Home Remodeling Essentials - Toolbox

Personally, I have always liked the 'all-in-one' toolboxes that come prepackaged with a million of everything, all neatly laid out in a cute case. Unfortunately, the 'everything' of these kit toolboxes are not the things I end up needing most, for quick fixes and projects around my house. I mean, really, who could ever possibly use the 10,000-piece picture hanger set, you know, the one that counts as 10,000 of the million-piece set.

At a local Home Show recently, my husband and I almost bought a very nice looking 454-piece toolbox - it was, after all, GUARANTEED to be the perfect homeowner's toolkit! So, with his face all lit up (probably because he was thinking 'ka-ching ka-ching', these people are going to buy this piece of junk), the sales clerk proudly opened up the 'Toolbox to End All Toolboxes'.

Let me just say, we were disappointed. Tiny screwdrivers, the shafts so thin I was sure they would twist and break apart the first time we used them. However, there were 38 of them! There was a small box of parts; two washers, a dozen each screws and nails, a few thumbtacks, a handful of picture hanger wire, and a dozen picture hangers. The tiniest hammer I had ever seen was actually the coolest thing about the toolbox! It unscrewed, and inside were descending sizes of little mini-screwdrivers. Cute! But, unusable. Oh, and don't let me forget the 3 foot long tape measure! 3 feet! As if that would be useful!

We came home from the Home Show and sat down to write a list of all the things that WOULD be useful to have in our toolbox:

· An assortment of hangers, nails, screws and brads
· Metric and Standard screwdriver bits and a screwdriver bit holder than we could use interchangeably
· Small level and a chalk line bobbin for making straight lines
· Duct tape, electrical tape and masking tape
· Wire cutters, with a wire stripper notch
· Hammers, real hammers - a smaller tack hammer and a regular claw hammer
· A hacksaw with replacement blades
· Razor blades for scraping, and a razor blade holder to keep from cutting off my fingers, and an Exacto knife set
· A 25 ft long retractable tape measure- metal for durability and ease of use

We spent a few minutes looking at (lovingly, I might add) all the wonderful toys, er, I mean tools we had gathered. We realized that we needed a convenient, accessible toolbox! I wanted a toolbox that I could easily manage to lug around the house by myself. My husband wanted a 'man's tool box. We headed down to our local 'Mart' store, and straight to the tool section, where we found at least 20 styles and types of toolboxes to choose between.

I chose the Stanley Rolling Toolbox, with two main compartments (all the better to add to our collection of tools), several smaller exterior drawers, flip lid boxes and a large pocket for extras. I couldn't find a price tag, but this was definitely the one I wanted! In addition, while we were in the tool section, we picked up about ten or so additional little tools and goodies. A bottle of wood glue, a leather punch set, a rivet gun and rivets, a neat little glass cutting tool, and a few more things that honestly, I have no clue what they do or are, but they looked pretty useful.

Our perfect rolling toolbox now sits in the pantry closet. It is easy to pull the toolbox out for any project, large or small. In fact, just the other day, I pulled the toolbox out of the closet to hang photographs in frames and then, while I had it out, decided to retile the kitchen floor with vinyl tiles. The tile cutting tool came in handy! The toolbox is always sitting there waiting for the next project, and as we tackle new jobs around the house, we occasionally add a tool or two, but in general, you can build your perfect toolbox as you go and find out what you really need to help you tackle the repair and remodeling.