Did you know that botched DIY jobs cost householders an average of £316 per household? Whether it’s lack of preparation, problems hanging wallpaper or badly painted walls, six in 10 Britons admit to making mistakes when attempting home improvements.
The great news is that help is at hand for your Bank Holiday DIY plans from decorating brand Harris, which has launched a handy online guide offering practical advice and expert tips on DIY techniques.
Better still (in our opinion), Harris also researched different personality types, finding that home improvers fall into one of seven categories: Reluctant; Obsessive; Impulsive; Clumsy; Planner; Overwhelmed; and Flaky – and has tailored its advice to each personality type.
‘For many people who haven’t carried out home improvements recently, if at all, even straightforward painting jobs can seem tricky to approach,' says Harris Brushes spokesperson, Sonia Sanghera. 'With 90 years of product expertise under our belts we know we have the tools for the job, so we wanted to couple this with top tips to help encourage even the most nervous DIYer.'
So the big question is, did you guess which category you fall into?
The Reluctant DIYer has a few paint brushes and rollers gathering dust somewhere, along with a tin of paint dating back to 2006, and they decide to have a go at freshening the kitchen walls with that.
The Obsessive always feels that if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Their dedicated workspace houses not one, but five tools for each job.
The Impulsive handyperson typically decides after a glass of wine on a Friday night that the kitchen wall needs painting immediately – their ethos is: let's just do it!
The Clumsy painter’s heart is always in it, but sadly their skills don’t match their enthusiasm.
The Planner works out the best way to do the job, putting so much care into the detail that they easily lose track of time and a job which should have taken a weekend can drag on well into the next Bank Holiday.
The Overwhelmed would love to have a go at the latest decorating trend, but as they have no idea where to start, they never do.
The Flaky DIYer is full of enthusiasm at first, buying the paint and tools for the job, but they soon lose interest.
Starting to get an inkling of which category you fall into? Take the personality quiz to confirm which DIY type you are, and put the expert advice to good use to make sure your next DIY job is a success. Happy decorating!
