Be Ready for Your Projects
Successful home do-it-yourself projects start with preparation:
Start with the best tools for easy home projects:
- Create a tool kit for common home projects and repairs.
- Make sure you have the most useful lawn and garden tools.
Learn common skills for household diy projects:
- Practice using a tape measure.
- Get comfortable with a drill/driver.
- Practice finding wall studs.
- Learn how to install wall anchors and remove them.
- Know how to turn off water to your home.
- See how to test your soil.
- Learn how to water a lawn or garden efficiently.
- See how to mow the right way.
7 Kitchen Projects for Your New Home
You don’t need lots of DIY experience or even lots of time to keep your new kitchen looking great and working efficiently:
- Organize Your Kitchen: One of the first things to do is organize your new kitchen so everything is out of the way but easy to find.
- Update Your Cabinet Hardware: Installing new cabinet pulls and knobs takes just a few minutes and is one of the easiest ways to upgrade the look of your kitchen.
- Replace Broken Cabinet Hinges: If your cabinet doors sag or don’t close completely, a simple hinge replacement fixes the problem.
- Clean Your Appliances: Save this project for later if your appliances are new, but if you inherited the refrigerator, dishwasher, range, etc. from the previous homeowner, cleaning your appliances is a good idea.
- Install a Faucet Filter: Remove impurities and keep your water tasting good with a few minutes and some easy steps when you add a filter to your kitchen faucet.
- Paint Kitchen Cabinets: Giving your cabinets a new coat of paint makes a dramatic impact with a fraction of the time, effort and expense of new cabinet installation.
- Install Peel-and-Stick Wall Tile: Installing peel-and-stick wall tile is a quick and simple update for your kitchen walls and backsplashes, creating the look of stone, metal and more in just a few steps.
When you’re ready to take on more, explore all of our kitchen DIY projects.
7 Bathroom Projects for Your New Home
Your bathrooms get lots of traffic every day, but a few easy DIY projects keep it pleasant and functional:
- Replace Toilet Seats: Replacing a toilet seat is a fast, easy project. In a new home, upgrade for comfort and functionality. If you’re not the first homeowner, you might want to take this on first thing.
- Clean Your Shower Doors: Whether you have hard water or you’re just dealing with soap residue, shower doors get cloudy quickly. Keep them clear and clean with these easy steps.
- Replace a Shower Head: It just takes a few minutes but replacing a shower head is a project that can turn a routine shower into a relaxing or energizing experience.
- Paint a Vanity: Just like painting your cabinets, painting a vanity is a quick, easy and budget-friendly way to make a big impact.
- Repair a Leaky Faucet: Wasted water from a leaky faucet creates an expense that adds up quickly. Save water and avoid the cost of a plumber by learning to repair a leaky faucet.
- Repair a Broken Ceramic Tile: Even in a new home, accidents happen. while tiling a bathroom is a big project, repairing a broken tile or two is much more manageable for a new homeowner.
- Repair Tile Grout: Damaged or missing grout allows moisture to enter your walls, creating a potential for expensive repairs. Reduce the risk by repairing the grout yourself.
Once you learn a few simple plumbing and repair skills, browse our bathroom how-to library to find your next project.
7 More DIY Projects Around Your New Home
Don’t stop with the kitchen and bathroom. These easy DIY projects help you take care of your whole home and can be relatively inexpensive home remodeling projects.
- Paint Your Rooms: Painting a room is one of the easiest and quickest ways to make a dramatic change to the space. It’s a great place to start when you’re making a new home your own.
- Change Your Air Filters: Regularly replacing air filters is a quick, easy project that lets your heating and cooling system work efficiently.
- Install Door Sweeps: You can install a door sweep in minutes, but this easy DIY project keeps warm or cool air inside while keeping water and insects out.
- Paint Your Front Door: Make your home stand out or complement your exterior color by giving your front door a fresh coat of paint.
- Install Peel-and-Stick Moulding: Installing peel-and-stick moulding adds dimension to your rooms and dresses up bare walls. It’s a simple project you can finish in a weekend with just a few tools.
- Hang Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper: Wallpaper makes a bold statement in any room and hanging peel-and-stick wallpaper gives you the look with less effort and mess than traditional wallpaper.
- Install Wire Shelving: Start your new home with tidy, organized closets. Adding wire closet shelving expands your storage options and you can accessorize it as your needs change.
Shop for home essentials, take a look at our new home maintenance checklist and start planning for annual maintenance.
7 Outdoor Projects for Your New Home
Make your outdoor spaces as beautiful and inviting as your home. Start with these simple exterior projects:
- Take Care of Your Lawn: Your lawn is one of the first things guests see when they visit your new home. Learn lawncare basics and make the right impression.
- Identify Weeds in Your Lawn: Even with regular lawn care, weeds are almost unavoidable. Learn to identify common weeds so you can treat them correctly before they spread.
- Plant a Container Garden: Beautify your porch or deck by creating a container garden that makes it easy to care for plants and swap them out with the seasons.
- Plan Your First Garden: Planting a garden might seem intimidating, but a low-maintenance garden can be simple, relaxing and rewarding
- Edge Planting Beds: Highlight your plants, add architectural touches to your landscape and protect plants from lawn equipment when you add edging stones to your planting beds.
- Plant a Tree or Shrub: Whether you want to fill in an empty landscape or plan for spring blooms and fall colors, planting a tree or shrub benefits you and the local wildlife for years to come.
- Make a Stepping Stone Walkway: Protect your new lawn from foot traffic with a simple stepping stone walkway. The variety of stone shapes, sizes and colors makes it easy to create the look you want.
Check out our lawn and garden and outdoor living libraries for projects that keep your landscape looking great year round.
Make Safety a Priority in Your New Home
These simple tasks protect your family and yourself:
- Learn how to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors regularly.
- Learn how to choose and use fire extinguishers.
- Create a fire escape plan.
- See what you need in a first aid kit.
- Learn what to do after a power outage.
- Replace your door locks and install deadbolts.
- Create an emergency kit for your car.
Our safety library shows you other ways to improve your home safety and security.
Make Your First House a Home With Lowe’s
Whether your house is newly built or preowned, Lowe’s helps you take on DIY projects that make it feel like home. And with every project you complete, you build a skillset that lets you take on new projects. Shop Lowes.com to stock your first tool box and to find the upgrades you need for your home. Or visit your local Lowe’s and talk to one of our Red Vest associates. They’ll help you find the tools and materials you need to do any DIY household project the right way.