Summer Projects: How to organize your DIY Plans

Hey guys! It’s Shelby here from the I Heart Planners Team. It is finally starting to feel like summer here in the midwest. I made my first pitcher of sun tea yesterday, I have fresh flowers on my front porch,  you can hear the birds chirping, kids are running around the neighborhood, and if it’s after 5:00PM the smell of hamburgers on the grill fills the air.

We spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer. My two-year-old basically wants to live outside from sunup to sundown. Just as my son is dreaming of long summer days ahead, I’m dreaming about all the projects I want to accomplish this summer.

Click below to watch a video about how I organize my summer DIY plans!

We moved into our home a little over a year ago. While I instantly wanted to update, and add my touch to everything, I’ve learned that taking a step back to live in the space for awhile can help you better determine how you want to use the space and what your needs are. So after living in our home for one summer, I’m more than a little excited to get to work outdoors. I have dozens of DIY plans floating around in my brain. Of course I would LOVE to get all of my outdoor home projects done this summer, but as a working mom with a little one, and a husband who doesn’t want to be holding a hammer all summer, that isn’t realistic. Besides, we want to spend some time enjoying the outdoors too!

So, the big question is – where do you begin? I’ve found the best way to organize your DIY plans is to get everything out of your brain and onto paper. We created two free printables that will help you do just that! Enter your name and email below to get a FREE download of this printable.

I use the checklist page of this printable to write down all of the summer projects I have in mind. Even though I might not be able to complete all of these, I still write them down. My little helper and I take our adorable printable outside with us and do a couple laps around the house. At this point, I’m just collecting ideas (many I already have planned in my head) and listing them on my summer projects checklist.

Once I have my project list, I start organizing my DIY plan for the summer. This is where the second page of the printable comes in handy. Some of the items I listed on my checklist don’t require multiple steps to complete the project. For example – painting Grandpa’s birdhouse, trimming the trees, or painting the garage door are relatively easy. I probably already have most of the supplies I would need for those projects like paint or tree trimmers. I use the detailed project page to write out the steps needed to complete my bigger projects like planting a garden, building a small pergola, landscaping the front of the house, and repurposing a bench for the front porch.  

Listing out the steps involved with these projects not only help me determine how much time these projects will take, but also how much money it will take to complete the projects. Then I rank all of my projects from 1-3.

Priority rankings:

1 = Most important. This must be done. (I go ahead and schedule a time to do these on my monthly calendar)
2 = Important. We will get these done this summer.
3 = Would like to get this done (if we have time).

When I’ doing this I’m also thinking about the budget I listed on my detailed project printables. For example, while I would love to landscape the front yard and build a small pergola at the same time, those are two of the most expensive summer projects I’m planning, so I’m ranking them differently to spread out the costs throughout the summer. The best part is, with this printable you can use whatever ranking system you would like. If you want to rank projects 1-5 or 1-10, go for it!

The next step is hanging this cutie on the fridge or in your command center so you are reminded of it frequently. I went ahead and put all summer projects with a 1 ranking on our family calendar to ensure we schedule time to get them done. And, the final most important step is enjoying all your hard work. Even if you might not get ALL the items on your list complete, summer is about spending time together with family and friends, enjoying the outdoors! Hope your summer is off to a great start!!

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