17 Weekend Projects That Kept Adults Busy in the '80s

Weekends in the 1980s also seemed like occasions where adults could repair, refurbish, organize, and decorate the items in their environment. This included homeowners who renovated their basements, constructed decks, built fences, put carpets down, wallpapered, and tiled their homes with help from tools and guidebooks. There were also leisure activities that consisted of putting together model railroads on plywood tables, filling up photo albums with family pictures, and even using personal computers. All of these activities were an indication of a time when being able to do something by oneself saved money, but at the same time provided one with a sense of achievement.

1. Finishing the Basement

Weekends usually started with a trip to the hardware store, and then the afternoon was spent making unoccupied basements functional. Adults cut and measured lumber and erected basic walls using do-it-yourself books to install paneling and ceiling tiles. Wood-paneling was common in rec rooms, which got sofas, TVs, and tables. Everything from wood to adhesive was found at home improvement stores and lumberyards. Work did not cease until dinner time. Sometimes a misaligned piece of wood or a tough nail would delay completion, but the newly made basement provided something that no money could buy: more usable living space.

2. Repainting the Kitchen Cabinets

An old, tired-looking kitchen cabinet was not always replaced. Most people chose to give their old cabinets a new coat of paint or varnish on the weekend. The doors would be removed from their hinges, and all hardware placed in jars while newspaper would cover their countertops and floor. It took time to sand, especially if there had been grease build-up around the handles along with many years of varnish. Popular interior decoration magazines urged house owners to give their dark kitchens a brighter look without spending money on remodeling. By the end of the Sunday, doors would be put back together, and the knobs would be screwed tight again.

3. Building a Backyard Deck

A popular weekend project for homeowners involved building backyard decks, as people became increasingly fond of outdoor living. Adults would spend their Saturdays and Sundays positioning posts, digging holes, levelling beams, and securing pressure-treated planks to assemble these decks. This process entailed a lot of precise measuring since any slight miscalculation at the base of the deck could reveal itself further on. Special hardware stores supplied homeowners with deck plans, wood, nails, bolts, and other necessary supplies, and construction books provided information about basic building techniques. After construction, homeowners might also erect railings, benches, or even a barbecue beside their deck.

4. Hanging New Wallpaper

Papering a room could take up an entire weekend, particularly when the patterns needed to match perfectly. Adults moved the furniture out of the way, stripped off any loose paper, made repairs to any cracks, and then put paste on large sheets of wallpaper. Floral, striped, and geometric patterns transformed bedrooms, dining rooms, and hallways instantly without much construction involved. There were numerous options for home decorating magazines and wallpaper samples. The most difficult part was getting the corners, windows, and wall outlets to match up correctly. By the end of the weekend, the floor would be littered with scraps, and the fingers would be sticky.

5. Building Homemade Bookshelves

Flat-pack furniture had not taken hold, and many adults still constructed basic bookshelves on their own. The process would begin on a Saturday afternoon using pine boards, measuring tools, a hand saw or circular saw, screws, and lots of sanding. Woodworking hobbyist magazines published blueprints that normal people could use without a professional woodworking shop. Measurements were made, cuts were precise, and everyone hoped that the shelves came out straight. Some people colored their completed piece dark brown, while others painted it to fit into the room decor. Once complete, the shelves provided storage for encyclopedias, paperback books, albums, family photos, and decorative objects.

6. Doing Basic Car Maintenance

The automobiles needed frequent maintenance, and on a sunny Saturday, owners had a chance to do their own maintenance work. Driveways turned into instant workshops where the adults would change the motor oil, filters, belts, fluid levels, and inspect the spark plugs of their cars. Books like the Chilton and Haynes manuals assisted the owners in performing the tasks on their own rather than using a repair garage. Oil pans, funnels, socket sets, and greasy rags surrounded the automobile. It often got messy very quickly if a drain plug fell out or there was an oil spill. Nevertheless, the benefits of doing the maintenance outweighed its drawbacks.

7. Planting a Backyard Garden

Gardening extended the weekend days with much digging, planting, pruning, and watering. The adults were always at garden stores for tomato plants, marigolds, petunias, herbs, fertilizers, and sacks of soil before bringing everything back to the backyard. The vegetable gardens offered summer crops while the flowers added more color to the ordinary yard space. Often, constructing the raised borders, wood bordering, and trellises were separate projects. The weeds were always ready to make our life hard during the weekends, and so maintaining the garden became an ongoing ritual. By Sunday evening, the dirty feet and aching back came along with the joy of a well-groomed garden.

8. Putting Up a Wooden Fence

A wooden fence would transform any backyard, but putting up such a fence would require hard work on weekends. Adults drew the boundaries of the property, pulled the string between stakes, dug holes for the posts, and put up those posts. The concrete had to set before attaching rails and pickets. While privacy fences were very popular in suburban backyards, lower fences were installed in gardens and in front of houses. Treated wood, hinges, nails, and gate hardware could be bought in the hardware store; however, the actual labor was left at home. Occasionally, friends or relatives would help to put up the toughest part.

