The cheapest sweater shaver on Amazon like this. It makes the worst high pitched screeching noises so I wear ear plugs when I use it lol
Mine isn’t this one but I imagine they all come from the same gadget factory.
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Mine looks very similar, it’s a Philips and it works well. But it costs twice as much!
Handy people… @flan @marcela anyone else.
I really want to be more hands on and do household projects.
Some of this is carpentry light:
- building a wedge for the bed so I can sleep at an incline, maybe one day making a bed frame that does this more elegantly
- building a nice fence for a garden
Some of this is straight up construction:
- knocking out a wall for a door and buildin a deck (my dad did this in 2 days, what the fuck)
I have no help from my family despite their handiness because they are emotionally unintelligent and impatient and dislike teaching. Love them, but that how they be.
What are ways I can get started small? I live in an apartment now but I’ll be in the house end of June.
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I have the same issue…there are multiple licenced contractors in my family but they aren’t natural teachers so they just do things for me instead.
Imo building a fence is relatively easy and usually only needs straight cuts so that might be the place to start? There are some simple tricks that you can find online like stringing something between the two longest fence posts so you know the height without measuring each board (easier and looks better!)
Some community colleges and city education programs have basic woodworking classes that would teach you how to safely use different kinds of power tools like a table saw or a circular saw.
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HAHA what a kinder more positive way to frame this. Woops, sorry fam from afar hahaha.
I like the idea of taking a basic woodworking class. 
Ty !
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I’ve taken a couple and loved them! I’m still not great about planning a project but if I’m with my dad I feel comfortable jumping in to rip some boards (table saw) or setting up a small jig to get consistently sized cross-cuts. Actually, because woodworking classes teach more fine woodworking skills I have one or two things I can do very slightly better than my dad who approaches every project with a nail gun 
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We had a murphy bed in one room when I was in high school, I vaguely recall my mom using that bed plus a couple furniture risers to get an angled bed. That could also probably work with a basic twin bed frame too? And would be an easier trial to see if you like it before committing to a bed, with Mr. Meer’s angled pillow he finds that he just slides down off of it in his sleep.
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We have these now but pretty sure our bed frame is breaking slowly from the lack of support in the right places haha.
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You might look at Ana White - she has many free plans for furniture and stuff and I know several people who have built nice things from them.
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Ok this isn’t solving your quest-for-DIY problem at all, but I got a big wedge pillow for pregnancy reflux, and it did its job.
We started off not knowing how to do anything, as we all do. We were lucky to have FIL show us how to do some stuff, but we also learned a lot just watching YouTube videos from contractors who have a side gig of making youtube videos. For drywall, for example, I’m loving @Vancouver_Carpenter’s videos on how to tape and mud each type of drywall joint. FIL basically said “go look it up on youtube”, so we did. 
He might have carpentry videos, too!
Some cities also have workshops on developing these types of skills. You can see if there are offerings like that near you! I know there’s a carpentry course offered locally that walks people through how to use basic equipment, make hinges and stuff. It’s helpful to learn how to use powertools and big saws in-person with supervision, imo.
Another is to offer your hands to friends who are DIYing. We have friends who came to help us when we were tiling, install indoors, etc. who picked up some skills for their own smaller projects. My dad can to help us with tiling, and he was here for enough steps that he then redid the tile in his own shower. Does your family have any work planned? Can you spot problems and ask if you can help them fix it? Trim damage, paint job, drywall patching, whatever? Then if they’re bad teachers you can still learn something. Most people are bad teachers. You can’t make them take the time to teach you, but some may say yes to a tagalong or a helper while they do their thing, and you may even get to ask questions!
I will warn that there are also projects that are outside of a typical DIYer’s scope or may be dangerous or cause serious issues. Knocking out a wall for a door? You should probably have a structural engineer take a look at the wall as to not just collapse the whole dang house. Electrical? Probably need more solid safety training as to not shock yourself. Plumbing? We stay away from plumbing mostly (except for the real isolated stuff like sinks, faucets, showerheads, immediate pipes) – we don’t want to cause leaks or water damage that’s way costlier to fix.
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This seems like a harmless way to start. For starter projects, pick projects that aren’t load-bearing and don’t cause huge damage if things go awry.
A nice flowerbed fence or planter box seem good woodworking places to start and get used to wood and screws and angles and saws etc
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If you’ve got any MakerSpaces in your area, they might be of use…the one here has a lot of woodworking/metalworking equipment that isn’t practical for individuals to buy for one use, and they offer classes on the use of all of it (depending on the machine classes are required to use it). They also offer tours for potential new members done by people who are happy to talk about project specifics.
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What type of fence? I’m a big fan of being lazy when it comes to my projects. Maybe buy some premade panels and attach those to posts.
While still in your apartment era, I would recommend small projects to get used to using some tools. Something like a cell phone stand will give you practice with cutting wood, both straight and at angles, and basic drilling/assembly stuff.
I do a lot of Pinterest searches for diy (whatever) to see if someone else has already come up with plans for what I want to do. Then I go through those and decide whether or not it seems too out of my experience or tool options. Ana White comes up a lot.
If the whole bed is looking like it might need to go, I would just buy an adjustable bed moving forward. That’s not a small project and it’s easy to underestimate how much wood and screws and brackets cost.
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I am in the early stages of fantasizing about replacing my flooring. It runs through the kitchen, living and dining room (whole floor is only about 900 square feet) and the new floor, if we ever actually do it, will also include a bedroom that currently has disgusting carpet.
Anyway, my question is: If I also hate my cabinets, will I regret not removing them to do the floor? Or is it really OK to just add molding to the bottom, which is what a floor guy (who was there to estimate carpeting the stairs a few years ago) told us? Would love to hear from people who have had their floors done. Just trying to get a mental idea of the scope of the project!
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The previous folks who renovated our kitchen put the old (shitty) flooring under the cabinets, and that actually created more problems than if they had the floor end at the cabinets (which as far as I know is the more recommended way). As long as installers can get under the stove, fridge, and dishwasher, you should be golden!
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it’s ok to add molding, UNLESS you think you might be moving cabinets, ie more floor will end up exposed / not covered by a cabinet
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Yeah, doesn’t work for me!
Sadly, no in person friends 
This is what happens when you move 7 times in 13 years…
But thanks all! Good recs
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If you cut the floor around the cabinets just keep enough flooring to fill gaps if you remove the cabinets and the new ones have a different footprint.
Keep spare flooring anyways. Super handy.
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I was trying to think how the heck I picked up some handy skills. Then I remembered I had done a bit of Habitat for Humanity volunteering as a teenager, where they are used to teaching volunteers and I learned to paint and use a table saw, nail gun, and other tools. On a weeklong trip, they had us in a cabinet shop making doors.
There’s really good free media too, from DIY blogs to very earnest dads and people talking through various techniques. Like @flan mentioned they get very, very specific on technique and I find it so endearing. I learned to tile from watching YouTube videos. Basically “how to build ___ video” yield pretty good results.
There’s also video consults on Matriarchy Build if you want pro-level 1:1 advice.
In my mind, if it is not load bearing and doesn’t touch water, it’s low risk. Arts and crafts on a bigger scale!
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Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust
This book is illustrated vs photographed, but it seems really helpful and targeted at basics!
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