When I painted my living room, my friend Rose pitched in to get the job done. When she needed help figuring out how to arrange a wall of pictures, she called me.
It wasn't the first time I swapped a job I'm able to do for a job I lack the skill set to perform well. When you live alone and far from family, it's not uncommon to rely on your friends to help you with your home tasks. I've helped friends buy lampshades, choose wall colors, find fabric for pillows. I've consulted on furniture arrangements, gone on shopping trips, planted gardens, stripped furniture, made curtains, sourced couches and stained a deck. And I've relied on friends to help me decide how high a light should hang, pick which shade of paint is best, help paint my bedroom and my living room, and for any job which requires knowing how to use a drill. Yes, I could learn how to use one myself, but until that happens, I ask my friends.
Do you rely on friends to help you out with certain household tasks or to help you make design decisions?
(Image: Marcia Prentice from Aubin & Florice's Curiousity Fueled Home)
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Absolutely! In fact, if anyone in the LA area needs help with tape/painting I've run out of rooms to work on and would love to help someone else achieve their dream of a herringbone wall.
Definitely! In particular when it comes to buying electrical things like computers etc... I get calls all the time about how do I cook this, what could I do with .... Food tips etc
Yup! I help friends develop their personal brand and build websites, and in exchange they cat-sit when I travel. It's great.
@wallflowerpower!! haha...
OMG! I have friend who has the skills to construct furniture and to sew, with all the tools needed, and I abuse the crap out of him. But he is more than willing to do it as my birthday or Christmas present.
I rely on family rather than on friends, and then for advice rather than for work. I appreciate my amazing big sister letting me pick her brain. My husband has some friends he asks for computers and electronics advice. We share advice when asked. If we can't do a task ourselves, then we usually hire someone to help, because most of our close family and friends are in their fifties, too.
When an officemate moved near where I lived, she usually cooks and gives me the leftovers. When she had a big tear on her jeans, I volunteered to patch it up because she doesn't know how to sew.
It's nice to have neighbors look out for each other.