Plug it with matchsticks

The last two weekends have been an absolute horror show, full of frustration and angst… The culprit – DIY!

Diamond Driller!

The first weekend was spent re-affixing a blind above one of the windows in our kitchen. Who would have thought that a concrete lintel could have been so stubborn and energy sapping! Even with a borrowed Titan Magnesium power drill (thank you @Paul Grundy) and purchase of some new drill bits. Needless to say, I managed to eke out three holes, each an inch or so thick to stick a raw plug in. Then found to my horror that two out of the three raw plugs, weren’t a snug fit and a bit waggly.

My intuition tempted me towards Polyfilla – useless in this instance! It wasn’t until I shared my irritation with some friends on the way to play some mid-week Padel tennis, that they gave me the simple solution… “hammer in some matchsticks around the raw plugs and that will keep them secure.”

Thankfully, ?the advice was first class. Match sticks were duly hammered in and job done. More importantly the blind is functional and still hanging above the window – a rock solid job!

Hidden Tracks…

I was just putting the tools away – feeling pretty accomplished – when Chris, my wife, asked me to take a look at another curtain job. This time in our lounge.

“I can’t reach it”, she exclaimed. “OK I’ll take a look”, I begrudgingly replied. I took a look and wondered where to start?

To set the scene – a pair of curtains with separate draw cords either side of a bay window with a pelmet overhang. After much prodding and poking I worked out that the curtain track had hidden pulley wheels within it. Doh!

The excuse… Difficult to see when the curtain track is secured to the wall and immoveable under layers of gloss paint. However, after another broken cord, finding the hidden pulley wheels, tweezers, a hammer, a few YouTube videos later, some new curtain cord, and working up a ladder in all sorts of postures… Let’ just say conservatively a few hours later, said curtain was gliding beautifully along its track once again!

Phew! The DIY saga was over for now – hoorah!

The lesson here is to consider the time/resource vs outcome balance. Sometimes it might not be the best strategy to do it yourself!

10,000 Hours of Practice

It is said that 10,000 hours of practice is the key to achieving true expertise. Malcom Gladwell in his best seller – ‘The Story of Success’ – repeatedly refers to this rule and cites, “in any skill, it’s simply a matter of practicing, albeit in the correct way, for 10,000 hours.”

Clearly my expertise and knowledge in DIY is severely lacking the 10,000 hours required to be a dab hand at it.

Adopt, Adapt, Improve

Conversely, at Moo Design (yes we’re still learning, adopting and adapting) we have the 10,000+ hours of expertise under our belts, the knowledgeable team and excellent resources to devise solutions, create, design and build stunning and innovative solutions to customer challenges.

It’s All About ‘The Base’

When Glatthaar Keller – the market leader in basement construction – approached us with a request to re-engage with one hundred of their dormant clients. We didn’t hesitate in taking on their brief. We were provided with some corporate branded items that echoed a bygone era. Those essentials that would bring a nostalgic smile to a craftsman’s face. Namely, a wooden folding ruler, carpenters’ pencil, ballpoint pen, scribble pad and two business cards.

The brief, was simply to house the branded items in a beautifully crafted presentation box that would be easily despatched and delivered to each client.

With a couple of weeks we had built two stunning prototype presentation boxes with lids for the client to view. See images above and videos below:

? ‘Graphite’ Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp1U_ctqJjs

? ‘Concrete Effect’ Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSAwK1jUy0c

Wot No Drama!

If you’re a business owner/marketing team looking to re-engage/impress your clients without the drama and hullabaloo of DIY, then please drop me a line and we can discuss how best to fix your conundrum.

P.S. Have a top weekend and please stay well away from the DIY!

Nick Herd – Founder & Brandologist

Moo Design & Brandboxes

T: 01926 770042 www.moodesignagency.co.uk