The Ultimate Beginner DIY Toolbox: Essential Tools to Get Started
The day we moved into our house was pretty indicative of how everything seems to go for us the last few years.
It was a Friday, we were both off work, and we had perfectly crafted our plan of attack, but the timeline was tight. We had to pick up our Uhaul at 8 a.m., had closing at 10 a.m., had to return the Uhaul at 3 p.m. and had to drive an hour to New Orleans to drop Alex off by 5:30 p.m. for a flight to a friend’s wedding. Of course, it all went to shit within like, an hour of the clock starting to tick on this timeline.
We went to the Uhaul location where we’d reserved our truck and Alex dropped me off so I could drive it back. After he’d left, of course, we found out the truck wasn’t there and it was actually at another location eight miles in the opposite direction from our house.
That second location turned out to be one of those gas station/convenience stores where the cashiers speak only in grunts and death stares and it was in a not-great part of town. So, we got zero loading of our belongings onto the truck done before closing, and had to hastily load all our heavy furniture into the scorching metal sauna that is a Uhaul truck on a Louisiana June afternoon.
Our new house was only three blocks from our rental which was nice but also meant we didn’t implement the meticulous packing strategies we’d used for our other interstate moves – it was more a shove-it-in-as-best-it-fits-and-without-labeling-anything kind of scenario. Four hours later and we had moved everything – including the dreaded old Wayfair dresser that must be lined with lead for how inexplicably heavy it is – into our house.
The dogs were confused but settled and we were on the way to the airport, but about 10 minutes into the drive Alex realized he didn’t pack the ONE bag he was taking. He literally got in the car with just a wallet for a weekend away. TSA would’ve almost certainly tagged him as a psychopath.
I then spent a blissful weekend home alone unpacking everything where it needed to go without any argument about which compartment of the cutlery tray should be for spoons vs forks, and decided to make our hall closet the home of what we call our Frequently Used Tools box.
We figured now we’ve expanded our collection to include a few more power tools and specialty items that no longer fit in just our hall closet, we should throw back to our old faves and give a rundown of the items we’ve used in 99 percent of our projects so far.
If you’re just getting started developing your DIY toolbox, you could really do almost anything with this squad.
On This Page
Level
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about doing projects in our 1940s-built house, it’s that nothing will ever be level or plumb and our eyes cannot be trusted. A little level like this guy will do just fine, but we recently got a 24” level and it’s been really helpful for bigger projects like a set of cube storage shelves we just built. I think the latter may have created a monster though because now Alex is checking how level almost every surface is even in the middle of drilling something we know isn’t level yet. That’s how much fun you can have with a level, guys.
Stud Finder
Another very important one, lest you want your shelves to come crashing down in the middle of the night. We originally had a stud finder that you were supposed to slide across the wall and it would light up when it hit a stud edge and it would light up again when there were live wires in the back of the wall to worry about. Either it didn’t work properly or the insides of our walls are like Joyce Byers’ mental breakdown living room in Stranger Things, so we ended up going with another super simple contraption.
Our new stud finder doesn’t have the electricity element, but it was like $7 and works by magnets connecting to the nails in your studs. Once you find one, just slide it vertically from there to find the next one and make sure it’s a stud going the whole way up from floor to ceiling.
Hammer and Nails
This one’s kind of obvious, no?
Screwdriver
Also obvious, but get one like the one we have that comes with different head shapes and one base. It’s way more convenient than having multiple screwdrivers and most of the time you can use special driving bits if you’ve got a weird shaped screw.
Drill
There are a ridiculous number of drill options when you go to the store. It came with a box of drill bits and driver bits, but we didn’t use the drivers for about six months because we’re idiots who like having RSI in our wrists from hand-screwing our screws into place.
Painters Tape
We use this stuff for everything. Beyond the obvious painting, we’ve used it to mark spots on the wall like where we find a stud, we mark the height we want shelves to be and measure the tape horizontally to make sure it’s level before we put holes in the wall, and we use it to plan out our gallery wall photos. Also, if you’re drilling into something that’s pretty thin and you don’t want it to go the whole way through, wrap a tiny piece of painter’s tape around the drill bit at the depth you need to stop at so you’ve got a guide and won’t ever go too far.
Wood Glue
We use this kind. This stuff takes a while to dry so you’ll need some clamps or something heavy to hold your piece in place for at least 30 minutes of drying, and you’ll need to make sure when applying it that you don’t put it too close to the edges of your piece or it’ll seep out.
Clamps
Probably my favorite, most-helpful tool. We started with just a couple little grip-type clamps, but definitely recommend these and these. The longer, 3-foot clamps aren’t necessary if you’re on a bare-bones beginner kind of budget but they have come in handy. We actually only bought them recently but have used them a lot already. Corner clamps are next on our list.
Sander
We talked in our wall spackling post a bit about our sander and how handy it is – our is just a basic one. Especially if you’re trying to go the budget route on projects and buying the cheaper wood panels, you’ll need a good sander. Usually those lower end wood pieces come a little rougher around the edges, but with a good sanding they’re golden.
Extension Cord
Less exciting but will save lots of time and sliding your half-screwed-in wood pieces across your floors. A lot of the power tools we’ve got don’t have very long cords and you’re almost never bumped right up against a wall while working. Preferably get one like this with two outlets at the end, which comes in handy if for example you’re sanding and drilling a piece at the same time.
Just be sure not to overload an extension cord – don’t go attaching it to like a table saw or anything.
25 ft. Outdoor/Indoor Extension Cord
Circular Saw
Speaking of saws, this is the first saw we ever bought. It got us through many, many cuts of wood but if we knew more and were more confident with our tool ability we would’ve probably picked a miter saw first. Nonetheless, this guy is easier to move around than miter or table saws and when you use a good, solid table, a level guide and clamps, is pretty quick and easy to work through cuts.
A Million Pens
Yes, it must be a million. Make sure you’ve got a few working pens in every location you’re going to be working on a project. I can’t tell you how many times we’re only using one between us both and we’re also going back and forth between a room we’re working in and our backyard where we’re using a saw of some kind. Usually the room we’re working in is also covered in plastic sheeting, old paintbrushes, dog hair and the tears we’ve shed when we inevitably realize we’ve messed up some measurement.
Measuring Tape
We use this one, but it’s pretty standard as long as it’s more than a few feet long and can be locked off to the length you need it at (as in it’s rigid, not like one of those soft sewing measuring tapes).
Wood Filler and Caulk
The power couple of hiding your imperfections. It’s amazing what kind of janky edges and warped board have been fixed by these two. The caulk does sometimes take some practice, and you’ll need a gun to go with it. Basically you load the tube onto the gun, cut the tip at a 45-degree angle, and feed it along your seam. There are a lot of fancy caulk tools that go with it, but we just dunk our finger in some warm water and smooth over it to remove the excess and that’s worked the best for us.
Miter Saw
Like we said above, we started out with a circular saw because those big, tabletop power tools were intimidating. Looking back now we’ve got both, I maybe would’ve preferred to start with the miter saw because even though it’s big and loud, it’s a lot easier to measure and stay consistent with your cuts. Though, it is more expensive.
So there you go. Of course you could always use more or less depending on what you’re doing and how invested you are in making and fixing things yourself. This crew has gotten us through everything from building a coffee table to hanging curtains and building an entire plank accent wall, though, so they’re solid.
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