Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A Little Yankee Ingenuity

You might not know it now, but I have some very fond memories watching Bob Vila on This Old House with my Dad growing up. While my Dad didn’t always embody Vila’s calm, kind demeanor when doing projects around the house, he taught me the importance of “do it yourself” projects and how rewarding they could be. Check out Boston Magazine’s article on every historic homeowner’s favorite program:

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/this_old_house/page1

An interesting point to make: the creators of This Old House basically came up with the concept “do it yourself” during the housing slump of the late 70’s and early 80’s on the premise that “viewers didn't need to buy new homes to be happy. All they needed was a little Yankee ingenuity.” How refreshing is that?

Maybe we’ll see a resurgence in this way of thinking as the economy and housing market continues to worsen. What do you think?

2 comments:

Kurtis said...

I would like to hope the hard economic times and slow housing market will force people to think more about the durability and long-term effects of the work they do on their homes. At one time we valued things that were permanent. I hope this sentiment returns.

Unknown said...

You couldn't have said it better Kurt. Looking forward to what 2009 brings...