The rise and rise of the DIY Movement

The DIY movement has appeared, disappeared and reappeared through the centuries, varying in its purpose and magnitude over time.

From the 6th century, various factors such as economic depressions, lack of machinery, world wars, empowerment, environmental conservation and resistance against capitalism have triggered DIY trends.

The movement is back, and rather than the basic decorative crafts, the current wave is bigger as enthusiasts take on big projects.

We had a chat with three of them who tell us why the current DIY movement is disrupting the market.

Christine Nore, Fashion Designer, Home Makeover Professional, DIY Content Creator

About a year ago, Christine was a lifestyle vlogger with barely 200 subscribers. She then came across home décor DIY content and decided to try generating something different for her audience. She first created a decorative accessory using straws – the reaction from her audience was surprisingly good.

“People were really interested in trying out the DIY piece,” she recalls.

She then made a second, a third and a fourth accessory and the first customer came knocking. There was clearly a big audience for DIY content and Christine decided to focus on this. Meanwhile, her subscriber count was increasing at a very fast pace.

“Sometimes I would wake up to 500 more and other times thousands of new subscribers,” she says.

With close to 60,000 subscribers, she currently focuses on home décor DIY using upcycled or recycled materials. In her videos, she turns the most basic materials into unique furniture and decorative pieces.

She has turned water buckets into ottomans, toilet tank balls into flower vases, old tyres into couches and a TV box into a coffee table.  She observes that while there has always been an interest in DIY, now it’s at fever pitch.

“People are constantly looking for ways to recycle and make use of waste materials,” she says.

While she makes upcycling seem like an easy task, Christine relies on skills from her fashion design experience. For instance, she understands basic DIY rules such as designing and measuring materials before cutting.

She knows the key markets for different materials and she has a sewing machine which comes in handy when making couches. Over time, she has invested in other tools such as a glue gun, a drill, staple gun and a jigsaw machine for cutting wood.

In one of her most viewed YouTube videos (with over a million views), she transforms her mother’s bedroom in their upcountry home from a dull space into a bright, modern room. In the video, she paints the room, builds a new headboard for the bed, upholsters and paints a chair, creates an accent wall and adds decorative items.

This video, she says, was a game changer for her as a home makeover professional and for many of her viewers who’ve always imagined such transformations are for a certain category of people. Since then, she has received inquiries from several parts of the country and her potential customers cut across different demographics. On a personal level, DIY makes her challenge herself to do better and explore more options. Her determination and creativity have attracted audiences from all over the world.

“The biggest percentage of my viewers are from the US, followed by Kenyans, who are my biggest supporters,” she says.

She has also received inquiries for her handmade items from as far as Netherlands, which shows DIY is truly a global movement.

Christine has managed to turn DIY into a profession, and she believes the industry is bound to grow exponentially in the next few years.

“DIY is the next big thing as people are becoming more curious and involved in decor,” she comments.

Joanne Mwende, Interior Stylist and Vlogger – DIY with Jojo

Mwende discovered DIY a few years ago when she joined university. She had just moved into her first space and was eager to decorate it. With a student’s budget however, she had to come up with creative ways to decorate.

She would buy one item at a time, until she discovered Gikomba Market, home of every type of raw material one can imagine. One of the first DIY pieces she made was a simple TV stand. She got pieces of wood from the market and joined them with nails and glue to form a basic stand, igniting the DIY fire in her.

“After graduating, I had a lot of free time on my hands and access to the internet. I would spend time on Pinterest looking at home decor pins, but I always felt the accessories were not available locally and the cost of shipping high,” she recalls.

After admiring beautiful pins for a while, she decided to get creative. She moved from Pinterest to YouTube tutorials. On the video platform, the DIY movement was exploding.

“People have a desire for customisation, hence the love for DIY locally,” explains Mwende.

True to this, the internet is awash with people customising their average rentals to mirror high-end properties. Mwende admits that such content is not only relatable, but has also pushed the DIY narrative further.

“People are embracing their true selves. They’ve realised they do not need to put up a facade online,” says Mwende.

About two and a half years ago, she joined the pool of relatable content creators on YouTube where she posts weekly DIY, home makeover and shopping videos. She takes her audiences to different local markets to explore décor accessories.

And when she is not creating content, or making DIY pieces, she helps people transform their homes, thus curving herself a niche in a market that was previously dominated by interior designers.

In one of her DIY Videos, Mwende does an extreme makeover of her kitchen. She paints the room and cabinets, dismantles the curtain box, transforms the bulb from a boring fluorescent to a stunning pendant and changes the cabinet knobs to her preferred style among other tweaks.

