I can’t believe it but we really have had an early spring – and I’m so excited to work on outdoor DIY projects. It’s been raining a lot, which is great for the well and keeping fires at bay, but hopefully we get a few sunny days soon. While I wait for the skies to clear, hre’s a round up of some of my favorite DIY projects from around the house to help get you feeling inspired to tackle that spring to-do list.
DIY Shou Sugi Ban
Give your outdoor projects, from decks to garden boxes, a durable finish using this shou sugi ban wood charred method. Click here for the detailed tutorial.
DIY Outdoor Bench (Easy!)
This DIY outdoor bench is so easy to make and the handles make it a snap to move around the yard. I keep this beside our front door and delivery drivers leave parcels on it, but then we can easily carry it down to the fire pit area to hold snacks.
DIY Modern Deck Skirting
We ditched the classic lattice deck skirting and replaced it with this easy and modern DIY deck skirting. Click here for the tutorial.
DIY Colorful Front Door and Trim Makeover
Look how cute the bunkie looks after getting a mini makeover with a vibrant new door color and matching trim. Such an easy upgrade for any exterior!
DIY Welded Fire Pit
It’s actually a very straightforward project to make this DIY welded fire pit. Click here for the step-by-step tutorial and learn how to make a fire pit in any size you need!
DIY Gravel Fire Pit Area
Even if you buy a fire pit, you can use my tutorial to create an easy and cheap fire pit area, carved out of a lawn with wood and filled with inexpensive dolomite (you can also use gravel).
DIY Grass Seed vs. Sod Lawn Care
Nothing spruces up an outdoor space better than improving the lawn! We tried both lawn seed and sod – and in the years since sharing my comparison reviews and results, I’ve done lots of work filling in dead areas in other part of the lawn with lawn seed, to keep the yard looking more lush.
DIY Bench with Welded Legs
This DIY outdoor bench with welded legs is so sturdy – I love it because the wind can’t knock it over, here on the shores of Lake Superior.
DIY Spray Painted Plastic Lawn Chairs
Update those faded or ugly plastic lawn chairs with a fresh coat of spray paint! Click here for my tutorial for how to spray paint plastic lawn chairs.
DIY Painted Siding
When we replaced the house siding, we also painted the garage siding to match. It was a surprisingly easy project and a great way to make our old garage feel brand new!
DIY Garage Mural
This DIY garage mural was such a fun project and it’s held up so well. I love pulling up to the house and seeing it – the shimmery paints catch the sunlight during the day and the truck headlights at night.
DIY Painted Soffit & Fascia
This was a wild plan, to paint the soffit and fascia on our garage, but years later it’s held up so well! It definitely freshened up the garage and also matched the new soffit and fascia we had installed on the house.
DIY Painted Exterior Brick
I always hated the color of this exterior brick on our house. It ended up having to be taken down anyway, when we had the windows replaced, but before I knew that had to be done, we painted the brick a dark charcoal grey and it looked amazing with the wood siding. Such an inexpensive way to update an exterior. We also painted the chimney to match – click this post to see the before/after and also read my tips for how to safely paint a chimney (safety first!).
DIY Garden Door Makeover
It’s always amazing how much a coat of paint updates a home – look at the difference painting the garden doors a cheery new color made to the front of the house! Click here to see the garden door makeover.
DIY Door Knob Replacement
A nice small change is to replace a door knob on an exterior door – here’s a step-by-step tutorial for how to do that. Bonus points if you give the door a fresh coat of paint too.
DIY Welded Outdoor Step
When our giant concrete steps were too wide for the carport area, we decided to make a modern welded step with wood top. Here’s the tutorial so you can make your own step for a front door or patio door.
DIY Live Edge Patio Table
I love this live edge patio table we made years ago. The top was super easy to make, and the welded legs – with my idea for the welded chain detail – add a really cool, kind of nautical vibe.
DIY Cold Frame Garden Beds
If you want to get into gardening but keep the beds small and chic – with the option to extend the growing season thanks to the lids – check out my tutorial for DIY cold frame beds. You can adjust it slightly to also make just simple DIY raised garden beds, if you prefer that!
I hope this round up of outdoor DIY projects gets you excited for working around the house! There are so many things I’d like to do this spring: build new benches for the sauna, build a fourth garden bed (without a lid), replace the bunkie roof and garage roof, extend the chicken run, repair and re-stain the deck, and the list goes on and on! Every year we chip away some of the projects from our list but inevitably many more tasks always get moved to next year’s list. And with the cost of building and buying lumbers, etc., so high right now, maybe we won’t get many things done.
There’s always next year, haha! But I definitely want to build the fourth garden box and help my chickens stretch their legs a bit more. And the deck definitely needs work! Okay, those three definitely have to get done – I’m committing to that right now.
What do you have planned for outdoor DIY projects this spring?
That’s a great DIY listicle Tanya. I loved the gravel fire pit area DIY. Thanks.
Author
So happy you enjoyed it!
Hello,
A lot of beautifull things. But how we can have your newletter ?
Thanks.
Author
Thank you! There’s a form, below each blog post but before the comments section. If you type in your email address there, you’ll get a confirmation email and then you’re all signed up! If you prefer, I can enter your email for you. Feel free to email me if you’d like me to do that.