I’d confidently say that one of the main things stopping women from getting into D-I-Y and home improvements is FEAR. And trust me, I get it! I still battle with anxiety about jobs on the regular – maybe just different anxieties. They still keep me awake some nights!
Back to you though. Whether it’s….
• Scared of making a giant mistake that will ruin things,
• Worrying about not doing a good job,
• Being afraid you don’t know what the heck you’re doing,
• Fretting about needing to hire someone to fix your mistakes, or
• Fear of failure
You just can’t seem to get over it and have a go.
To be fair, these are all perfectly reasonable, and pretty valid reasons to take a pause and decide whether D-I-Y is the best option for any given project. Is it unfounded fear, or are there genuine risks?
(No, it's not unfounded. And yes, there are genuine risks.)
On the other hand, I can’t even begin to adequately articulate the pride and genuine feeling of empowerment that comes from giving something a go, seeing it through to completion, and standing back to admire your handy work knowing YOU DID THAT!!
A large proportion of the reviews and private thanks I receive from clients is about how good it feels that they overcame those very same fears you have. It is a really special feeling to have a go at something….and succeeding!
The thing about using tools and doing basic home maintenance is you discover it isn’t as difficult or overwhelming as you might imagine. That’s not to say tradies aren’t skilled and offer a valuable service. They are, and they do (mostly). But, and here’s where I let you in on a secret….
Tradies make mistakes too!
All the time. Like, really, really big ones sometimes. Or small ones daily. It’s almost always fixable. The built environment is, after all, human-made. What is done can be undone. That’s where people in the trades probably really earn their keep – they know how to fix *uck-ups, or tackle unexpected hitches, because of their years of experience and exposure to problems they’ve had to solve in the past.
Knowing how to fix it can be where D-I-Yers become unstuck though, because quite frankly not nearly enough troubleshooting is covered off in the how-to’s you find online. Social media videos edited to within an inch of their life, and rarely do we see the struggles, the mistakes, the fixes, the little cheats, and the cover-ups that got them to the final ‘After’ shot. Not much can be learned by others when it all supposedly goes perfectly – because when you give it a go, I guarantee it won’t be as easy as it looked on YouTube.
And that’s a shame. Because yep, it can be very, very frustrating.
Things can and do go wrong most of the time. Yes! Almost always. Whether it’s split timber, an incorrect measurement that means it won’t fit, a forgotten component that requires another run to the hardware store, a house that isn’t acquainted with square and plumb!
It’s about maintaining patience, working through the challenges that crop up, and not giving up! The reward is all the more sweeter for it. One of the reasons I run real-life, in-home workshops (called Bang! Club) is because you learn on the job – warts and all. You get a genuine sense of what kinds of issues crop up, and how to tackle them. And you discover that you don’t need to be afraid.
It’ll all be fine.
Having said that, for sure sometimes it is best to give D-I-Y a miss. Getting in over your skis can lead to:
1. Things taking waaaaaay longer that you bargained for
2. Costing more money to rectify or re-do
3. Hating the finished result so much you regret embarking on a D-I-Y misadventure
4. Turning off any future inclination to ever do anything yourself again forever!
But, it’s all part of the process. And who knows, maybe you’ll even love it. You might even discover you’re good at it. Who knew?!
Not even kidding, but sometimes I work with women who haven’t so much as used a drill before who impress the heck out of me. I’ll be there - 5 years in, carpentry qualifications under my belt, and thousands of hours deeeeeep in the weeds of the building industry, bumbling away with “measure thrice”, and she’ll just be like “badda bing badda bang!”. It’s done. It’s so good, first time, spot on. And I am blown away. Some folks are just naturals!
Maybe you’re a natural too? You’ll never know if you don’t overcome your unfounded fears and give it a go!
Claire was one such woman who was a bit paralysed by fear. She hired me to work together to replace her balcony door, and quite frankly it didn’t go very well. I wasn’t able to square up the frame to make the new door fit and came to the end of my skill set. It was what I’d call “a bad day at the office”. Claire was stressed and very disappointed. I don’t blame her. I thought I’d scarred her for life, and I felt terrible.
But in fact, fast forward a few months and Claire messaged me….
How fantastic is that? What a turnaround!
Claire shared with me the projects she’d done – some of them quite advanced - and the photos of her handy work. I was just so proud of her, and tickled pink that she shared her progress with me. Knowing I played a part in that confidence building is quite simply my raison d'être and the exact purpose of She Bangs. Upskilling and emboldening women is the entire ToolSchool concept, and Claire totally nailed it.
I asked her a few questions about her D-I-Y journey. Here’s what she said:
What held you back from doing D-I-Y in your home before working with She Bangs?
It really came down to never having done ‘handy’ things before. In reality, this was because I'd never needed to - but I'd created a narrative in my head that this was because I couldn't. Two very different things!
What's the most valuable thing you learnt through this process?
That things don't have to be perfect! When I started renovating, I'd just made a really big financial decision to buy an apartment and I was absolutely petrified of making expensive (or irreversible) mistakes if things didn't go to plan. Working with Sam taught me that home renovation projects almost never go to plan, no matter how experienced you are - and that's all part of the process.
What piece of advice would you give to other women about jumping into D-I-Y?
I've actually got three pieces of advice - these came from Sam and I try my best to follow them (although I do have a tendency to cut corners...)
1. Take your time
2. Measure three times
3. Have a back up plan
What's next on the cards for your home improvements?
For now, joyfully nothing! There'll always be something more you can do and it's also really lovely to pause, look around at the home you've created, and feel a little bit proud of yourself.
Be like Claire!
Imagine what YOU could do if you climbed out from the shadows, stopped letting fear hold you back, and took the leap. What are you afraid of?
If you’d like to begin your own journey, you’ll want the e-Guide ‘Getting Started with D-I-Y’ – available for download here