Single moms need to do it all, from cooking and cleaning, to feeding and bathing the kids, from going out and working, to being there for all the important moments in their kids’ lives.
Then there is the need to keep their home beautiful and ever ready to impress any and all visitors.
On the decor front, there are a few things that single moms can do in order to keep their homes looking beautiful and well maintained, without it taking too much money or time in the bargain.
10 D-I-Y Projects for Single Moms
1) Create memory collages and frame them:
Your kids will grow up in the blink of an eye. Preserve their memories by creating memory collages and framing them.
You can enlist the help of your kids in this labour of love. Collect their finest photographs and arrange them such that they form words or another picture altogether.
Frame these works of art and proudly display them on the walls of your living room or bedroom.
2) Buy old furniture and refurbish it yourself:
Buying an old armoire, table or chairs and refurbishing them yourself is a great way of saving the old piece and adding a ‘new’, quirky piece to your own space.
Simply using sand paper and waterproof paint to brighten up these old pieces is enough to make them look and feel brand new. Just make sure they are strong and have no termite damage (if they’re wooden).
3) Patchwork rugs:
One thing that moms never run out of are their kids’ old clothes. From baby tees to jeans and shorts, there is always a pile you have ready to give away to charity.
Why not re-purpose them instead? Patching together different items of old clothing to make quilts and rugs can really lift the decor-quotient of any room. Not to mention the cute factor and memories you will be sewing into the fabric of the room!
4) Snowmen milk bottles:
Old milk bottles make great flower vases. Here’s a novel way of reusing them. Take some white wool and glue. Stick the white wool in a concentric fashion on the exterior of the milk bottle.
It will end up looking like a snowman, you can then use these snowmen as either flower vases or to serve juices like in chic cafes.
5) Crates as storage:
If you have a lot of wooden crates lying around, just sanding them down, painting them and a coat of waterproofing can convert them from useless crates into storage shelves for toys, books and clothes.
6) Decorate the nursery
For your little ones at home, do not forget to add an aesthetic appeal to their room by adding the latest nursery decor items that can be found online.
Most of these are very easy to do and very high on kitschy appeal.
7) Re-purposing old photo frames:
Old photo frames can be repurposed to create new, ornate serving trays, table tops and mirrors with gilt edges.
The procedure for all these is the same, just repaint the old frame, dry them well and then pair them up with the respective items like the tray, mirror or table top.
8) Unusual coffee tables:
Combine two odd materials to form a funky coffee table. For example a slab of concrete and strong metal prongs, or an old marble countertop and ornate wooden legs. Get ingenious, get creative and the sky’s the limit.
9) Old posters:
Find old posters or old art works and frame them with repurposed frames for a real statement piece in your living room.
10) Old photo postcards as bookends:
Old photo postcards stuck to blocks of wood make excellent bookends for your children’s bookshelves, not to forget, they make quirky gifts as well.
You don’t need an endless budget to make your home look unique and beautiful. You do however need to have an imagination like no other and the patience to pull off as many D-I-Y projects as possible to make it look amazing.