School of Decorating

Decorate with Confidence and Create a Home You Love

  • Free Class
  • Videos
  • Blog
    • How to Decorate
    • Simple DIY Projects
    • Life Tips
    • Success Stories
    • Our Home Tour
  • Classes
  • About
  • Contact

Pop Quiz: What’s Your DIY or Buy Personality?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, on purchases made after following an affiliate link. See my full disclosure here.

October 10, 2012 By Jackie

Grab a pen and paper.  I’ve got a fun little quiz for you today.  Write down each answer and then follow the scorecard at the end to learn more about your DIY or Buy personality.

What’s Your DIY or Buy Personality?

1.  When you see a great lamp on sale at a high-end home store, you would most likely:

A.  Leave the store immediately and head straight to the nearest home center to buy all the supplies to make your own version.
B.  Think the color is a bit off, but not want to miss a great deal.  You’ll take it home for some spray paint therapy.
C.  Buy the lamp and then change your design to work around it.
D.  Leave the lamp, but go home and pin a hundred DIY versions on Pinterest.  Someday you’ll get around to making one.

2.  The window coverings in your home are:

A.  Store-bought, but you’ve tweaked them with trim or contrasting fabric.
B.  Non-existent.  You are hoping the trees shield the neighbors view.
C.  Custom made by you.
D.  Blinds – they get the job done.

3.  What would you use to fill the big empty wall space above the sofa?

A.  Leave the wall blank and say you are going for a minimal style.
B.  Your own masterpiece painted on a blank canvas.
C.  Art from the nearest home store that seems to have the right colors.
D.  Cool fabric prints stretched over a few smaller canvases and grouped together.

4.  You craft room/workshop/studio is:

A.  Project central.  There are at least 3 projects in the works.
B.  Neatly organized and mostly a landing spot for the things you buy.
C.  Crammed with half done projects you ran out of time to finish.
D.  Hmmm…a space to DIY?  That might help.

5.  Your favorite store to hit up before your next decorating project is _______.

A.  The nearest big box store (Target, Ikea)
B.  Thrift store or consignment shop
C.  Home center or hardware store
D.  Craft Store

6.  On a normal weekend you can be found:

A.   Wandering the aisles of the hardware store picking up supplies for your next big project.
B.  Snuggled up at home, wandering the categories of Pinterest.
C.  Running by the craft store for some glue and spray paint.
D.  Asking the gal at the fabric cutting counter how much fabric you need to make two pillows.

7.  When a guest in your home asks, “where did you get that?”, you most commonly answer with:

A.  “I found it at [insert store name], but then I spruced it up a bit.”
B.  “Oh, I made it.  It was actually really easy…”
C.  “Oh that.  I can’t even remember where I bought that.”
D.  You change the subject, dodging the question.  You wish you could say you made it yourself, but you bought it.

Scorecard – Tally up your points for each answer and then see your DIY or Buy personality below.

  1. A-3, B-2, C-1, D-0
  2. A-2, B-0, C-3, D-1
  3. A-0, B-3, C-1, D-2
  4. A-3, B-1, C-2, D-0
  5. A-0, B-1, C-3, D-2
  6. A-3, B-0, C-2, D-1
  7. A-2, B-3, C-0, D-1

What’s Your DIY or Buy Personality?

17-21 points
DIY Demigod

You may be worshipped by others for your ability to tackle any DIY project.  One minute your painting the wall and the next you’re getting out power tools to make a new piece of furniture.  You routinely makes up your own DIY projects.  You are so confident in your skills, you openly share how tos with anyone who wants to know.

The DIY Demigod must be careful not to over extend themselves on too many projects at one once.  Friends and family are often asking for your help and you may have a hard time saying no.  Keeping a thorough to-do list and knowing when to say no will make sure DIY continues to be enjoyable.

The DIY Demigod will almost always try making something before buying it.  You would prefer to spend money on tools and supplies.  You would rather be DIYing than shopping.

11-16 points
DIY Shortcutter

You prefer an easy project, a DIY quick fix.  You frequently makeover store-bought items to inject your own personality.  You love following other’s DIY tutorials.  You might have a hard time thinking too far outside the box.  Occasionally, you long for more substance and originality in your projects.

