How a single pot of paint can brighten up your home

The problem with DIY is that, in the name of home improvement, it’s possible to make one’s habitat so much worse. Also, a job you hoped would take a weekend might really drag on. And cock-ups can be costly and hard to reverse. But there is one form of DIY that’s inexpensive, requires little skill, and can magically transform a room in an afternoon — plus, if you hate the result, you can simply paint right over it. Meet the one-pot wonders, the micro-projects that make a massive difference: from colouring up window frames to painting the inside edge of a skylight, “flipping” kitchen chairs and creating a flash of colour on a door edge.

Forget the feature wall, what you need to add instant