A couple years ago my brother was watching in utter horror as I hammered a nail into the wall with a can of peas. What? It worked. For my next birthday, I got a basic toolkit. It's been really useful, especially the pliers which double as nutcrackers and soda bottletop looseners and tongs to pull small items out of boiling water, etc. But I think my favorite tool of all (and I didn't know it existed until he bought me one) is the rubber mallet. That thing is awesome!

If you're putting together furniture from a kit, the mallet will bang together stuff that doesn't quite want to fit together without damaging the finish. Likewise, when it's time to breakdown the furniture for a move, the mallet taps the stuck pieces apart. Also, I have a step ladder that has a safety lock on it. I can never pull the lock apart to flatten the ladder for storage. Lifting lever and whacking the underside of the step breaks it apart perfectly. Bam! The mallet replaces the hand and arm strength I've lost as I got older.

Another useful items is shims, triangular pieces of wood you can buy at a hardware store and slip under the wobbly leg of a chair. I also use it under my bookcases to tip them slightly back against the wall so they're less likely to fall forward if the balance is off.