DIY Week
It’s National DIY Week and here in the Jali factory you can’t move for champagne and bunting. Actually, that’s not true. But it’s great that DIY is being celebrated, as self-reliance and home-based skills are part of the UK’s rich tradition. (A bit like the WI, but with more power tools.)
The Doyen Of DIY
It’s a great goal to aim for. It can save you money and earn you the admiration of friends and family. But not all of us have carpentry and joinery skills. Or want the hassle and expense of setting up a home workshop. If you don’t fancy the mess, noise and visits to A&E so often involved in traditional DIY, we have a solution.
First, a reminder of a previous era. Older readers may remember Barry Bucknell, so-called “doyen of DIY” in the 1950s and 60s.
Television’s first DIY expert and home makeover star, Barry Bucknell, brought do-it-yourself schemes into the mainstream. According to the Science Museum, he elevated DIY from a solitary hobby into “a fun, fashionable and profitable pastime accessible to all.”
His 1950s television series Do It Yourself attracted seven million viewers. Then, in 1962, he presented Bucknell’s House, a 39-week BBC series that charted the renovation of a run-down house in Ealing. Millions tuned in to watch. More importantly, they followed his example, helping to launch Britain’s multi-million-pound DIY industry.
Barry Bucknell’s Business
Bucknell was always fascinated with design and gadgetry. He served an apprenticeship with Daimler before joining his father’s building and electrical firm in London. Working instead as a fireman in London during a period which included the Blitz, he was a conscientous objector in WW2. He also served as a Labour member of St Pancras council.
In the 1960s, Bucknell revolutionised small boat ownership by designing the Mirror dinghy. This was a popular and affordable boat which made sailing accessible to many young people. Over 90,000 models were sold. He also invented a two-person canoe for the RNLI.
Barry Bucknell first appeared on television answering viewers’ DIY questions. In 1956, the BBC gave him his own segment on About the Home. His mission was simple: “to show Joan Gilbert how to put up shelves or make a tool box.”
The programmes were aimed at women who responded well to his friendly, down-to-earth style. He never talked down to his audience. Instead, he laughed at his own mistakes. On one memorable occasion, he used too much wallpaper paste, and the paper soon fell down on his head.
Bucknell has often been blamed for turning period rooms into bland modern ones. He was known for boxing in then-unfashionable features with sheets of hardboard and plywood. However, it has been pointed out that he saved many original fittings. As one online commentator noted, “We really owe Barry Bucknell a debt of gratitude for preserving period features such that they could be easily restored again. Nowadays, DIY ‘experts’ simply rip things out, throw them on the skip and buy the latest fashionable item. Time and again, hardboard panelling has been removed to reveal fireplaces, door mouldings and bannisters – thanks to Barry.”
Modern DIY
As The Telegraph noted in Barry Bucknell’s obituary, “Bucknell was, for the rest of his life, seldom free of enquiries about the correct way to build a tea-trolley or a radiator cover.”
At Jali, we know a something about radiator covers ourselves. Like Bucknell, we believe DIY should be open to everyone, not just stereotypical handymen. Women have always had the skills and confidence to manage DIY projects successfully. In many cases, they lead the way.
So get yourself over to our website and use our online designer tool to customise the perfect products for your home. Fun, fashionable and very kind to your bank balance, it really is the smart, modern way to Do It Yourself. And then prepare to bask in the admiration of all…
