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DIY French Style Posted by on Feb 9, 2021 in Culture, Vocabulary

Like many people around the world, people in France have used their time at home during the pandemic to make home improvements with a little DIY French Style.

DIY French Style

According to one poll, as early as the first confinement last spring almost 1/3 des français (31%) said they were doing more travaux d’entretien1maintenance work(s) and bricolage2from the verb bricoler, to tinker or fiddle about. Grace aux tutoriels vidéos sur Internet3thanks to internet video tutoriels, some of the activities they planned to knock out during their down time include:

Changer une ampoule 
Change a lightbulb
Procéder à un grand nettoyage de printemps 
Do the spring cleaning
Monter un meuble 
Put a piece of furniture together
Repeindre les murs 
Repaint the walls
Changer la serrure d’une porte 
Change the lock on a door
Faire de la plomberie4la plomberie shares a root with the French word for leadle plomb
Do some plumbing
Installer des systèmes domotiques pour la maison 
Install smart home systems

Quincaillerie ou magasin de bricolage

For many, the two are synonymous. But une quincaillerie is a more traditional hardware store (and they have been around for generations) while un magasin de bricolage is a bit of a newer concept. They usually will sell de la quincaillerie5hardwareet des outils6tools … but also sell more. Essentially everything you need to complete those little DIY projects around la maison ou le jardin7the house or garden.

Go to either though, and you’re likely to find …

La boite à outils 
toolbox
le marteau 
hammer
le clou
nail
le tournevis
screwdriver
le vis
screw
la clé
wrench
la pince
pliers
le boulon
bolt
l’écrou
nut
la scie
saw
la perceuse
drill
la peinture
paint
le pinceau
paint brush
le rouleau à peindre
paint roller
le niveau
level
l’échelle
ladder
l’escabeau
step ladder

Check out this great video highlighting some Covid confinement bricoleurs and see how they’re getting the DIY done French style!


Pour approfondir votre vocabulaire

A few weeks ago in a post about the recent neige en France I shared this video showing some of the highlights. At about 55 seconds the reporter uses an expression that was new to me … but fits nicely with this week’s topic. Le système D in which the ‘D’ stands for the word débrouille. 

From the French verb débrouiller (to disentangle, to unravel) (but also se débrouiller/to manage, to cope, to handle), débrouille means “to make do, to improvise to get by“. So le système D refers to any situation where you’re resorting to what’s available to accomplish a task (like cooking outside on your camping stove during une panne d’éléctircité8a power outage/power failure!).


How To Find A Hardware Store in French

Tool Trouble Hinging On A Good Night’s Sleep – Hardware In French

Photo by energepic.com from Pexels
  • 1
    maintenance work(s)
  • 2
    from the verb bricoler, to tinker or fiddle about
  • 3
    thanks to internet video tutoriels
  • 4
    la plomberie shares a root with the French word for leadle plomb
  • 5
    hardware
  • 6
    tools
  • 7
    the house or garden
  • 8
    a power outage/power failure
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About the Author: Tim Hildreth

Since my first trip to France at 16, I have been a passionate francophile. I love the language, food, music, art, people, and more that make France and la Francophonie in general such an amazing part of our global community. Having lived in France and studied the language and culture for over 35 years, it is my great pleasure to be able to share a little bit of my deep love with you through this blog.


Comments:

  1. Terri:

    Hi Tim, in English you say “make do” as in to make something work. “Make due” is when you have to pay the bill. Have a good day,
    Terri

    • Tim Hildreth:

      @Terri Merci, Terri! I learned something new today!