16 Awesome Cold-Weather DIY Projects

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Do you love DIY projects? I do too! It can be hard to do them in the colder winter months, though, which can leave my creative side feeling bored. I’ve rounded up 16 DIY projects you can do inside, in the comfort of your home, staying toasty warm!

I don’t love winter (read: cold weather) at all, but add on the fact that it puts a huge limit on the projects and activities I can do, it really starts to bring me down. I try to stay busy, though, with the indoor to-do list that I tend to put off during the nice weather months here in Iowa.

In case you’re like I am, and enjoy being busy during the colder weather months, I have put together 16 DIY projects to keep your creativity flowing and your hands occupied, while you wait for the weather outside to warm up.

These projects are easy enough to start and finish in a weekend (some even faster) and will help improve how your home looks—better yet, since you’re spending so much time indoors right now!

ART CAN BE EXPENSIVE TO BUY BRAND NEW, BUT CAN ADD SO MUCH INTEREST TO YOUR HOME. THAT’S WHY I’M SHARING HOW TO MAKEOVER THRIFT STORE PICTURE FRAMES TO CREATE CUSTOM ART—ON A BUDGET!

We had this leather chair from my parents’ house that had tons of pet scratches on it and a few spills too. I wanted to use it in our basement, along with some other leather furniture that we had, so I decided to paint it. It turned out even better than I thought! Painting leather furniture will allow you to keep using pieces you have and give them new life.

I found a plain belly basket at the Goodwill Outlet a couple of years ago, but it didn’t really fit in with my home’s style. I gave it a makeover using things I had on hand (including ColorShot Acrylic Paints) and now it has a fun and eclectic look that matches my colorful home more.

After I painted our mudroom lockers, I wanted fun new home decor to use on them, but I didn’t want to spend the money. Instead, I found some bins in my stash of accessories and gave them a makeover using fabric I had bought at the thrift store. I love how unique they are and that they can easily be changed out.

I wanted to do this project for so long and it just took 2020 to make me do it! Our address is built into the stone on the front of our house, but is impossible to see because of a big, beautiful dwarf lilac. The address sign is the perfect solution! Plus, I’m not handy with tools and I was able to easily make this, even at my basic skill level.

I would love to gut the two bathrooms on our main level, but that’s not in the budget for us anytime soon. I do, however, have the ability and money to paint whenever I want. I got the desire to transform our guest bathroom a couple of years ago and am so happy that I did! I can’t get over how much paint can give a space a whole new look—without spending very much money at all! The vanity looks completely different and so high-end!

This DIY Planter is one of those projects that’s just fun to do and will test your creativity. I wanted planters to go on my plant hangers, but didn’t want to spend the money on new ones (story of my life). After some digging in our recycle bin, I came up with the perfect items to use for them! This would be a fun project to get the kids involved in too.

Ignore how crooked the plant hanger looks in the picture…it hangs straight when there’s a plant on it! I love how this DIY project turned out and it was so easy to make. The best part? I was able to order all the pieces I needed and have them delivered to my doorstep—no need to go out into the cold! Bonus, they’re very unique—I love having things in my home that no one else has.

Painting the mudroom lockers has been such a game changer for this space. It used to be so dark and heavy, but now has this beautiful pop of blue! I love that I was able to take something we had already and transform it through the power of paint. I did this whole project in a weekend and am so happy I took the time to tackle it!

Love the look of wallpaper, but not the price tag? Try contact paper instead! I used a pretty terrazzo patterned contact paper as wallpaper in our laundry room closet and I love how it looks! The contact paper wallpaper was easy to install and so budget friendly!

The light fixture that was in our entryway when we bought our house was so bad. Totally not my style and didn’t really give off much light. I waited to change it out, though, because I knew I wanted to make a basket pendant light. I was waiting to find the perfect basket and then I found this beauty at a pop-up vintage sale! This is such an easy project and one that can be done relatively inexpensively.

Aside from the occasional button, I don’t know how to sew. It’s on my list of things I’d like to learn in the next year or so, but until then, these no-sew pillow covers are a pretty good alternative. I love that I was able to use a vintage linen that wasn’t perfect (stains and tears), but could cut around the blemishes to make the pillow covers.

Before I did any other makeovers to our laundry room/mudroom, I switched out the ceiling lights for a couple of FREE vintage light fixtures I got on Facebook Marketplace. I gave the lights a whole new lease on life (and look) by rewiring them and spray painting them. (Rustoleum Ultra Matte is my favorite spray paint to use for good coverage and ease of application.) The whole project cost about $5 and changed the look of this room!

The Instagram famous mirror is on my wishlist, but until I can work it into my budget, I love the way the Anthropologie Gleaming Primrose dupe of the mirror I made looks! I thrifted the mirror and used Rub ‘N Buff to give it a fresh new face!

We have an outlet in the cutout of our fireplace, but I didn’t want to spend the money to have electrical run for lights. I still wanted to have sconce lights, though, so I used the magic light trick on them. If you have spots in your house where you want to have lights or lamps, but don’t have an outlet, this is the perfect way to make that happen!

There was so much dark wood in our house when we moved in, I just had to lighten things up! Jason questioned painting the wood and tile on the fireplace, but I knew that it would look so much better in white, instead of the dark and heavy wood. I love how the painted fireplace turned out, although, I’m currently planning a little update to the project! Our painters did the fireplace the first time around, but only because I was fresh off of a big surgery. This is totally doable as a DIY!

Well, I think I’ve shared enough projects here to keep you busy the rest of Winter…and probably beyond. Making your house look the way you want doesn’t have to take a lot of money, just some creativity and time. When the winter months feel long, I think it’s best to fill them with a few fun and helpful projects—perfect for passing the time until Spring!

If you do any of these projects, share a picture in your Instagram stories and tag me when you do! You can find me on Instagram at @hilaryprall.