Long weekends are great for relaxing, but it never hurts to devote just a part of one to an overdue household project. The folks at Home Depot may have going too far in suggesting to us that readers tackle one job per day, but if you have a free day you might want to:

• improve your home’s curb appeal with a freshly painted front door. Here’s how: Prep the surface by scraping off old debris, buffing it with a sanding block, and wiping with a painter rag. To save time, you can try a paint and primer in one. There’s one in the house line, BEHR, called Premium Plus Ultra. If you’ve got the budget, add new lighting, door hardware, and an address plaque, as seen in the pic (courtesy of Home Depot)

 

• paint the room you’ve been meaning to get to all winter. Start by patching your walls and applying painting tape around doors and ceilings; next, prime the room and then paint. With the new low-Voc paints — including Aura from Benjamin Moore, just about everything from Farrow and Ball and CIL’s Naturaliving Interior Latex Primer — you can use the room again within a few hours of painting.

 

• organize your garage by installing stable sturdy shelves or a pegboard. For about $20, you can pick up a four by eight pegboard. Add assorted functional hooks to hang hand tools, hardware, and lawn supplies.