Home projects to do in lockdown

Feeling the need to be productive during the lockdown? Here are a few ideas to keep you busy in between working from home and catching up on your favourite TV series.

1. Baking
From banana bread and biscuits to tipsy tart, South Africans are baking up a storm in lockdown. Baking is a great creative outlet, it’s relaxing, and it’s a wonderful activity to do with your kids. And if ever there was a time to indulge in a little comfort food, this is it – so why not join the rest of the country and whip up some family favourites. Fresh scones with strawberry jam and cream, anyone?

2. Decluttering
Take advantage of this enforced downtime to do a home clean-up. Work through each room and only keep the things you really need or that, in the words of cleaning guru Marie Kondo, “spark joy”. Bag or box up everything else and place them in a spare room or out-of-the-way area until you can remove them from your home – and remember to use ‘discard’ and ‘donate’ piles so you know what to do with them when the lockdown ends.

3. Gardening
Now’s a great time to tackle garden tasks, so grab your gloves and get to it. Sweep up leaves and add them to your compost bin, do some weeding (rope in the kids to help), deadhead roses, clean and organise your garden shed, and adjust your irrigation schedule if necessary to avoid overwatering.

4. Home maintenance
From light bulbs that need to be replaced to cupboard doors that need to be rehung, most of us have small home maintenance tasks we’ve been meaning to get to. So why not use this opportunity to get stuck in? While there are probably a few jobs that you won’t be able to tackle because you don’t have the materials or equipment on hand, cross off the ones that you can.

5. Project planning
Dreaming of renovating your bathroom, changing your interior décor or creating an indoor garden? While you can’t start these projects right now, you can use this time to plan them down to the last detail. So start doing your research – look online for references and inspiration, plan layouts or colour schemes, pin down what you like (and don’t like) and get recommendations for contractors. By the time lockdown ends, you’ll be ready to dive into your project.