Even the most inexperienced with DIY will have spent some time down at their local DIY centre or store. The more experienced or addicted, probably spends every weekend or evening down there.

Whatever your level, there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the most out of your trip to your local DIY store. Here’s my top five tips:

1. Most stores will have an array of leaflets offering masses of DIY tips, how to advice, instructions and guidance. Pick up as many as you think will apply in the future and file them at home for when you need them. Some DIY centres will also offer free training classes, usually at weekends. These are excellent for learning the basics or gaining improvement tips. I also know of people who have been inspired for ideas from attending these.

2. The staff at your local DIY store will usually work there because they love DIY. Don’t be intimidated by them: Talk to them, make use of their knowledge and passions. You don’t have to buy anything to receive their advice.

3. Some stock is delicate and may be subject to breakages before it’s even been touched by a customer. A lot of damaged stock is thrown away each year, often just because nobody bought it. DIY stores can limit their loss by selling this damaged stock off cheap, so do not be afraid to ask! Split bags of compost, dented paint cans, broken paving slabs, broken terracotta pieces, wood offcuts are often available at a bargain price. Remember, it’s saving the store on waste collection costs, so don’t feel guilty about asking!

4. Be aware that demand for some items is a lot higher than others. Some nails and screws are regarded as ’specialised’ just because their length isn’t a particularly common one. If you are not after a specific item, look for the common size in the range. You will be able to spot these as they will have the lowest price per packet!

5. I hate to write one against the DIY stores, but it’s true that with a little thought, planning and time, you can make some items yourself, sometimes to a better standard. This often applies to mass produced wooden items like decorative planters. Use the store as your ideas showroom, then go away and search online for similar designs. You can save heaps this way.

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One thing I have always been a fan of is composting. Packing your food scraps up in bits of plastic and sending them to landfill really makes no sense, especially if you have a garden. Even an apple core still has useful nutrients locked up in it, so why pay for a bag of compost, or ten, when you can make your own?

I have already discussed our plans for the stretch of land down the side of the house in a previous post. This stretch of land also represented the perfect spot for a compost bin. I once lived in Surrey, England, and the local council sent us a free compost bin, but being a student household, we weren’t there long enough to benefit from it. Unfortunately, upon arrival at this house, Waitakere City Council did not furnish us with a free compost bin. A trip to the local shops also revealed them to cost around $50 NZD, which isn’t a massive cost for what it provides, but I wanted to do better. That’s when I spotted the plastic drum tucked down the side of the house. This plastic drum became our compost bin, which was a darn sight better than throwing the drum away and buying a new compost bin!

The first thing I did was cut both ends off the drum. Using an old saw, I scored a straight line, parallel with the top edge of the drum and then began to cut along it, removing the top. I then did the same with the bottom, leaving just the body of the drum, open at both ends.

A short length of leftover framing timber was cut into three cubes, roughly 10cm in length. I then used some old screws that I’d found elsewhere in the house to screw them to the body, roughly 2cm from the top, on the inside of the bin. These are to hold the lid of the bin.

I screwed a longer piece of framing timber into the bottom of the bin, to act as a handle. This made up the lid.

The final job was selecting a position for the compost bin. Due to the lid’s design, a sheltered place was preferable, as I didn’t want it collecting too much rain. It is also important, for the creation of compost, that the bin isn’t too cold.

Having selected a location, I drove the body of the bin into the ground slightly, by rotating it and pushing down at the same time. This helps with keeping it in position. I placed the lid on top and there it was! My own, home made, compost bin, made entirely from re-used materials.

The only thing I am not entirely happy with is the blue colour. Whilst this has been partly covered by the vine growth on the side, it has not completely solved this problem. Any ideas will be greatly accepted…

Tags: compost bin
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Kitchen renovation can be costly. Not only do you have all those costly appliances to buy, you have to pay for somebody to work out where they are all going to go. And then work out where all the cupboards are going to go around the appliances!

The best piece of money saving advice I can give you when it comes to kitchen renovations is ‘refurbish, don’t replace’. Take a good long look at your kitchen. Try the cupboard doors. Open a drawer. Is it just that you are tired of the tired looking worktop, a drawer doesn’t open and you have a hole in the cupboard door? Those are no reasons for a new kitchen!

Most DIY books will give good instructions on fitting a new worktop (Tip: When cutting, remember to place masking tape firmly along the line you are cutting to help prevent chipping!). The cupboard doors can be replaced, or better still, sanded down and re-varnished in a colour of your choosing. The hole can be filled with a small chip of the same type of wood. Oh, and the drawer probably just needs a new runner. It also goes without saying that a lick of paint can go a long way to improving a room.

Grab a pen and paper and write down all the things you dislike about your kitchen. Include everything. Obviously items like cookers and dishwashers may need replacing, but these are rarely the heart and soul of the kitchen. If the final list, to you, represents a somewhat doable list of DIY tasks, then congratulations, you have just saved yourself a lot of money! All you need to do now is have a glance at some kitchen websites or perhaps some design magazines and choose some styles that you would like to recreate.

Remember the less money you spend on perfecting your home, the greater your overall gain at time of sale!

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