There are only a few areas in my life where I vacillate between wanting to learn the skill and just wanting to pay someone to do it for me. One of those areas is with construction/handyman projects. I love watching home decorating and building shows and after seeing them I get the urge to create something as beautiful as they do, but my track record is not high on craft/construction projects.
Last night I spent 2 1/2 hours putting together a dresser. With a project like this I was easily able to follow the instructions and managed to complete the dresser as it was designed. Although, on step #23, I could not figure out what to do or find the pieces to follow the instructions--in the end I just preceded ahead--let's hope that my decision will not haunt me. I have assembled most of my furniture and I can safely report that they are still functioning and none have fallen apart--so I have history on my side. I chalk up my success with furniture assembly to the fact that I am just following instructions and I have always been very good at that.
However, last year I spent a considerable amount of time painting and repainting my house never to my satisfaction. If I'd had the money I would have not hesitated to hire a professional to do the work. Although last nights furniture building took much longer than it should have--I didn't find it annoying or frustrating, but put a paint brush in my hand or ask me to fix any plumbing and I become fairly useless.
Now that I am a homeowner a lot of little tasks fall on my shoulders that I wouldn't have hesitated to call the landlord to fix when I was renting. For example, I have this towel rack that needs repairing and even though the task seems simple, I am baffled with how to solve my problem.
Right now I have no plans to try and perfect my handyman skills, but I definitely think that I should put it on my list of wannabe traits I need.