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Our Summer DIY Home Improvement Projects

I’m a crafty person, so I love to make things, especially things that make life easier and more beautiful. DIY home improvement projects are big in my family- between a dad with a green thumb and love for carpentry, to a brother who built a computer from scratch, we love to just do it all ourselves.

Our family DIY home improvement projects this summer were focused on organizing and decluttering our home while making it prettier. This week, I wanted to organize some kitchen shelves and maximize shelf space in a way that is attractive and doesn’t add more clutter, so I found some cup hooks to put into my cupboard shelves to hang up our mugs, which were previously just stashed on top of each other. The result basically doubled the shelf space in a simple way and made everything easier to reach on every shelf I added these to. All I needed were gold cup hooks and a hammer to lightly tap them into the wood; after, I just twisted them the rest of the way.

diy home project kitchen organizer

When I’m done with each small project, I feel thrilled. Not because I’m done, but because I did it! I love to make my home more beautiful and more organized, it’s one of my favorite hobbies, and I plan to do more this summer and into the fall too. We start ’em young around here too, because after my father made this family mail “control center” for our incoming and outgoing mail, we recruited my toddler son and niece to paint it (with adult supervision and help). They had a great time, and things are always better when the whole family has fun:

diy home improvement ideas organizing

My next DIY Home Improvement projects are:

1. Taking an old wooden frame that is beautifully shaped and creating a chalkboard for little man to practice writing his letters on. It simple to do- I paint the frame a beautiful color, paint a mirror with chalkboard paint, attach it to the frame and hang it up within his reach. It’s a DIY project twofer- makes the house more beautiful, and helps my son to learn. It can also double as a family message station when the kids are grown.

2. My dad has a green thumb and is helping me develop my garden. Right now we are growing organic vegetables that we use to make healthy, fresh salads for the family (I love salad and veggies), and since I also want a lovely garden but don’t want to spend all my free time on it, I found this list of plants you rarely have to water on HouseLogic.com for ideas for a beautiful garden that requires minimal work.

3. Make a key station with a frame. For this diy home improvement tutorial, cut a piece of fiberboard to fit into a picture frame, cover board with a piece of fabric, and staple it in the back to keep it in place. Place the board into the frame and fasten on labels and screw hooks for each set of keys.




  • Great project ideas! Love the idea for a chalkboard.

  • Billie

    I wish I was a crafty person, the key station is super cute.

  • I wish I would have that key holder when all of us were in and out all the time with four cars!

  • Amanda

    I have so many DIY projects I want to get done – time just keeps FLYING!

  • I love what you can do with random objects like a picture frame and brass hooks. I feel that small projects like this really brighten up a hallway or a kitchen cabinet. My wife loves to refurbish furniture that she finds on the side of te road. She can take an armour that is less than attractive and trasform it into something truly wonderful. Art is not limited to a picture frame. Art is all around us and should be expressed.

  • I like the hooks for the cups.

  • Love the cup holder idea, very cute!

  • Great projects! I love the way the mugs look when they are hanging.

  • Jenn

    I need to do that with our mugs. Thanks for the idea!

  • I love the key center idea. It’s beautiful!

  • It’s amazing how little changes in organization can make your whole place feel cleaner. Great tips!

  • Donna

    Great ideas! I have to be in the mood to be crafty, which is usually in the winter. 🙂

  • Her Social Network

    LOVE LOVE LOVE these ideas. I will admit I’m no martha lover of the DIY projects. If it’s not easy, it’s not happening. I am loving these ideas and the wheels of DIY are now spinning. Thanks for keepin’ it simple for the anti- DIY’ers like me!

  • Love the idea of hanging the cups. that certainly would solve my space issue.

  • Love the idea of hanging up the tea cups. Makes so much more room!

  • I love the key station, we have a hook that has three but I would love one like that with the names.

  • I always feel so much more productive when everything around me is organized. Thanks for some of the tips.

  • Great projects! I’ve always got several either going on or that need to be done.

  • Sloan

    I Loved all these projects. I will check out Houselogic. Thank you for the tips!

  • That keyboard is a great project idea and so needed in our household. I lose my keys hourly.

  • I love the hook things in cabinets for tea/coffee cups. I need to do that in our house here.

  • April Decheine

    I have the under cupboard hooks for my coffee cups too, they were here when we moved in. Looks great!

  • I love the coffee cup hooks!!

  • Awesome ideas. 🙂

  • Love the key board. We have a lot of summer projects to finish up too.

  • I love chalkboard frames

  • Stefanie

    I like the key board!

  • The hooks are such a genius idea! I totally need to do that in our cupboard as space has gotten pretty tight.

  • Love the tea cup hangers!! So cute!

  • Bag Lady

    I was looking at your cup holder project. The shelves look very thin, did the screw hook go through the top?

  • Penelope

    No, the screws were actually rather short (I’d say the shelf is an inch wide and the screw on each hook was about 1/2 an inch or so).