Hello Everyone!
Today is the first post in hopefully an ongoing series where I have blogging buddies share a tidbit of adulting knowledge in an area that they totally have their act together!

This week I want to introduce my friend Tasha!

Tasha runs the blog over at The Big Green House where she posts about her super inspiring adventures in fixing up her and her husband’s fixer upper! Larry and I go over every so often to help out on some of these adventures and have a blast and learn a lot! We plan on having our very own fixer upper one day and we eat up any knowledge we can from them! So this week I thought I would have her share some of her know-how with all of you. Don’t worry, we are starting off easy, but still a very necessary adulting to do. So here she is, Welcome Tasha!

 

Adulting 101:
The Basic At-Home Tool Kit

 

I am a proud homeowner, and along with this pride comes the desire, hope and determination to fix things around the house either myself or with the help of my husband. Our house is not your everyday, run-of-the-mill track home. No, it is quite the fixer-upper and we have been fixing it up for over 3 years now. But do you need a “fixer-upper” to warrant having a toolkit so that you can fix things around the house? Certainly not! There is nothing like the feeling of fixing something with just a tool or two and a little YouTubing- and anyone can fix common household ailments with the toolkit I’ve assembled below.

So it is with the trials and tribulations of the past 3 years or so that I have been able to come up with a pretty comprehensive, yet not overwhelming, list of tools I have found to be essential for home. Oh, and I recommend not simply buying one of those pre-made home tool kit- the tools are invariably cheap and, more often than not, not up to the task.

A good finish hammer
(a finish hammer simply means that it has a smooth head)
(What’s nice about Husky brand is that it is Home Depot’s and guaranteed for life. So if it ever breaks you can get a replacement for free forever!)

• cheap but works: THIS ONE!

A quality measuring tape
(preferably 25’)

• My favorite and the only one that hasn’t failed me: THIS ONE!

A screwdriver with an interchangeable head
(can be made to be both phillips and flathead (otherwise known as slotted- here’s the difference)

• THIS ONE!

A utility knife with some extra blades on hand

• Even if you don’t get THIS ONE, get one that is retractable, meaning that the blade can go back inside the case- it is much safer this way!

Duct tape

A small flashlight
(you will invariably need to use a tool at night with the power out or where no lights can reach- a flashlight is very helpful!)

A set of pliers

• All of these come in great handy, and if you ever have had a leak, the ones pictured all the way to the left will be your best friend! And again, Husky brand is backed for life so if they break, you get new ones free. THESE GUYS!

Plumber’s tape
(for fixing leaks and replacing fixtures)

• THIS ONE!

Wanna go just a tad further? Here are some very handy power tools that any household (or apartment, townhouse, you name it!) could use:

Cordless drill and impact driver
(we use Ryobi brand, but have used Rigid and Dewalt power tools, which seem to hold up well too)

• Drill (you can screw things in more quickly than a screwdriver and drill holes!)
• Driver (you can screw things in even faster than a cordless drill!)

Circular saw
(I recommend corded- the cordless ones use up battery juice pretty quick)

• I’d recommend Rigid on THIS ONE– it is quality but still won’t break the bank

Be warned- once you go big (i.e. power tools) you may never be able to go back! My husband and I (trust me, not just a guy thing) LOVE buying new tools and have an entire section of our house devoted to them. Our favorite tool? By far… the table saw 🙂 It is not only powerful, but incredibly useful! It can be very dangerous though, and quite expensive, so we also give it lots of respect.

A snapshot of our basement (aka tool heaven) with our table saw as the main attraction!

What have you found to be the most useful tool in your experience
(or maybe even most fun?)

Leave a comment below to tell us your favorite tool in your tool kit!



A little background info on myself:

My name is Tasha and I, with my husband Jacob, am the happy (and exhausted) owner of a house that needs, well, quite a lot of love. While the past 3+ years have been long, difficult, and full of “oh crap, what now?” moments, they have also been the most exciting and informative of my life.

My then-fiance (now husband) and I jumped into our fixer-upper with the ignorance and gumption that only 24 and 25 year-olds can. Yet we learned very quickly that either we had to adapt and learn or, essentially, perish. We learned. On my part, I became a novice carpenter under a weekend apprenticeship with my father and a slow, but determined, demo machine. Jacob, on the other hand, became a plumber and now electrician. We adapted, and now we have some pretty cool experience and knowledge under our (tool) belts.

Want to see what we’ve done? Check out my blog at thebiggreenhouse.wordpress.com

You really should check out her blog! They have done some amazing stuff!

Can’t get enough Tasha amazingness? yeah me either… you can stalk her all the places below. (I know I do!)
 /tashalopez22           tashamlopez           @tashamarielopez

Note: This post contains affiliate links- I only share what I truly love though!