One of the best skills you can learn is how to repair and make things at home. Whether you want to pick up a new hobby that involves crafting, you want to start up a small business, or you just want to make sure that you can keep your home in good repair without getting a handyman involved, you should spend some time picking up and improving your skills.
Learn From Friends And Family
The best way to learn more about any skill is to practice. With DIY, this might mean risking your health or potentially breaking something you’d rather repair. The second best way to learn is by helping or watching someone who is already skilled in DIY.
Family members or friends who are willing to help you with this are worth their weight in gold. If you know someone who is a bit handy, then don’t be afraid to ask them to help you pick up these skills. Offer to help them with their projects or, if they’re doing some repair work around your home, ask to also get involved.
If someone is kind enough to teach you these skills, show that you’re grateful. A bottle of wine goes a long way, or if it’s appropriate, offer to pay them for your time. It’s definitely worth the knowledge.
Start Small With Hobbies
One of the biggest mistakes that a budding handyperson can make is to take on a job that’s too big for them to handle. You don’t want your first taste of DIY work to be building an extension on your home, because this will almost certainly end in tears.
Instead, start exploring different hobbies that will offer opportunities for more practice. Model building and painting are fantastic ways to improve your DIY skills on a smaller scale. You can also take up hobbies that involve specific skills, such as crafts like knitting and making clothes. In time, these hobbies could evolve into side hustles, especially as you build up your skills.
You can also try some smaller projects at home. Building an extension to your house might be too much for a beginner, but putting together flat-pack furniture or putting up some shelves is probably more manageable.
The best thing to do is to keep practicing and take on projects that are incrementally more complex than the last. Hobbies are a great way to practice any skill because they keep it fun and relatively low-pressure. If something goes wrong, just take it as a learning opportunity.
Learn From The Internet
As well as learning from a friend or family member, or simply getting stuck in and practicing yourself by taking up a hobby, you can always learn something from the Internet. The Internet is sometimes a bit of a boogeyman nowadays, but there’s a treasure trove of fantastic information and resources at your fingertips. The key is knowing where to look.
Depending on what type of learner you are, you might prefer to read instructions or to watch a video. If you can do both, even better.
Youtube videos are a brilliant way to learn how to do a specific task very quickly. This is great if you need something relatively simple fixed right now, but don’t want to call someone in to do it. You can watch a short video once (or a few times) and make a quick repair. Even if the problem needs a more permanent solution later on, some quick instructions could save you a lot of time and money.
Some of these videos are entertaining to watch as well, so it’s a great way to relax over a cup of coffee and learn a few tips and tricks while you’re at it.
Get The Right Tools
It’s been said that a bad workman blames his tools and, while you do need to use your tools correctly, the right tools can make the world of difference. Do your research before each project and check what tools you might need, such as a power drill for drilling holes into hard materials or even a more specialized tool.
Don’t break your bank on the most expensive tools you can find at first. Start with the basics, and when you need to replace your tools, focus on upgrading the tools you use the most. Look for upgrades that will help you work more quickly and safely rather than bells and whistles that you probably won’t use.
Daniel is a Cinnamon Hollow author passionate about house and home, renovations, homesteading and DIY.