When home-improvement tasks come calling, take a deep breath and remember this pleasant alternative to Home Depot. Forgo the terrifying experience of wandering monstrous aisles and begging for advice from employees just as confused as you are -- head instead to this tiny storefront in the Upper Haight. It's got an extensive supply of merchandise geared toward city apartment-dwellers -- everything from tools to plants to paint -- but the store's main appeal is its neighborly attitude and the genuine warmth of the staff. They're a motley crew -- resembling, at various times, professional wrestlers and heavy-metal drummers -- but they're always generous in number, helpful without being pushy, and, most important, honest. If they don't have what you need, they'll tell you where to find it. You get the sense these guys and girls actually build stuff, they know how to caulk, and they possess none of the know-it-all condescension of so many hardware store employees. Plus, they pick their own music to play over the store's stereo system, and it's a lot better than what you'll hear at Home Depot.