Project book · an afternoon

Redo the front entry

House numbers, a light, a mailbox and a painted door. An afternoon, and it is the photo everybody sees first.

This fits in a car

About 37 lb of materials. Comfortably inside what a car carries (200 lb), so any shopper can take it.

Before you start

Turn the porch light off at the breaker before you change the fitting. If the old wiring is brittle or the box is loose, stop and get an electrician — a light fitting is not worth guessing at.

What to buy — untick anything you have

Paint

Hardware

Lighting

Weatherproofing

Plants

Tools — already ticked off, since most people have them

Tools

It lands in the shopping form, where you can edit anything and say what you think each thing costs. Nothing is ordered until you send it.

How it goes · about an afternoon · beginner

  1. Take the door furniture off rather than taping around it — the difference shows from the street.
  2. Sand the door back lightly, wipe it down, and prime any bare patches.
  3. Paint the door in thin coats, on a dry day that is not in full sun, and let each coat go off properly.
  4. Put the numbers up with the level rather than by eye, and set them where they can be read from a car.
  5. Change the porch light and the mailbox, seal any gap around the frame, and put the planters and the mat down last.

Something else

Build a raised garden bedMulch a flower bedPaint a roomPut up garage shelvingFix a patchy lawnBuild a fire pitMount a TV on the wallCookout for a crowd

Feeding people instead? The recipe book works the same way — pick a meal, say how many, every ingredient lands on the list.

Redo the front entry — everything for it, in one tap · DriverRuns