5 Learnings on DIY & Decorating from the past year
15th Apr 2021
The last 12 months have certainly seen increased national interest in DIY and decorating. And, while it’s been a difficult year for everyone, we have loved seeing so many of our customers’ amazing projects come to life. Across social media we have been tagged in some fantastic renovations, restorations and home improvements – and we truly enjoy looking at each and every one.
These projects, together with our own research over the past year, have taught us a lot about DIY and decorating, here’s a little of what we’ve learned.
Satisfaction guaranteed
This time last year, we surveyed the nation to find out if decorating and DIY tasks were actually strangely satisfying. And it turns out just under a third of the population say DIY is one of their favourite ways to relax and switch off from everyday life. In fact, during a typical week, the average person spends more than two hours watching DIY programmes, with three in 10 finding them ‘relaxing’. Many of our social media followers seemed to agree that home improvements were something they could really lose themselves in.
Good for the home, good for you
A fresh looking home isn’t the only benefit to DIY – last summer we looked at just how many calories can be burnt doing various home improvement tasks. It turned out that a staggering 80,000 calories a year can be burnt this way! It’s the equivalent of burning 349 Mars bars or 312 Big Macs a year. In particular, painting walls burns on average 3,661 calories a year, while removing wallpaper burns around 2,161 calories. Even simple decorating tasks like putting up pictures will see homeowners burning around 702 calories across a year. We even got some advice from a top personal trainer, who advised anyone planning a big DIY session to “plan regular breaks, stay hydrated and don’t spend too long in one position.”
Kitchens topped the to do list
Back in September, we asked which area of the house people most needed to decorate or renovate. The kitchen was where the work was most likely to be needed, followed by the bathroom, bedroom, living room and garden. And we’ve seen some fantastic kitchen transformations online, from simple updates with colours and storage solutions to completely new kitchen installations. It seems the kitchen is still very much the heart of the home for many of us.
New found respect for DIY pros
Getting stuck into DIY and decorating over the past 12 months has given us all healthy dose of respect for the DIY pros who do it full time such as painters and decorators, plumbers, carpenters and kitchen fitters. Back in September we found that 53% of the population said their recent DIY efforts had given them a greater appreciation for the skills talented tradespeople have. And, more than 1 in 5 agreed that lockdown DIY had made them appreciate how hard tradespeople work too.
Tools & DIY supplies on the wish list
The DIY boom last year saw many of you even putting tools on your Christmas wish list. In fact, almost one quarter of the population told us they were likely to ask Santa for new tools or DIY supplies in Christmas 2020. We also saw a lot of interest in our DIY tool packed advent calendar, which sold out in a matter of weeks. DIY and decorating essentials have never been so desirable!
Browse DIY & decorating essentials
Our guide to Decorating at Home is live now and packed full of everything you need to bring your DIY dreams to life. From power tools to work benches, paint roller sets to spirit levels and protective equipment – you’ll find it all in the Decorating at Home guide, with many items at great prices from Draper stockists now.
