The Most Calming and Stressful DIY Tasks
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Love them or loathe them, DIY tasks are an essential part of upkeep and maintenance around the home. A new study from Toolstation analysed the sentiment of over 100,000 Reddit comments about DIY to determine the emotional response from differing tasks, finding which ones were the most calming and which were the most stressful.
The 10 most calming DIY tasks
Data taken from Reddit shows that homeowners find tending to plants in their garden (gardening plants) to be the most calming task of all. Following closely behind are interior design and wallpapering in second and third, showing a positive attitude towards interior aesthetics.
Putting up shelves takes fourth place in the rank, with many people finding it therapeutic to create and install their own shelves. Finally, tiling scores well with homeowners, earning its place in the top five most calming DIY tasks.
Surprisingly, Brits also like to kick back and relax by cleaning their gutters, which takes spot number six in the rank. Feng shui was also found to be a calming task, as well as woodworking, weeding and painting.
(Source; Reddit Sentiment Analysis, 2023)
The 10 most stressful DIY tasks
The data shows that homeowners are most agitated when installing new flooring, with this mammoth job taking the top spot as the most stressful DIY task.
Coming in second and third are carpet cleaning and carpet removal– undoubtedly demanding tasks. In fourth place comes fixing damp, followed by plumbing leaks and roof repair. Home security measures such as installing locks and CCTV also evoke negative emotions in homeowners, coming in with a high stress score. Rounding out the table are drain issues and fitting new doors in spots nine and 10.
