Something has shifted in the workshop. After years of DIY being sold as a weekend hobby for the mildly bored, home improvement has quietly become a serious cultural force. The global DIY market is forecasted to hit nearly a trillion dollars this year.

The tape measure and the drill you inherited from your folks will only take you so far. Fortunately, the tools driving this boom have never been smarter, and better hardware should mean, hopefully, better results. Whether you're building furniture, finishing a deck, or just finally hanging that TV straight, the tools available right now are genuinely more precise than anything a generation ago could have imagined.

From a miniaturized soldering station to a kid-safe desktop cardboard router, these are WIRED’s 15 picks worth making room for in your toolbox this year. A multifunction power tool, compact and smart, is perfect for household tasks that don’t require a massive hammer drill. The detachable laser level and clever electronic stud finder make it ideal for hanging pictures, shelves, and 4K TVs.

A compact, open-source soldering workstation condenses a full electronics bench into a single portable unit. Integrated fume extraction pulls harmful vapors away at the source while built-in magnification and adjustable LED lighting improve visibility. The clincher is that by being open-source, Soldr positively welcomes hardware tweaks and firmware upgrades, making it as appealing to hobbyists as it is to serious prototypers.

A new 18V cordless sander from Festool reaches deep into corners and tight edges while variable speed control allows for fine-tuning between aggressive stock removal and ultrasmooth finishing. The triangular pad is designed for controlled, one-handed operation, while the integrated LED casts low-angle illumination across your work surface to highlight even the slightest imperfections.