The more complicated the home improvement project, the more you can benefit by having an expert next to you while you complete it. But most of us don’t have our own personal Bob Villa to watch over our shoulder during each phase of a project. The next best thing? Home renovation videos, brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Internet.
Pick your favorite television home improvement show, and you’re likely to find a page on their website with a wealth of home renovation videos, absolutely free for the downloading. You can watch as industry professionals walk you step-by-step through the job, from planning out your supplies and tools to all the little finishing touches that make your project perfect. Check out HGTV, PBS, Discovery Channel, and even National Geographic, for the latest offerings and ideas.
And these days, even the big stores are getting in on the video action. Home Depot, Lowes, True Value, and often your own local chain of hardware stores provide videos on their websites. There will always be variations in a project due to product availability and space constraints. Store-produced how to home improvement videos can give dedicated DIYers a much more accurate picture of the finished result, since the products they use in the videos are the exact projects available in their stores. Variations can then be limited to personal taste, rather than material limitations.
But the list of available videos isn’t just limited to big stores or popular TV shows. Thanks to streaming sites like YouTube, anyone with a camera, a hammer, and an idea can film, edit, produce, and post their own home renovation videos for the world to see. Results may vary, of course, but even if the quality of either the video or the instruction are not up to par with the big boys, you can still gather an impressive array of ideas as starting points for your own take on a huge selection of projects.
And you can be a part of that community. Whatever your next project, set up a camera and talk through whatever you’re doing. Even if you don’t think you’re doing anything particularly ground-breaking, people are always looking for different takes on common projects, and some little technique you may take for granted could be just the inspiration someone has been waiting for.
