DIY trends listed: 7 ideas for 2025–26

Tom Sells used a May 19 post on X to package seven DIY ideas for 2025–2026 around two themes that have become common in consumer home content: sustainability and tech-styled updates. The post, published from the account @tomsellsokc, framed the list as a look ahead at what homeowners and renters may try next in lower-lift renovation projects. BuzzFeed added to that stream a day later with a product-heavy roundup of 36 small DIY upgrades designed to change how a room looks or functions without a full remodel. ### What, exactly, was in the May 19 social post? Tom Sells’ May 19 X post said DIY trends for 2025–2026 would lean on “sustainable materials” and “tech-inspired home renovations,” according to the card briefing and the referenced post link. The framing fits a familiar social-media formula: short trend lists that bundle aesthetics, practicality and a forecast for the next renovation cycle. (x.com) The post’s emphasis matters because it ties two different strands of home-improvement content together. One is material choice — recycled, reclaimed or lower-waste finishes. The other is function — upgrades that make a home feel more customized, more efficient or more contemporary without major construction. That reading is an inference based on the themes named in the post briefing. (x.com) ### How did BuzzFeed’s list line up with that? BuzzFeed staff writer Courtney Lynch published “36 Subtle And Simple DIY Upgrades That’ll Still Impact Your Home In A Big Way” on May 20. The article said readers did not need to “break your back for home improvements,” and it presented a shopping-led list of small changes rather than contractor-scale renovations. (x.com) The first items in Lynch’s roundup included a 3D-printed switchplate cover, removable prismatic window film and velvet slipcovers for an older couch. Those examples point to the same low-cost, visible-change approach described in the story brief: lighting-adjacent swaps, surface updates and storage or comfort additions that alter a room quickly. ### Why are lighting and hardware swaps showing up so often? (buzzfeed.com) BuzzFeed’s May 20 list led with switchplate covers and window film, both examples of upgrades that change a room’s finish without changing its layout. The story brief also said BuzzFeed accounts promoted lighting swaps, hardware updates and storage solutions as high-impact, low-cost fixes across posts published May 18 and May 19. (buzzfeed.com) That pattern reflects how home-improvement content performs on social platforms. Smaller projects are easier to photograph, easier to price and easier to link to products. In practice, that means creators and publishers often steer readers toward replaceable details — switchplates, cabinet pulls, peel-and-stick surfaces, organizers and lighting accessories — instead of structural work. This is an inference drawn from the examples surfaced in the BuzzFeed article and the social briefing. (buzzfeed.com) ### Is this a renovation forecast or a shopping guide? The May 19 and May 20 items sit somewhere between the two. Tom Sells’ X post presented a trend list for 2025–2026, while BuzzFeed’s article worked as a purchasable checklist with product suggestions and prices, including a switchplate cover listed at $13 and window film listed at $8.99. BuzzFeed’s article also carried its standard disclosure that the outlet and its publishing partners may collect compensation from links on the page. (buzzfeed.com) That means the list was not only editorial packaging around DIY ideas, but also an affiliate-shopping format. ### What should readers watch next? May 20 is likely too early to treat any single social post as a settled home-design forecast. (x.com) What is verifiable is that the latest round of DIY content published on May 19 and May 20 clustered around sustainable materials, tech-coded styling and inexpensive room-by-room upgrades from named publishers and creators including Tom Sells and BuzzFeed’s Courtney Lynch. (buzzfeed.com) Further posts from BuzzFeed’s shopping accounts and similar creator lists will show whether those same themes — sustainable finishes, lighting changes, hardware swaps and storage fixes — keep appearing through the 2026 home-improvement cycle. (x.com 1) (x.com 2)