Seven Reasons I Love Home Depot

I bought my house.

I love to do the maintenance around said house.

I love tools and fixing things.  I have contemplated breaking things just to have to fix them.

There are three places to shop for the supplies I need in my book.  Big blue, Home Depot or the little red. 

I like the little red, its convenient and specialized.  I prefer the big box feel.  Better prices and selection I think.  Or maybe I'm just one of the masses who supports American consumerism.

There are two options in the big box department.  Big blue and Home Depot.  I have several personal experiences that justify why I favor Home Depot over its blue rival.  But I also have these reasons:

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Seven Reasons I Love Home Depot

• The Floor.  Its cement.  Polished and buffed cement.  Nothing special.  BUT its always clean.  Cleaner than the grocery store most of the time.  You can totally slide along it.  That is quite a leg workout too.  Yep, I love the floor at home depot.  I'm a nerd and also really weird sometimes.
• Orange.  Orange is so much better than Blue.  Cross my heart and hope to die.  I also just prefer orange as a color.  I really like comparing stores by using their colors rather than their names.  Incognito.  Cool.  Top Secret.
• The Aprons.  Aprons are so much better than vests.  And why are their vests red and not blue?  The aprons are orange and match.  I appreciate that.  Now let's get real.
• The People.  People at Home Depot are approximately 96.7% nicer that those employed by Lowe's.  I have conducted the research myself.  I have never once been taken seriously at L, have actually been laughed at by L employees.  I am familiar with more than a couple of the employees at Home Depot. 
• The Services.  Home Depot offers incredible services.  They have pull in the market since they are so large, and just know how to rock a good deal.  Installations, kitchen designs and everything else they offer.  They really do offer it all too, can't wait to experience more of them. 
• The Advice.  I can go to HD and ask the dude in the plumbing department why water is spewing out of my toilet's hook up.  He will laugh, ask if I have some photos, and then show me what I need to buy and how I need to hook it up.  They actually have a toilet set up that they can show how to work on its plumbing.  He shows me and makes sure I have all the tools I need so I don't need to come back.  He's awesome.  His name is Ed.  At L once, I asked the man in lumber if they had a redwood gate that was 30-36 inches wide.  He said "Honey, you don't need a gate, you need a clue".  I went to the back of his department, got my gate, paid for it and left.
• Its the place where everybody know's my name. I can walk into my Home Depot and be recognized and called by name.  At least two but up to five people know me and I recognize almost all of them.  This has made me a lifelong customer.  Customer service goes a very long way in Devyn's book.  Sold.

You like Lowe's more than Home Depot?  Go away.  Or just don't tell me.  

Seven Tools I Can't Live Without - Household Edition

Happy Sunday ya'll! 





Today we are tapping my tool box once again.  This time we are actually going to my household tools - not kitchen. 

I am quite fond of all tools, especially those that I own.  I revel in the chance to buy more tools as my projects allow.  Its sort of a problem. 


I have a home depot charge card. 


That is dangerous.  Anyways.


These are my favorites that I absolutely LOVE and cannot imagine life without.  They aren't terribly hi-tech or fancy but they make everything else much easier.

Let's delve right in, eh?

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Seven Tools I Can't Refuse To Live Without - Household Edition

• 4 Way Screwdriver.  This eliminates the need for multiple sized screwdrivers.  One screwdriver that has a medium and a large slotted side and a medium and a large Phillips side.  Such innovation, I could kiss whoever invented this.  I keep one at home, one in my car, and one in my toolbox in the kitchen too.  You never know when you'll need to drive that screw home, ya know?
• Razor Blade.  Best multipurpose tool ever.  Opens things, cuts things, scrapes small things, can be used as an explorer tool too!  Truth be told I carry one in my pocket at work too so I am almost always never without one.  Also kind of a self defense mechanism!
• Putty Knife/Painters Tool.  I bought this on a whim at HD, because it claimed to be 7 tools in one.  Always a skeptic I bought it and have never looked back!  It can be a putty knife, a caulk scraper-outter, a hex wrench, a paint roller cleaner, a light duty hammer, a crow bar, and a flat head screwdriver. 
• Level. Simple tool.  I have 3 different ones and even the app on my phone.  I use them all the time. I can draw straight lines with them.  I can hang pictures perfectly!  I can make sure my shelves are mounted evenly.  I can draw all the horizontal stripes on my wall perfectly with the help of my level.  Again, I use the one on my phone at work all the time.  You'd be surprised how often a non-level surface messes with my productivity. 
• Cordless Drill.  If I ever lost my hand, I wouldn't ask for the hook hand or an artificial one even.  I would prefer a cordless drill be built in and the trigger wired to my leftover nerves.  The single most used tool in my arsenal.  I burnt my favorite one out, actually and have since been given a replacement as a gift.  It does great and is a nice drill but man I will use my first one until it just won't work anymore. I love it so much.  Its also neon green which helps. 
• Adjustable Monkey Wrench.  Instead of carrying many different sized wrenches around, the adjustable one does it all.  It doesn't always do every job, but it can do most of the common jobs with ease!  Plus, its called a monkey wrench and that might be one of the coolest names tools ever?
• Adjustable Pliers.  Same concept as the other multiple use tools, just one tool does the job of many.  Sometimes you gotta bust out the needle nose pliers though, because they are incredible.  Such a fine tool.  I love pliers to grab things, pinch things, squeeze things and so much more. 

