Saw Spot

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday July 29, 2004

Alan Mascarenhas

Her husband may be a carpenter but Annie Edelman's no slouch when it comes to do-it-yourself renovations.

Edelman, a professional colour consultant, teaches design at the School of Colour

and Design in The Rocks, where 80 per cent of the students are women. The school runs applied decorating subjects where students use power tools to prepare storyboards, fine-tune furniture and frame and erect photographs.

Edelman sees the school's gender imbalance as evidence that women are keen to do odd jobs around the home.

So what's caused the shift? "I think women probably feel more capable after seeing other women doing renovations on TV shows. For many, it's a time thing as well - they don't want to wait for their own bloke, or another bloke, to get something done."

Of course, that's assuming there's a bloke on hand, a point Edelman concedes. "With the family unit breaking down, more women are probably living on their own and having to do [renovations] out of necessity."

In Edelman's view, the female market is there to be won. To capture it, she believes manufacturers should develop "lighter, slicker" power tools as the current ranges

are unwieldy.

"They're too heavy and most unattractive," she complains. "I've got a drill and a sander and even my sander is too big for me to handle."