9. Replacing Worn Carpeting

Wall-to-wall carpeting was also common in homes, and installing new carpet could prove a tedious project. Individuals would remove old carpets, carefully take off the tack strips, clean the floor, put down fresh carpet padding, and then install new carpet. This involved careful trimming and stretching of the carpet and securing it on walls and doorways. Specialized equipment for doing this included knee kickers and carpet stretchers that were available at rental stores. The job required patience since mistakes in trimming would create holes, and mistakes in stretching could lead to wrinkling of the carpet. All furniture had to wait in another room.

10. Organizing Family Photo Albums

Prior to low-cost digital printing technology, family photos frequently made their way into meticulously put together albums or scrapbooks. Family members spent peaceful weekends arranging their envelopes of photos that had come in from family vacations, birthday parties, weddings, graduation ceremonies, and other special occasions. Their pictures had been processed by drug stores or photo-finishing counters, leaving families with piles of photographs that needed to be organized. Albums were either adhesive-backed or came with clear plastic overlays. Captions would indicate who was in the photos, where it took place, and when they took place. Some enthusiasts even included movie tickets, postcards, and newspaper clippings.

11. Refinishing Old Furniture

Furniture made out of wood was often given a second life rather than thrown away. Adults would take their weekends to strip old dressers of paint, sand tables, fix broken joints, and apply new stains and varnishes. Antique items and those purchased at flea markets were ideal for restoration work since they were typically crafted using sturdy wood. Paint removers had to be worn with gloves and in a well-ventilated area, while sanding led to dust getting everywhere. There were many manuals on how to properly strip and prepare a surface. The whole process was not quick and demanded a lot of patience, especially when several coats had to dry.

12. Sewing New Curtains

Sewing machines were kept busy as people in their homes sewed their own curtains, cushion coverings, clothes, and other items made from fabrics. A visit to a fabric shop on Saturday would provide you with the patterns, thread, zippers, buttons, and even some yards of fabric. Fabric companies such as Simplicity, Butterick, and McCall offered patterns for sewing at home, which would guide people in their sewing. Tables were used as sewing centers where people pinned and cut their fabric pieces. If there were any errors made in the process of sewing, it required unsewing and redoing the whole thing. Sewing curtains was particularly fulfilling because it transformed the appearance of a room within minutes.

13. Building a Model Railroad

Model railroading provided adults with a weekend hobby that could span decades. They constructed their model tracks on plywood platforms, installed the track, wired switches, painted the scenery, and developed small cities around the model locomotives. Model railroading products were available from companies like Lionel, Atlas, and Bachmann, and hobby magazines published track designs and ideas on how to construct one. Construction of authentic scenery required extra care. Modeling hills, planting little trees, adding roads, and weathering the buildings to give them a used look were part of creating realistic scenery. Troubleshooting electrical issues could take an entire afternoon if the train ever stopped running.

14. Installing Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile brought permanence to kitchens and bathrooms, but it took all weekend to install the tiles. Adults measured the floors or walls, planned the arrangement of tiles, laid down the adhesive, and pressed each tile in place using spacers. After the tiles dried, the seams were filled with grout and the surface wiped with a wet sponge. Home renovation manuals emphasized laying down accurate reference lines initially, since mistakes at the start would ruin the whole pattern. Specialized tools were needed to cut tiles to fit the corners and around pipes. The job was time-consuming, messy, and hard on the knees. However, when complete, a bland backsplash or floor was transformed.

15. Programming a Home Computer

The home computer became an instrument for programming experiments during those extra weekends. Those grownups who possessed a machine like the Commodore 64, the Apple II, or the IBM PC would spend much time typing BASIC programs found in computer magazines or books. A small program was capable of doing many things like creating a game, calculating some numbers, or drawing something on the screen. An error could spoil everything, and you would have to check every line carefully, character by character. Some users installed additional cards or even tried a modem. Such experiments were not similar to any repair work at home but demanded about the same patience.

16. Organizing the Garage With Pegboard

A garage was not always kept completely organized when there was a fight for space among tools, paint cans, bikes, and gardening supplies. The adults would spend an entire day constructing some shelving or racks using wood and brackets. Pegboards proved to be very handy since there were hooks on which hammers, wrenches, saws, and cords could be kept. Home improvement stores stocked pegboards and other materials in suitable sizes. Everything would start by clearing up a messy area and choosing what should remain. The measurements and the installation of the mounting brackets were simple enough. When all items had been put back into their places, the garage seemed spacious, and locating the screwdrivers was easy.

17. Installing a Ceiling Fan

Putting up a ceiling fan was an example of home improvement that took a little bit of courage when it came to electricity. People would replace old-fashioned ceiling fixtures with ceiling fans that would help circulate air in the house during warmer days. Putting up such fans involved turning off the electricity in the house, taking down the old fixture, fitting it on a proper mount, wiring the fan, and then assembling the blades following the instructions. Hardware and lighting stores had various types of ceiling fans depending on their finish, such as wood finish, brass finish, and so forth. Balancing the blades was always the tricky part when they were shaky.