6 things around your home you can totally build yourself

With a handheld drill and a little know-how, do-it-yourself enthusiasts can build countless everyday household items, from coffee tables to chopping boards.

Ozito Industries’ national training manager Andrew Murray says with DIY becoming a way of life in Australia, most householders, male or female, can tackle basic building projects around the home – developing their skills and confidence at the same time.

“Starting small is how you build your confidence and expertise when it comes to DIY. There’s something very satisfying about setting out to do a small project for your own home and achieving it,” Murray says.

Many novices watch online video tutorials to “work out how to tackle a project”, he says. Then there’s good old-fashioned advice from staff at the local hardware store or asking a “handy mate”, Murray adds.

“There’s so much information out there these days. Online videos are great, because it’s such a visual medium. In my experience, the most-watched DIY videos are for basic projects that you can complete in 15, 20 or 30 minutes; nothing too technical. You can pause and check what you need to do,” he says.

Stores like Bunnings and brands like Ozito also offer step-by-step advice, both in person and online.

While the list of potential small projects a DIY-er might attempt is almost endless, here are our top picks, which require only basic tools and a can-do attitude.

1. Chopping board or cheese board. This is a great place to start your DIY adventures, as it introduces you to a variety of tools, like a mitre saw, planer and router (and because chopping boards make great gifts!). The Uni-jaw, Ozito’s multipurpose vise is ideal for clamping timber together while glue is drying.

2. Toy box. It’s amazing how kids’ playthings can quickly take over a space, but you can reclaim your living room with a DIY toy box. Use the same tools as for making a cutting board, but add a biscuit joiner to your arsenal for a professional finish.

3. Coffee table. A nice coffee table can cost you upwards of $500; building your own makes a great money-saving project, with literally hundreds of plans available online, from rustic to ultramodern. Get yourself a buffer/polisher for the perfect finish.

4. Shoe box. If you’ve got a doorway flooded with various shoes you’ve probably thought about buying a shoe rack. The problem is it can be hard to find one with the right dimensions for your space. The answer? Make it yourself.

5. Pot plant holder. Whether kept indoor or outdoors, pot plants make a great addition to any space. For a simple step-by-step guide on how to create your own pot plant holder, see here.

6. Coat rack. A fun way to recycle timber is to attach some coat hooks and mount it to the wall near your front door. A mitre saw makes sizing your timber easy, and a drill is essential to make pilot holes for the coat hooks, and for boring into wall studs. Use a laser level to ensure you hang it straight.

“All of these projects use very basic shapes and have simple designs that you can either find online or pluck from your own imagination,” Murray says.

After choosing an item to build, knowing which tools are required is pivotal, he says. The adage “you can’t do the job well if you don’t have the right tools” is spot on, he adds.

“A handheld cordless drill can be found in pretty much every Australian household, and for almost any project, that’s the number one thing you need. Then, depending on the complexity of the project, you might need other tools to cut and shape materials. You might need an impact driver or circular saw or something more sophisticated,” Murray says.

“Knowing from the outset what you need is really important, which is why it’s great to get advice in the planning stages.”

Murray’s other piece of key advice? Practice, practice, practice!

“Get a scrap of timber and practice, try out the tool and do some test runs. This primarily seems to apply to the blokes in my experience, who tend to just want to jump in and get it done!”