Over the years, brands have surprised us with adverts that are not flashy sales pitches, but give us wisdom and spread a positive message to the world.

They remind us of the importance of kinship, break a negative societal belief, or simply make us laugh and not take life too seriously.

This article explores the 12 short films released by Builders as part of its ‘Here’s to Home’ campaign. These films are not only entertaining, touching and inspiring, they have some important life lessons too. Here are a few of those lessons we can learn from these award-winning films:

1. We must always try to find beauty in everything. In this film we see a Gogo and her grandchild faced with a tough situation, but the solution that they find shows us that no situation is too bad. Sometimes with determination and a bit of DIY, we can turn even the worst situations and circumstances into works of art.

        

2. You can build a life you don’t need a vacation from, to a certain extent at least. We all look forward to going on vacation: the lush palm trees, delicious cocktails, best views. Imagine having all that right on your balcony? With a bit of creativity you can ditch the vacation and opt for a lifetime staycation filled with peace and calm – issues beyond control aside, of course.

 

3. Being a perfectionist is completely normal. In this film we see that there are many different shades of the same colour. Attention to detail is always a requirement for home projects, as perfection is the main requirement. And, who wants a skew kitchen cupboard anyway?

        

4. We all have that special friend we can’t say no to. Whether we admit it or not, we all have those people in our lives that we simply can’t say no to. Our little pet friends make up a huge part of this “population”, and it’s during those little moments where we can’t say “no” that make us realise why we love them!

      

5. If at times you don’t succeed… just run with it. Sometimes a mess can produce order and home projects require just that zeal. Sometimes, just accept the mess, take a deep breath and remember that there’s a solution for everything. Afterall, even broken glasses or tiles can create beautiful patterns.

           

6. Houseplants are people too. No one understands plant moms and dads are real parents until they have to learn lighting requirements for each plant and how to position them in the house based on that as opposed to where they will look good (for a few days till they die). But if you give them the attention they deserve, they will become your family.

  

7. The best skills are always passed on through generations. Pizza party at grandpa’s? Yes! Grandparents may be popular for spoiling their grandkids, but they are also great at passing down great wisdom and skills. So time at granddad’s is not time wasted.

8. Sometimes the only choice is to laugh at yourself – it is therapy. When a guy paints himself into a corner of his garage and has to wait for it to dry before he can move, what can he do? The best response to situations we can’t control is to just let out a laugh. After all, if you can’t beat them, join them.

9. All help is great, it just depends on how you look at it. You know the story about a half glass? It’s either half-full or half-empty, depending on how you look at it. It is always best to look at things from a positive point.

10. Being an adult is all about finding solutions to problems life throws at you, …and inventions: sometimes adulthood can throw you with lemons even when you are trying to start a new life and create your own routines. Innovations are always the best solutions. There’s other things you can make with lemons other than lemonade.

11. Thanks to Covid-19, we now share our homes with our colleagues, best spruce the place up a little. If you could dodge cleaning your room on weekends when you were a teenager then you won’t survive virtual meetings with cameras on. A DIY floating shelf can make a difference when it comes to sorting and storage. One of the films light-heartedly captures what life in the pandemic is like. In it, a lady on a Zoom call suddenly spots her washing in the background. Turning off her video, we hear the frantic whirring of tools and when she turns her video back on, the wooden washing rack that used to be her clothing line has been replaced by a beautiful shelf.

12. You always reap what you sow, like it or not. This statement applies literally. Nurturing that small herb garden can save you money and an unwanted trip to the stores when you have already started cooking, or it’s storming.