Most of us never find the time for a full home renovation, but a single free weekend is enough to make a real difference.
The four projects below are picked because they suit the kinds of homes you’ll find across Exeter, from the Victorian terraces in St Thomas to the new-builds out at Pinhoe, and each one is finished by Sunday evening. One of them even takes a tired bathroom from dated to fresh in just a few hours.
Build Garden Storage for Bikes and Tools
Plenty of older Exeter homes, like the Victorian terraces in St Thomas, weren’t built with a garage, so garden clutter builds up fast. A simple lean-to store against a boundary wall keeps bikes, bins and tools dry and out of sight.
You can buy a flat-pack store and have it built in an afternoon, or knock one together from treated timber and a sheet of corrugated roofing if you’re handier. Either way, set it on a level base of slabs or gravel so the timber doesn’t sit in damp soil and rot.
Newer homes have the opposite problem. The compact gardens on Pinhoe’s recent developments leave little room for a bulky shed, so a slim lean-to that hugs a fence or wall is often the better fit.
Refresh a Bathroom Wall Without Retiling
If your bathroom or shower walls are covered in grimy grout and cracked tiles, retiling is a big job. It usually means hacking off the old tiles, replastering and several days of mess. There’s a much quicker way to get a clean, modern look over a weekend.
Fitting a white plastic cladding sheet over the existing wall gives you a smooth, grout-free surface that wipes clean in seconds. A high-quality, white plastic cladding sheet is a popular choice for a small bathroom, as the bright surface bounces light around the room and works with almost any colour scheme.
The PVC sheets are fully waterproof, so they’re a sensible choice for showers and splash zones, and they can often go straight over sound, well-stuck tiles, which saves you the messiest part of the job.
You’ll need a utility knife or a fine-toothed handsaw to cut the sheets to size, a panel adhesive such as Mapei Super Grip, and some colour-matched silicone to seal the joints and edges.
For a tidy finish, add capping and corner trims where the sheets meet. Measure twice, score slowly and smooth any cut edges with sandpaper before you fix anything to the wall.
Fit Floating Shelves in an Alcove
Alcoves either side of a chimney breast are dead space in a lot of Exeter living rooms. A pair of floating shelves turns them into something useful, whether that’s books, plants or photos.
The job is mostly about getting the fixings right. Use a stud and pipe detector before you drill, pick wall plugs rated for the weight you’re hanging, and check each shelf with a spirit level. Painted to match the wall, they look built-in rather than bolted on.
Repaint a Front Door and Tidy the Approach
A front door takes a battering from Devon weather, and a faded one drags down the whole front of the house. New paint is one of the cheapest jobs here, and it’s the first thing visitors notice.
Sand the old finish, fill any dents, then build up two or three thin coats of exterior eggshell or gloss over a suitable primer. While the paint dries, give the path a jet wash and the door furniture a polish. A new house number or a planter by the step finishes the look without much effort.
All in All
You don’t need a builder, a big budget or a week off to improve your home. Pick one of these jobs, set aside a weekend and you’ll have something to show for it by Monday morning.
The bathroom cladding is the standout if you want the biggest visible change for the least mess. Whichever you choose, take your time with the prep, because that’s what separates a quick fix that lasts from one you’ll be redoing next year.
