ISO 9001:2008

While all my interviewees enjoyed thinking about DIY, planning their DIY projects and ‘having-a-go’ at the work, they also derived positive feelings from the successful completion of their DIY ventures. Given the time and many exigencies associated with project work, which I have discussed above (including timing, ‘DIY disasters’, resource issues, interruptions and so on), I was not at all surprised to find that the ‘finished project’ was a tremendous source of personal satisfaction47.

47

The personal sense of satisfaction and achievement derived from carrying out one’s own home improvements is a strong theme in the DIY literature. I will talk more about this in Chapter Ten, Section 10.3.3, page 215.

168 All my interviewees said that once they finished a project, they almost always took a short moment to take stock of what they had achieved. Many told me that the hustle-and-bustle characterizing project work often meant there was little time for pausing for reflection until the work was done. Max, for example, said that it was only after completing his DIY garage- build that he “parked [himself] in a deck chair in the new garage and was overcome with

pride … I got a real sense of completion and achievement at that point. I really couldn’t believe I’d had actually built a garage!” Such personal feelings of accomplishment were not limited to the successful completion of complex large-scale DIY projects (although these were certainly described as momentous feats); they were also experienced at the close of routine jobs and easier, short-term tasks. Barry, for example, noted that there was

“…something special about mowing the lawn … looking back over the freshly cut grass on a Saturday morning … you’re pleased with yourself … satisfied that you actually got up and did it and that it looks great for the weekend” (Barry). The same point was made by Anna, who talked about the immense sense of achievement and happiness she derived from the relatively simple task of painting the letterbox, which took her just a few hours:

It was really easy work compared to what he [husband James] was doing inside at the time [major bathroom renovation] but I remember finishing it in half a day and the neighbour telling me that it looked great and that she’d have to do the same to her letterbox now mine looked so good… you finish something and there’s that instant warm feeling of having done it all yourself, having achieved something with your time and hands that looks great – it’s like your signature and each finished project makes your home that little bit better (Anna).

The personal sense of satisfaction that my interviewees derived from a ‘finished project’ was heightened by the positive comments offered by other household members – their recognition of a job well-done. For Sam, these comments were “the best part of it. Like it was great to

hear Sally [his wife] say the other night when she had a shower “oh, this shower you’ve made is lovely. Good job!” (Sam). While partners were a common source of these compliments, so too were children. For instance, Shane described how nice it felt to see his children playing in the sandpit he had built them the great sense of pride he felt when they told him he was a “clever Dad”. These positive comments from his children affirmed the good feeling he got out of completing the project – an indication that others recognised and appreciated the time and effort he had invested in the job.

169 Compliments from non-household members (such as the neighbour who praised Anna for her freshly painted letterbox, see account above) were also highly valued by my interviewees. For instance, Kate described how satisfying it was when a complete stranger cycled past her house and complimented her and her husband Paul on the house painting they had done – the passer-by appreciating the aesthetic changes the couple had made:

The painting and landscaping made the house look amazing. We were out there the other day doing the finishing touches and a lady cycled past on a bike and she turned and said to us “the house just looks amazing since you’ve painted it. Well-done you’ve done a great job”. I didn’t know her so I asked Paul if he knew her and he said no. But it’s really good when people make comments like that, it’s so satisfying. It’s all about the pride of being a DIYer (Kate).

My interviewees derived a similar sense of satisfaction from the comments offered by their house-guests and visitors. Rose for example – a single female homeowner – said she “loved

it” when her friend Shirley dropped by and complimented her on the decorating work she had done. “It’s quite nice that people notice it and the time you spent working away has had an

impact. I suppose it’d be a waste of time if it didn’t have that effect” (Rose). Hamish provided a similar example. He and his wife Zoe had recently held a BBQ for several friends at their house. At that gathering, Hamish said that one of his friends noticed some of the changes he had made, an observation which triggered a lengthy conversation about that project and DIY more generally among the guests. Hamish said that these instances of “show and tell” provided him with a great sense of pride in the home improvements he and Zoe had made:

I love showing off the changes we’ve made. It’s a pride thing – what we’ve done to improve the house. I seem to tell everyone who visits how I took this wall out and made our living room bigger. I tell them all “you can walk between two rooms now – I did that!” (Hamish).

Hazel provided a similar story – proudly exhibiting the bathroom renovations that she and her husband Gary had carried out to both visitors and neighbours:

When visitors come around we love showing them through the house and all the projects we’ve done. We’ve even pulled the neighbours off the street and made them look at the bathroom … it was like “come and see our bathroom!” We loved it. We’re coming off the bathroom buzz now but there’s always something else to show them. I guess our DIY and the house are a constant source of pride for us (Hazel).

170 Some of my interviewees said it quite normal for them to walk their visitors through the house room-by-room to parade their home improvements. Sam and Sally – first homeowners – said this was often the very first thing they did with house guests, the quotation below suggesting that a ‘DIY tour’ of their house for visitors had now become something of a household tradition:

If you come to our house you know you’re definitely going to get the “DIY tour” – straight-up – and we really enjoy being the guides … the compliments you get are great (Sally).Yeah, like last week my cousins and aunt dropped by and it was the first thing we did – as soon as they were in the door we marched them from room-to-room showing off what we’d done (Sam).And people are interested aye; they seem to enjoy it ... (Sally).[Sam interrupts] …yeah they did, and it’s the same when we go out to our friends’ houses, I mean we’ll find ourselves being shown around their places looking at all the things they’ve done and we enjoy that part of it too (Sam). 8.8. Chapter summary

This chapter has explored a range of matters associated with the execution of DIY work. I started by focusing on the different labour structures within my research participants’ DIY projects. I showed that while the term do-it-yourself is suggestive of a solitary activity (homeowners doing their own home improvements), the accomplishment of their DIY projects also often involved the labour of ‘others’ – non-household members including family (such as parents who felt it was their duty to help their children do-up their homes) and good ‘mates’ who enjoyed helping out. Two time related matters were then considered. First, I explored how my interviewees found time for project-work. Second, I showed that even when time was found, the amount of time needed was often underestimated – projects frequently stymied by resource issues or unexpected contingencies and interruptions. Another issue I discussed was DIY skill acquisition and application, with many of the interviewees reporting that they tended to hone their skills ‘on the job’ (having learnt the basics through earlier processes of childhood socialisation). I noted that occasionally interviewees discovered that there was a disjuncture between their own practical skills and the demands of the project, in some instances resulting in a ‘DIY disaster’. An interesting ‘twist’ here was the positive spin many of them attached their ‘projects-gone-wrong’. This was explained by the fact that the DIY disaster was evidence that a homeowner was at least prepared to try doing their own home improvements – an expression of the highly valued Kiwi ‘have-a-go’ ethos.

171