My husband learned a long time ago that a trip to Lowe's with me is never a quick errand. I wander the tool aisle the way other women wander the garden center. So when I saw this roundup of a dozen home improvement gadgets from Lowe's, I clicked faster than I'd click a pizza delivery notification.

The theme of the list is right there in the title: things that just work. Cordless drills, laser levels, other workhorse tools that get the job done without demanding a second mortgage. That last part matters to me. I have watched too many gadgets over the years cost a fortune and do one fancy thing badly, while a $40 tool from the hardware aisle quietly outlived three of them.

Let me tell you about the first drill I ever bought. It was corded, heavy as a brick, and the chuck loosened if you looked at it wrong. Today's cordless drills are so far ahead of that old thing it's almost comical. Battery technology has been the quiet hero of the last two decades, right up there with what happened to phone batteries. A modern lithium-ion drill holds a charge for months and weighs less than my granddaughter Jess's makeup bag. When my grandkids hang a shelf these days they have no idea what a workout it used to be.

Laser levels are the other category I love on this list. I remember hanging pictures in our first apartment with a bubble level and a pencil behind my ear, praying the thing was calibrated. Now you set a laser level on the counter, it throws a perfectly straight line across the whole wall, and you're done in two minutes. Technology should work for you, and a laser level is one of the purest examples of that principle you can buy for under a hundred bucks.

Ergonomics is the word the roundup keeps coming back to, and it's not marketing fluff when you're talking about tools. Grips matter. Weight distribution matters. If you're over 50 like me and you've spent an afternoon with a badly balanced drill, your wrist will file a formal complaint by dinner. The tools on this list were picked partly because they're comfortable to hold for long stretches, and that is the difference between finishing a project on Saturday and giving up halfway through.

What I appreciate about a list like this is the restraint. These are tools, not gadgets with companion apps that need firmware updates before they'll drill a hole. Nobody wants to pair Bluetooth with a tape measure. You buy these, charge them maybe, and use them. My smart home coverage lately has made me a little protective of that distinction, because the best technology in your house is often the kind with no screen at all.

Should you run out and buy all twelve? Of course not. If you already own a working drill and a level, the upgrade math gets shaky fast. But if you're starting from scratch, or you're still using tools older than my first flip phone, this roundup is a genuinely sensible place to start. Prices at Lowe's hover in the reasonable range for most of these, and the store runs tool deals constantly, so keep an eye out before you commit.

I've already added the laser level to my own shopping list. There's a gallery wall in the hallway that's been crooked since spring and I've run out of excuses. If it works as advertised, you'll hear about it. And if it doesn't, well, you'll hear about that too, probably louder.