The national lockdown has South Africans taking on DIY projects of all kinds and the trend shows no signs of abating.
“Spending more time at home than ever before means that you start noticing the things that need fixing or changing,” said Arjun Khoosal, co-founder of online home services marketplace, Kandua.com.
“While you can still call out essential services such as locksmiths, plumbers and electricians during level 3 of the lockdown for critical maintenance and repairs, and you can plan for bigger projects that need an expert, you may want to take other matters into your own hands," added Khoosal.
Before the lockdown, Leroy Merlin's Claudia Krishna noted a massive increase in sales of paint. The French hardware retailer had recently opened stores across Gauteng.
“When we reopened our doors to the public on the 1 of May under level four, we had a tremendous response from the public and a marked uptick in sales of interior paint, including products for furniture restoration, decorative and organisational products, tools and garden products,” pointed out Krishna.
This is in line with trends seen elsewhere in the world. People are making changes to their homes to make working from home more comfortable, taking on projects big and small that they have been putting off, or engaging in activities like gardening that provide a creative and stress-relieving outlet.
“For many of us DIY is new territory. But as Kandua, we have over 9 000 experts in all kinds of trades on our platform. So, we decided to connect our pros to customers through our new DIY coach service. This gives you one-to-one coaching over the phone for any kind of DIY issue from a real expert - from fixing a
leaky tap or a flickering light, to mowing your lawn the right way. At the same time, this helps the independent professionals and small businesses on Kandua to keep at their trade during this time,” said Khoosal.
Leroy Merlin has also been posting easy DIY projects under their “Make It” logo on their Facebook page. “These quick DIY projects were designed for customers to utilise leftover materials or with low investment. These little projects have proved to be quite popular in keeping oneself occupied. Customers still feel that they need some guidance on repair projects, however, and that’s where Kandua’s DIY Coach is effective,” commented Krishna.
If you feel the need to get inspired, take a look at some of the DIY projects that South Africans have been getting up to:
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