If you want to get out of quick fix mode, you must stretch yourself outside your comfort zone.  Consider forcing yourself to do a DIY project with only items found at a hardware store.  This will help get the creative juices flowing and help you think outside the box.

The DIY Shortcutter buys first and asks questions later.  Your attracted to sales, clearance bins, and thrift finds.  You know you can always tweak them and make them work.

6-10 points
DIY Shy

You might be DIY Shy if you want to do more DIY, but aren’t sure where to start.  You may tackle a few small projects, but lack confidence in your skills for the larger projects.  Your eager to learn from other DIYers.

Find a DIY buddy.  A little encouragement and support is all you need to get over your DIY fears.  Give yourself goals and a deadline to complete a project.  Blog link ups can be a great motivator to get a project done, share it, and get feedback to keep you motivated.

The DIY Shy people tend to buy when a project never gets started or you give up part way through.  You may be buying to fill the void of undone or unsuccessful DIYs.  You are more comfortable showing off your store-bought wares than your handmade projects.

0-5 Points
DIY Lurker

The DIY Lurker gathers lots of inspiration, but with little follow through.  You love the idea of DIY, but not the actual doing.  You may lack time, skills, or interest in doing projects yourself.

If you want to move past lurking to doing, you must get out from behind the computer.  Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and give one of those DIY projects you have pinned a try.  Don’t have time?  Sure you do, if you stop browsing the internet for ideas.  Don’t have skills?  Try an easy project for starters.

The lurker isn’t big on action, except when it comes to buying instead of DIYing.  The lurker may go as far to buy ready-made versions of her DIY inspirations.  The lurker compensates for not making something, by buying it from handmade sellers.  Ever the supporter of handmade, but rarely the doer.

So, what did the quiz tell you about your DIY or Buy Personality?

Previous Post
MidModMen + friends
Next Post
Buy to Tweak

Comments

  1. andrea says

    October 10, 2012 at 8:30 am

    DIY shortcutter here! I prefer to build furniture and repurpose thrift store finds for decoration. Fun quiz!

    (but the scoring is difficult, it went from numbers in the quiz to letters in the answer key)

    • Jackie says

      October 10, 2012 at 10:22 am

      Hi Andrea! Thanks for taking the quiz. I fixed the numbering/scoring (thanks for letting me know). Love that you are a proud DIY Shortcutter…time is precious and quick DIY projects let us have it all :)

  2. [email protected] says

    October 10, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    I’m a shortcutter which sounds pretty accurate. I often add to a store bought item with my own bling. Thanks for the fun quiz.

  3. Jenna says

    October 10, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    Another Shortcutter here! Fun quiz. :)

  4. Melissa says

    October 10, 2012 at 11:06 pm

    I wish I could say I were anything but a lurker but yes, that’s what I am. I do have a few unfinished projects as well. However, I am proud to say that I just painted a vanity for my daughter (took me over a month)and she loves it! Learned a few good lessons and ready for another painting project. I liked the quiz!

  5. Brandi says

    October 12, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    Im a lurker, but only becuase im new to this lol

Hi, I'm Jackie. I believe you are the best person to decorate your home and I'm here to help.

I teach online decorating classes to help you create your dream home. Click on the images below to learn more about each class.

Take an Online Decorating Class

Best for beginners!

12 Class Bundle!

Get a free copy of my book
Free Decorating


Start reading now...

Follow Me Here

Categories

  • How to Decorate
  • Simple DIY Projects
  • Life Tips
  • Success Stories
  • Our Home Tour
I believe you are the best person to decorate your home. You just need a dash of courage and a dose of decorating know-how. That's why I created School of Decorating.

I know how frustrating it is to feel like failure at home. I also know how amazing it feels when decorating finally makes sense and your home reflects you. I want to share what I've learned so you can create a home you love without years of trial and error.

Get a free copy of my best-selling book Free Decorating

  • How to Decorate
  • Simple DIY Projects
  • Life Tips
  • Success Stories
  • Our Home Tour

© 2018 School of Decorating
 · Terms of Use 
· Privacy Policy
 · Disclaimer




This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.