Every Woman's Toolbox Essentials
When I bought my first house, my then boyfriend came round with a housewarming present. As I excitedly ripped off the wrapping paper, I found a cordless drill with a selection of attachments. At the time I wasn't exactly over the moon about such an un-romantic gift, but I soon came to appreciate how useful and thoughtful it was... in fact, I still have that drill to this day (sadly, the boyfriend didn't last as long...)
These days, if you live on your own or share with another gal, whilst you may decide (wisely) to get the professionals in for any important maintenance around the place, it's useful to have a few tools so that you can do some basic jobs yourself. Trust me, there's nothing quite like the pride of assembling your own flat-pack furniture without the aid of a bloke. So, for all you independent women out there, here are my top 10 tools that every woman should have (hunky handy-man optional...)
Tape Measure
Find a good, retractable, metal tape measure. You need to get a metal one so that it stays stiff as you extend it, particularly if you're trying to measure a vertical length. Try to get one that is at least 2 metres long, but if possible, get one a bit bigger.
Spanner
A small set of spanners (8mm to 16mm) is all you will need. Plumbing, in my opinion (and experience, unfortunately!) is best left to the experts, although it doesn't hurt to have something to hand for an emergency.
Screwdrivers
You'll need two types - a 'Flathead' and a 'Phillips', and ideally in a few different sizes. This is because, particularly when you're dealing with flat-pack furniture, it pays to have as much choice available as you can. Have a play around with them before you buy to make sure that you can grip them easily. Lazy girls could also invest in an electric screwdriver with a selection of changeable heads – but quite frankly, this is more likely to win you kudos with your fella/brother/Dad for having a cool toy rather than being of much effective use.
Allen Keys
This is a small angled wrench which has a hexagonal head, commonly found free with flat-pack furniture, and equally commonly found to break after first use, hence the reason you need to buy your own heavy duty ones. Again, get a bit of a selection going (well, you have got more than one pair of shoes, haven't you?) although generally they can be purchased in a set, making it a bit easier to get a variety of useable sizes together. Contrary to popular belief they weren't invented by a Swedish furniture manufacture in the nineties, but by a very clever Irishman (surprisingly called Alan – not a typo, he spelled the tool differently to his own name) around 1820.
Electric hand drill
As you already know from my earlier disclosure, this is one of my favourite toolkit essentials and, the good news is, you can pick these up really cheaply these days. Don't worry about buying a well-known name, certainly the 'own brand' variety will serve you very well. Make sure it comes with a key to change the bit and a selection of different drill sizes.
Small set of steps
Ladies, move away from the wobbly chair right now! Whilst you won't fit them in a toolbox, a small set of aluminium steps are invaluable – once you've got them, you'll wonder how you managed without for so long. In case you need further proof, use them for changing lightbulbs, hanging pictures, reaching bits of the ceiling with your duster, even for accessing those tricky top cupboards in your kitchen. All without a safety net!
Spirit Level
You don't need a huge one, but a spirit level is ideal to ensure that pictures and shelves go up straight.
Hammer
Better than using the heel of a shoe, and certainly more effective. A claw hammer is a good bet as you can use it for most things, and the 'claw' bit is invaluable for getting out nails when you've put them in the wrong place. Which we all do, at some stage or another.
Torch
Get something (if you can) that is of a decent size and emits enough light so that you can see what you're doing. And always make sure you have spare batteries for it in your toolbox. Because you can guarantee that, at the time you need it most, the batteries will have run out, and it will be 3am. Keep your torch next to your fuse box – if you have a power cut or a fuse blows, chances are you'll go to the fuse box first, thus you'll always know where your torch is. Clever, eh?
Superglue
I've put this one in last because, quite frankly, if all of the above haven't worked, then stick it back together. This stuff really does live up to its name, and can be used for everything from bonding bathroom fittings to tiles (at a push) to mending a broken fingernail in an emergency – trust me, I've used it for both and am still here to tell the tale. Do heed the warnings on the packet though – it's seriously easy to glue your fingers together (again, something I warn you about based on my own experience...)
Storage
Now you've got the key bits together, you need to think about where you're going to keep them. Which means you'll need a toolbox. Not just the preserve of your Dad or old men in sheds, it's a great idea to keep everything together in one place, so it's easy to find anything you need in an emergency. You don't need a gigantic crate, just something that has sensible compartments of differing sizes to keep things neat and tidy. While you're at it, other stuff to have to hand ideally would include a selection of different sized nails, screws and a few rawlplugs - these are the plastic cone-shaped things that you put in the hole you've just drilled in the wall before you put the screw in to make sure it doesn't fall out. Picture hooks (the plastic white ones are easy to deal with), fuses (3 amp, 5 amp and 13 amp), a couple of spare plugs, some curtain hooks, all-purpose filler together with a couple of sheets of sandpaper of varying grades are also things you will probably find a use for at some stage.
Now all you have to do is decide where that picture or those shelves are going... and have a nice bottle of wine handy to celebrate with afterwards!