11 Easy Home Upgrades You Can Do in No Time

Appeal from the Curb

You don't need a landscape architect. Instead, make your mailbox a place of prominence by adding attractive house numbers and a small garden around the base of the box.

Transform your mailbox with a few choice plantings and a little TLC.

Outdoor Clean

Forget paying the people who cut your grass extra to clean off your patio furniture. Take matters (and your garden hose) into your own hands with an all-purpose cleaner and a scrub brush for just-like-new furniture.

From grimy to gleaming, easily clean your patio furniture in an afternoon.

Contractor Not Necessary

The kitchen is the heart of the home and one of the most important factors in a home’s resell value. That’s why a great kitchen is a great investment. Don’t let the finances intimidate you -- you can really do it yourself. See how far $400 took us in this out-of-date kitchen. We think you’ll be amazed.

See one kitchen's dramatic before and after following a wallet-friendly makeover.

Smooth Seaming

Stripping wallpaper is notoriously tedious and pricey to outsource. Rather, get to work with a mud-knife and some joint compound (available at any hardware store), smoothing the seams of your wallpaper for a direct-painting approach.

Smooth out wallpaper seams to paint directly on top of it rather than tearing it off the walls.

Prime Time

Forget taking down the wallpaper -- it’s pricey and complicated. Prime your wallpaper, and paint over it like we did. Trust us, it’s all about the primer -- we chose white oil-based primer atop our wallpaper and got full and even coverage.

Give any room a new look by following these easy steps for priming and painting over wallpaper.

Metal Coating

Tired of the hardware in your home, but either can’t afford new pieces or don’t know how to replace them yourself? We’ve got painting tips and advice on keeping all the pieces organized while they’re off your doors and cabinets. The little effort goes a long way in your home.

Learn the correct technique to paint over metal surfaces.

Spray To Stay

It’s the most legendary of DIY ideas for good reason. The new life that a fresh coat of paint gives to old, tired furniture never disappoints. Don’t toss that old wooden table; reinvigorate it yourself with a bold new color. Before you start, learn all of our tricks of the trade for a one-coat job.

Revitalize old furniture with a coat of spray paint.

Electric Change

Do not call the electrician next time you want a new fixture. Although it seems complicated this really is a project you can do yourself. We changed ours and share the step-by-step instructions with you.

Don't let it intimidate you -- learn how easy it really is to change a light fixture.

Cutting Time

Dull garden tools cannot be avoided. What can be avoided is taking your tools to the metalsmith for sharpening. The only things you need for prune-ready shears and shovels are a file and our video.

Before you tackle spring gardening chores, make sure your tools are sharpened and ready for pruning.

Patch Work

Those holes in your walls caused from either picture hanging gone wrong or an inside game of football don’t have to be your nemeses anymore. Fill them in with just a little bit of spackle. Smooth walls are possible without incurring an invoice.

Say good-bye to pesky wall holes with a few easy tips and inexpensive products.

Dirty Your Hands

Landscaping might seem daunting, but it absolutely shouldn’t be. We’ve got simple instructions to get your rose bushes in the ground and keep them there for happy blooming.

Rose bushes add instant appeal to your front entry or in your garden.

By Zoë Gowen, Assistant Editor