Trying to find gifts for the man or woman who enjoys doing a lot of his or her own home improvement projects can be challenging. Home improvement can be a very creative endeavor at times (painting, landscaping, planning your next project) and also very exacting and mechanical in nature (electrical work, plumbing, refinishing furniture). There is a right way and a wrong way to do things, but between those two extremes there is often a lot of room for creativity. So what sort of gifts can you buy for the person who’s part artist and part scientist and loves home improvements?

A multitool can be a handy and affordable gift for the home improvement enthusiast!

It’s a difficult question because it’s always difficult to tell exactly what your home improvement lover actually has planned, what tools he or she already has (or even needs). It’s probably best to avoid large power tools complex equipment that you don’t fully understand. For those sort of purchases it’s best to let person who’s going to do the work actually pick out the tools. Instead, you’ll want to focus on getting home improvement gifts that are still useful and helpful and still offer the person a chance to be creative and do their own home improvements. Here are a few examples:

Hardware Store Gift Cards: Yes, these are the obvious gift. All the larger hardware stores now have gift cards available at their registers and it’s almost a required gift to give someone these at a house-warming party, but they really are appreciated. I’ve received gift cards to home improvement stores before and I was always told to buy something fun with them, so I’ll usually skip the grass seed or paint and go for some cool little gadget or tool that catches my eye. If you’re going the gift card route, you can always couple it with another smaller gift like a little tool set or a flashlight of some sort. I’ve learned over the years that you can never have too many flashlights or handy tool sets available.

DIY Home Improvement Books: I know, home improvement websites are great, but sometimes you just want to sit back and “absorb” information instead of actively searching for it. I’m partial to the Black and Decker line of home improvement guides and books because they are consistently well-written, the photos are sharp, full color and absolutely spot-on in accuracy and all the books are generally up-to-date and written in the past three or four years. You can find these at a local book store or some hardware stores, but you can still get these in time for Christmas from a lot of retail outlets as well.

The Multitool: If you really want to go for something that a home improvement enthusiast can actually use on the job, then I’d suggest looking at some of the wide selection of multitools they have available now. There are lots of different tools that now combine the features of several different tools into one. There are dozens of different types of multitools now that combine pliers and screwdrivers and saws and wrenches all into one handy device. Like flashlights, I’ve found that you can almost never have too many of these.

The Home Improvement Gadgets: These are the “toys” of the home improvement world, but some of them can be quite useful and clever. Again, look for things that may have a variety of uses. Here’s a pretty good collection of home improvement gadgets that are all under $50. These are fun gifts which can really make a home improvement guy or gal say, “Woah! That’s pretty clever!”

There are just some of the many gift ideas for those DIY home improvement people on your list. While these home improvement gifts could also be considered “gifts for dad” in many households, it’s important to remember that women also appreciate home improvement gifts just as much, if not more, than men sometimes! Sometimes just giving the gift of “time” can also be a great gift. My wife will sometimes purposely just give me an hour or two on the weekend to work on some projects around the house while she takes my son shopping. I can usually get more work done on the house in those two hours than I can all week!

Hope you have a happy home improvement holiday!