A basic toolbox

Whether you are thinking of embarking on some DIY projects, planning to buy some flat-pack furniture, or simply need to do those small and annoying tasks around your home, it is good to have a couple of basic tools to make for a more professional and less frustrating result. For all hardware, rather buy the items incrementally and get the best quality you can afford, as these can serve you for a lifetime and are less likely to break when you are in the middle of a task.

For all those little electrical jobs and for more general use, it is good to have two medium-size screwdrivers, a flat head and a Philips (star shaped) head. It is also very handy to have a set of jeweler's screwdrivers - my best ever gift was the set in the photo, which also includes wire cutters, needle-nosed pliers and thin tweezers. These have been so useful over the years for a diverse array of electrical and electronic repairs.

A jeweler's toolset

The other essential item is a good hammer - when you have one, you cannot imagine how you managed without it! If you are planning to assemble some flat-pack items, it is worth getting a  rubber mallet to gently  knock the pieces into alignment. It is also a very versatile tool, but should not replace a steel hammer, as the mallet will disintegrate quickly if you mis-use it.

A rubber mallet and a steel hammer

You may have a number of pictures and other artefacts that you want to hang up in your spaces. For a really professional look, pictures should line up if you have more than one on a wall, and this is especially important if you are planning a gallery wall. Two essential tools (also both with many other uses) are a long tape measure (aim for a 20 or 30 metre) and a spirit level. My daughters are very adept with the spirit level app on their phones, but I find a conventional level is useful over a larger area and can also be used as a straight-edge for marking guidelines on the wall with a soft pencil that you can rub out when you are done.

A 20m measuring tape and a spirit level

I have also sung the praises of the Hilti in previous blogs - this is really useful for picture hooks if you have very hard plaster or if you have a tendency to bend nails as you are hammering them in. The Hilti holds the nail for its entire length as it is being hammered, and then you pop on a capping piece of plastic that prevents the picture from falling off the hook.

A Hilti tool for picture hooks

It is also worth having a basic supply of consumables for those odd jobs around the home, as they inevitably become urgent on a Sunday evening when the hardware shop is closed. I always have a collection of glues: wood glue, contact adhesive and a couple of tubes of superglue (these dry out quite quickly after being opened, so great to have at least one unopened in your cupboard). I also have a couple of sheets of sandpaper (of a variety of grades of coarseness) and some masonry filler (Polyfilla or similar) and wood filler. I find a bag of masonry nails often comes in handy for a variety of tasks. 

Now that you have the basic toolbox, you can start dropping hints to friends and relatives for gifts, or treat yourself with your 13th cheque for the really luxury items. My electric drill has earned its capital outlay many times over - installing wall-mounted heaters being the most recent adventure. Get a range of drill bits, for masonry, steel and timber (each has its own specification and steel type) in a range of sizes. The trick for very hard materials is to use your thinnest drill bit to make a starter hole, then expand the hole with the correct diameter bit. Most good electric drills come with screwdriver attachments, which speed up many household tasks and make light work of flat-pack assembly.

If you are planning more advanced DIY projects, especially if this includes furniture restoration, it is worth investing in an electrical sander - again, the investment pays off after just a couple of uses. We did a very successful restoration of a dining table that had been rattling around in very poor condition, and is now in pride of place after sanding and varnishing it.

The last item I would recommend is an electric jig-saw, but this is only really useful if you are planning to make furniture from scratch. If this is your ambition, you may want to move to the next level and invest in a tool bench, if space permits. Some of the larger building suppliers have the more sophisticated tools for use on their premises, and other outlets have tools for hire, which is always a good route to finding out which tools are really useful to own.