She meticulously takes on each task, eventually transforming her kitchen from a basic landlord’s style to her exquisite taste all by hand, and cutting cost while at it. If she were to hire professionals for the transformation, she would have needed a painter, an electrician and a wood expert.

“With DIY, you cut cost on labour, and when you are sourcing materials, you are likely to get good quality at the right price, unlike working with a second party who may inflate the budget,” she explains.

In Mwende’s experience, DIY projects range from small to big. Spray painting is one of the simplest DIY tasks, while woodworking is quite complicated. There are others such as painting, which are not as complicated but can transform a space dramatically.

Overall, DIY can impact all areas of one’s life, including boosting one’s confidence. For Mwende, it sharpens her mindset while pushing her limits. She hopes to take on bigger projects and wainscoting is on her list.

Pointing out that DIYers form a significant part of the home decor industry, she asks retailers to consider selling smaller size products that are pocket friendly to DIYers. As we try to save the environment from choking up in waste materials, DIY is already part of the solution. 

Lynn Kanyuuru, Founder, DIY Studio

Growing up, Lynn was taught to make things with her hands at school and at home. The curriculum during her early school days mirrored the current CBC system, and at some point, they even learned to make joineries. She enjoyed these classes immensely as they were practical and applicable in everyday life.

As an adult, whenever she visited a woodworking workshop, she would request to be part of the process but the professionals would turn her down. Her favourite DIY hobbies revolve around woodworking, which she describes as exciting.

“Different processes in woodworking are natural stress relievers. A mundane task like sanding enables you to let go of all your negative thoughts. When you are so engaged in something, you barely have time to think about your burdens. By the time you are done polishing your piece, you are stress free,” explains Lynn, adding that once the DIY furniture is complete and occupies its place in a home, it makes a great conversation starter.

On why DIY trends are suddenly so popular, Lynn explains that people began expressing interest during pre-pandemic days, however, the pandemic seems to be a major catalyst in powering the movement.

“Covid-19 had a way of making people retreat to their homes. That meant everyone was looking for ways to beat the boredom,” she says.

Those who lost incomes were also looking for ways to cut down on spending while making an extra coin. Working from home also sparked a need to explore childhood hobbies, also, with more time spent at home, our spaces were also getting monotonous.

Then came the rise of video conferencing and everyone wanted their home to appear presentable. These factors propelled the movement. Manufacturers and retailers also jumped on board and this fanned the trend further.

“Manufacturers have recognised there is a market in the DIY sector. They have scaled down the basic tools and are coming up with well-priced starter packages which have lower power usage for home use,” explains Lynn.

Machines such as hand drills, glue guns, vinyl cutters and jigsaw machines have replaced the traditional tool box which had ‘difficult-to-use’ tools. It truly was an exciting time for DIY lovers like Lynn when these changes started taking place, until certain realities became obvious – the fact is that executing DIY projects is only easy on the internet.

In a small rented apartment, for instance, you are likely to disturb neighbours or get into trouble with your landlord if you undertake DIY projects that require heavy and noisy machines. Besides, buying tools that you may end up using once beats the idea of DIY.

These challenges, coupled with the lack of a designated space for DIY lovers inspired Lynn to start the DIY Studio, her partner having challenged her to turn her love for DIY into a business.

She, therefore, found a space where she set up a studio that allows people to create different things, either alone or with the help of professionals, from woodwork to painting, candle-making, soap-making, wood burning, pyrography, wall decor, fabric designs, sewing, knitting, upholstery and much more. From time to time, they also host DIY workshops that encourage participants to build things from scratch.

Within and without the studio, the scope of DIY is expanding from simple crafts to big projects. Lynn has seen people making entire living room sets, dining room sets and other types of furniture by hand.

And from the look of things, DIY is bound to grow into a bigger sector due to its unique benefits. The cost factor is a major consideration. With DIY you are bound to cut labour cost. If you are upcycling and repurposing, you also cut down on your materials’ budget.

But DIY mistakes can be costly. 

“There are ways to do smart DIY projects, hence the need to research adequately and gain expertise before embarking on a project. Some of the popular research platforms include YouTube and Pinterest, but research goes beyond online tutorials,” says Lynn.

She suggests other methods such as reading and shopping around offline to get the actual feel and cost of materials. If possible, engage experts at the beginning. She insists that a good DIYer is passionate about creating things as the process is intense.

Most importantly, “purpose to love the end product regardless of the outcome. That will free you up from the pressure of producing something extraordinary. And when you start a project, ensure you finish it before embarking on another. Lastly, don’t get stuck on recreating what others have already done, DIY is an opportunity to create something unique.    BY DAILY NATION