Honorable Mention: Ladder.  Most jobs aren't on the ground level!  You need this bad boy!


Do you have any tools you can't live without?  How come tools fascinate me so much? 

Seven Tools I Can't Live Without - Kitchen Edition

Remember how I work in pastry? That means I'm in a kitchen all day.  I use my hands constantly but I hate how people call them the best tools in their arsenal.  I have real tools in my arsenal.  Tools that make my job easier, tools that make my job possible!

I love shopping for new tools too. So much so that I could probably throw together 3 sets of my favorite tools.  Yeah yeah yeah.  I have a problem.  I have too much stuff.  I tell myself its for work.  I have extra just in case.  I am prepared for anything.  A regular kitchen boy scout?

Seven Tools I Can't Live Without - Kitchen Edition

• Rubber Spatula.  In the 'biz we call them "spats".  As in, "pass me my rubber spat".  They do everything.  You can stir things, scoop things, spread stuff, scrape things and encourage  good behavior(if you know what I mean).  I have a couple sizes and they are irreplaceable.  I have often wondered if I could find a surgeon to replace one of my hands with a hub that I can attach a rubber spatula attachment too.
• Offset Spatula.  Basically a bent piece of metal with a handle.  It makes the magic happen.  Perfectly smoothed icings, level layers of fillings and picking up the perfect slice of cake, this is what this bad boy excels at.  I often use spatula hands, one of these in each hand and use them to move 4x as many desserts at a time.  Just ask my coworkers, they think I'm nuts.
• Razor.  Box cutter, blade, shiv, whatever you want to call it, it is always in my pocket and I use it for anything I need.  Opening boxes, cutting paper, cutting desserts, precision tasks on wedding cakes, threats, self defense, splinter removal, you name it I've done it with my razor.  Trusty little thing.  Thanks PD for starting this addiction.
• Immersion Blender.  A stick blender.  That thing in your cabinet you don't use.  I have one I never use at home.  At work, however, we have two and they are indispensable.  They can fix any problems and they can combine or stir ingredients faster than I ever could by hand and with less wear and tear on my muscles you know? Its fun to write recipes that have this as a procedure too "buzz until combined", everyone in my field knows what that means.  Sort of like a secret code(that I just un-secretized)
• Stand Mixer.  I have one that was a gift to me when I was sixteen, its a workhorse and I love it.  He's red and his name is Marvin.  True Story.  At work we have that same size, plus one 4x bigger, one 12x bigger, and one 20x bigger.  I can make any size batch of ANYTHING.  The big one, an average size human can fit in the bowl.  Can you imagine that as a form of torture?  Pastry professionals can, have and often think about that when people piss them off.  Fair warning. 
• Sharp Serrated Knife.  I actually have 3 different serrated knives in my tools at work.  A small one to cut the tops off strawberries and peel kiwis and stuff.  A medium angled one that is perfect for just about every job I have given it.  Lastly I have a 12" one that is all purpose too.  A must have for this girl.
• Sharp Chef's Knife.  This is just your average knife.  Sharp.  Real Sharp.  To cut everything, to do anything you need.  I once knew a guy who only had his chef's knife with him at a wedding where the cake didn't make it to the venue.  He put together a new one with only that knife.  We're talking iced a cake with a knife here, people.  Those are some MacGyver skills.

So, what is a tool you can't live without in your kitchen?  Do you have kitchen MacGyver skills?