No matter where you turn these days, it seems as if everyday people are indulging their passions, channeling their creativity and challenging themselves by grabbing paint brushes, crochet hooks and power drills and doing it themselves.
DIY isn’t just an acronym for “do it yourself,” it’s the battle cry of millions of Americans embracing all manner of projects that are not only saving them money but providing them with intense levels of self-satisfaction.
“DIY is enormous,” says Robert Verdi, co-host of the Discovery Channel’s “Surprise by Design.” “DIY is popular because people really believe they can do it themselves. It restores their faith in themselves.”
Never underestimate the power of faith. The belief that ordinary people can learn to do almost anything with just the right instruction, skills and tools has propelled DIYers from sitting on the sidelines, watching the masters rescue this old house to actually getting in there and building this new house. DIYers are participants in a fast-growing cultural phenomenon: InStyle magazine recently named DIY one of the hot trends for 2004.
If DIY is stronger today than 10 years ago, it’s because it has jumped from niche interest to mainstream appeal. Ironically, its mainstream appeal derives from its ability to serve its niches so well. Example: DIY used to only suggest building and carpentry trades, anything that had to do with down-and-dirty home improvement. Now DIY embraces everything from doing your own taxes to creating your own home movies.
So diverse is the DIY world that it has its own cable network called, appropriately enough, the DIY Network. Last year, it was one of the fastest-growing networks in cable television; today, in its fifth year, it reaches 26.5 million homes.
Although there’s no shortage of DIY programming on television (the Style Network, Discovery Channel, HGTV and PBS all have DIY shows; the Women’s Entertainment network has one starring Courteney Cox and David Arquette), the DIY Network revels in the minutiae of the do-it-yourself age. The network has programs for diverse interests such as fence-building, car detailing, scrapbooking, wine cellaring and building radio-control models. Crafts of all kinds also are an enormous subset to which the network pays lavish attention.
“It’s not just home improvement anymore. It’s not just gardening. It’s everything,” says Bob Baskerville, president of DIY Network.
So why is DIY so hot right now? It’s all about achieving goals and self-fulfillment, Baskerville says.
DIY shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, DIY Network is busy trying to find the next niche programming for the busy builders who are now empowered to do it themselves. One of the next big trends the network plans to explore is the category of modular or pre-fab homes.
So where does it end? One of the ironic inevitabilities of the DIY age is programming aimed at saving DIYers from themselves. In “DIY to the Rescue,” a show on the DIY Network, a team of home-improvement experts is sent to work with overenthusiastic and underinstructed homeowners who have completely botched their projects.
BY THE NUMBERS
According to statistics, 70 percent of adults in the United States have some DIY avocation, whether it be gardening, automotive, woodworking or any number of hobbies–that’s almost 100 million people just itching to do something with their hands.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
