’s interior. It doesn't need to be an expensive project. You’ll just want to make sure you purchase the right type of paint, some basic painting supplies — rollers, brushes, tape, and maybe a drop cloth or two — and whatever you do, don’t skip the prep work. Cover any furniture or flooring, apply painter’s tape where needed, and then you can start painting to your heart’s delight!

Painting your walls with a color that you like can be a very satisfying experience. It involves creativity and methodical work, so it’s a great activity for those cold, snowy days when going outside just not happening. Don’t forget to visualize the end result early on so that you’ll know the color that best suits you and your home’s style. After the paint is dry, you'll want to add a few finishing touches, such as new curtains or some colorful framed art on canvas, and you’ve successfully transformed your interior space.

2. Kitchen Remodeling

Another interior space to focus on this winter is your kitchen. Colder temperatures and the holiday season make this space a popular gathering spot throughout the winter months, which means you’ll be spending a lot of time in this room. With family and friends frequently coming together to celebrate this time of year, you may be concerned about what your kitchen looks like, or what little repairs might need to be addressed.

While you might not want to do a complete renovation of this critical room in your home right now, painting your cabinets, changing out hardware, updating light fixtures, and fixing cracked drywall are all doable projects to get done before the holiday madness begins. Any of these updates to your kitchen would help create a refreshed and more inspired cooking and gathering experience. After the holidays calm down, you might consider checking your kitchen tiles to see if they are in need of some regrouting to get rid of all the trapped grime and grease your floor has been collecting over the last few months (or years).

3. Drywall Repairs

With sudden changes in temperature, it’s quite normal for certain materials to expand and contract, and metals are especially notorious for doing this. This is also the reason why your drywall may show a lot of nail pops, especially during the winter, and especially if your home is a newer construction. It's important to take care of the cracks and holes that appear before the problem gets a lot bigger.

Some nail pops can be fixed with a few gentle taps of the hammer so that these are depressed and locked into the original position. However, there are others that may require you to change a whole panel altogether, in which case you might want to call a professional (like My Handyman of Dover) The winter season is a great time to check your drywall for dents, cracks, nail pops, and other common signs of wear, and get to work on caulking, sanding, and repainting.

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4. Install New Flooring

If your flooring is the same as it was when you moved in 10 years ago, it might be time to replace it. Scratches, dents, and stains are all part of normal wear and tear, and over time, especially in the most common rooms of the home. Whether it’s the living room or the bedrooms, a bathroom, or the flooring throughout the entire home, this indoor project is a great one to start in winter. If you’re unsure where to start, we recommend starting with a room that isn’t high traffic. You don’t want to spend the entire winter with your kitchen flooring under construction, or without easy access to your one bathroom!

Bathrooms are typically the least expensive and fastest flooring projects to complete, since they are often much smaller than other rooms in the house. But, if you only have one bathroom, you’ll want to be sure you can complete the project in a day or two, or you may regret your decision altogether. Installing flooring can be a lot of work, but once you get into a groove, it can also be a lot of fun. Turn on the holiday tunes (or your favorite music choice), and you’ll be done in no time.

5. Install a Pet Door

Despite the colder temps, there’s no denying that winter can be a ton of fun if you know how to take advantage of all the snow that’s around to play in. Most kids absolutely love playing in the snow, and dogs, too! They seemingly have no awareness of the low temperatures and the wet snow falling on their heads. But your dog still wants to come inside to get warm, drink some water, each lunch, or look at you with big eyes, hoping you’ll come outside and play with them. Even if you work from home, opening and closing the door every 20 minutes probably isn't on your list of things you want to be doing.

Installing a pet door makes it easy for your dog to go in and out as he or she pleases, no matter the weather. All you need to do is measure your pet’s height and width, and then choose from the many available sizes and models of pet doors available. Pet doors can be installed in a door or in a wall, so you can choose a placement that makes the most sense based on your home layout, and your dog can be somewhat free to live his/her best life.

Now, Get to Work!

These are just a few examples of interior home projects you can tackle this winter. If you need help with any of these projects, or any other interior home projects this winter, My Handyman of Dover is happy to help. There’s no job too small. Request a quote today!