Decorate

The perfect Father’s Day gift for your dad’s style

Car-mad dad? DIY dad? Outdoorsy dad? Father’s Day ideas that’ll rock last year’s socks off
Chris Warnes

Most dads are pretty happy with a phone call or a packet of hankies for Father’s Day. But if you really want to spoil him with the perfect present for his personality, we’ve found just the gear you’ll need. Check out the decoded dad styles below to see which one fits your Bill, Rob or Geoff. Happy Father’s Day!

DIY Dad

Favourite hangouts: The man cave, tool shed or any other flat space he can lay his level, drill, hammer and saw on. He gets immense enjoyment from fixing, making and using his digits to create.

His mantra: ‘I could make that. Here, give it here…’

Biggest challenge: Buying him anything that’s ready-made or comes in pieces that need to be assembled. Because let’s face it, if it needs to be assembled, he could probably make it himself from scratch!

Perfect Father’s Day event: No-fuss (but delish) alfresco lunch with the family followed by a trip to the power tool aisle for his dream tools! If that’s going to be too overwhelming or bring a tear to his eye, hand him the pièce de résistance of DIY tools – a Ryobi ONE+ Compact Drill Driver Kit, $199 (the RYOBI ONE+ system means one interchangeable battery powers over 70 tools, so your DIY dad will be sorted from nuts to bolts and everything in between). Make sure you have something ready and waiting at home for him to assemble, reassemble or disassemble!

lunch
(Credit: Chris Warnes)

Outdoorsy Dad

Favourite hangouts: The pool, backyard cricket, bike riding, fishing, camping!

His mantra: ‘Who needs a roof when you’ve got the great outdoors!’

Biggest challenge: Any sedentary activity. Movies, theatre productions, degustation menus … all on the ‘no’ list!

Perfect Father’s Day event: Anything outdoors of course! Set up the barbie and make a splash in the backyard pool. Give dad a Ryobi ONE+ Inflator/Deflator, $99, for Father’s Day and you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll spend the entire afternoon inflating pool toys, boats, bike tyres, even air beds (for a rare moment lying down and stargazing!).

barbecue
(Credit: Chris Warnes)

Car-mad Dad

Favourite hangouts: The garage, driveway, front of the house hosing down his car after vacuuming it, car shows, online car sale websites, classic car rallies.

His mantra: ‘Stress goes out the window once you get into the car.’

Biggest challenge: Walking or catching public transport. Why would you when you have hot wheels?!

Perfect Father’s Day event: A session driving formula one cars on the race track, lunch at a classic car café or scenic car route café, off-road 4WD tour. Polish off your perfect day with the ultimate car-enthusiast gift, a Ryobi ONE+ Buffer/Polisher 10-inch, $99. His car, motorbike, boat, floor and more will look amazing.

garden
(Credit: Sue Stubbs)

Backyard Dad

Favourite hangouts: The backyard! Also frequents garden centres, nurseries, sand and soil centres – anywhere BUT lazing on the couch!

His mantra: ‘Cut it, shape it, prune it, grow it!’

Biggest challenge: Getting him out of the garden – he’s determined to keep the grass green, hedges trimmed, trees tidy, soil mulched and leaves swept.

Perfect Father’s Day event: A garden show. His imagination will be brimming with ideas! If he’s more into DIY than admiring other peoples gladiolas though, stock him up with any whizz-bang garden technology that’ll shave time and backaches, and will just be fun to use. Think a Ryobi ONE+ 4.0Ah Lawn Mower Kit, $399, ONE+ Brushless Chainsaw Console, $239, ONE+ Blower Console, $99, or ONE+ Brushless Line Trimmer Console, $199. He’ll be the envy of all the neighbours!

father's day
(Credit: Nicky Ryan)

Woodworking Dad

Favourite hangouts: All the kids at school wanted a woodworking dad. He was the dad who made the wooden train, built the go-kart, created the wall-to-wall tool storage system in the garage or whipped up a fernery for mum’s birthday… So clever!

His mantra: ‘Saw it! Hammer it!’

Biggest challenge: Getting him to attend family functions or any other event where he doesn’t particularly get along with the folk! Why would you when you can stay at home and build something?!

Perfect Father’s Day event: A builder is only as good as his tools, so sharpen up those blunt, old and weathered piece of mechanical machinery and invest in a few whizz-bang modern technology products that’ll open up a world of creative possibilities. Ryobi ONE+ Brushless 184mm Circular Saw, $279, it’ll give any woodworking projects a professional finish and it has 30% faster-cutting speed, so he can create even more!

Visit Ryobi for more great ideas from their ONE+ range – where one battery powers over 70 tools, from DIY power tools to Outdoor power equipment and more.

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