Women take home improvement into their own hands

Women are muscling into what was once the male-dominated realm of home improvement. They're refinishing cabinets, making mosaic tabletops and buying spackling compound. And companies are noticing.

According to Home Depot, 55 percent of purchases at the stores are made by women.

In addition, women did 30 percent of projects in a 2003 study that asked families about undertakings such as remodeling a bathroom, painting a house or building a deck or patio, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute.

Women are picking up tools, many for the first time, for a variety of reasons. Eighteen percent of all homes sold in 2004 were sold to single women, according to the National Association of Realtors. Homeowners typically embark on home-improvement projects after buying their homes.

And even if there is a man in the house, that doesn't mean he'll want to do the work.

Stella Gonzalez's husband is a trucker and wasn't around to tile the entryway to their home, so she did it herself.

Loretta Bryce's husband doesn't mind the leaves in their driveway. But they drive her crazy, so she straps on the leaf blower and takes care of them herself.

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