Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Lowe’s. Although we were compensated to write this post, all opinions and content are our own, and we stand behind and use all brands and products we endorse on our site.
Hey guys! We’re back today talking about The UpSkill Project, but this time we’re taking you in store at Lowe’s. If you missed our last post, The UpSkill Project has been traveling around the U.S. throughout the year teaching and empowering homeowners with the skills needed to complete their DIY projects. They made their way to Minneapolis this past month, and we got the opportunity to document one family’s transformation of their entryway with the help of Lowe’s. You can rewind and see the full before and after HERE.
That same week, Lowe’s put on a free community workshop at the Plymouth, MN location and invited us to join the fun! We had such a great time, met so many wonderful people, learned some new DIY skills, and left feeling re-inspired.
During the workshop, the five local residents who participated in The UpSkill Project in Minnesota shared their experience, their projects, and all the skills they took away from the project. It reminded us just how neat The UpSkill movement is. The confidence Lowe’s gave to these homeowners to conquer their DIY fear, but also to the other Lowe’s customers at this event, is priceless.
Community members who attended had the opportunity to stop by the skill stations that were scattered throughout the store and learn new home improvement skills from the Lowe’s Red Vests. The stations consisted of painting techniques, how to patch a hole, plumbing techniques, tiling and general tool Q&A.
We even brought the kids with us to this free event. They had so much fun!
The most popular station was the tile station. They went through step-by-step how to lay tile, from the tools you need to how to mix mortar to doing your design layout. Did you know Lowe’s has almost every tutorial you’d ever need to know on their website? You can learn how to tile a shower, step-by-step, with Lowe’s HERE.
That’s one of my favorite things about Lowe’s. Even in their mission statement, they are clear that they are set out to empower their customers on how to DIY and give them the resources and skills they need to do it.
Our favorite station was the drywall area, learning how to patch a hole in the wall. That’s one DIY thing that Jamie always tells our readers to learn how to do. It’s such a huge thing to know when you’re a homeowner and one that not a lot of homeowners consider. Again, they walked us through just how simple something like this is. Sand down the wall, place your patch, putty, and sand. You can find the full Lowe’s tutorial over on their site, How to Patch and Repair Drywall.
Painting techniques was another really useful station that we watched. When clients reach out to us to paint their kitchen cabinetry, we always urge them to DIY. It’s one that is simple enough to do, and you save so much money by doing it yourself. Plus, it can completely transform the look of your space. You can find Lowe’s full tutorial here, How to Prep and Paint Cabinetry.
We were so sad when the day came to an end but we’re still smiling thinking about all that we learned and all the incredible human beings that we met. We left feeling so refreshed and inspired!
And we even had time to pick up some lumber for our very own UpSkill Project inspired workshop right after this in-store one. We’ll be back with that post next.
And if you want to rewind and check out more of the other awesome projects Lowe’s did or gain some more inspiration, you can find them HERE.
