DIY "worlds" and the co-construction of home and self

Abstract

The question to which this paper speaks is how can DIY home improvement, a central but largely unanalysed element of New Zealand housing culture, be interpreted in social theoretical terms? Many New Zealand householders, but particularly homeowners, choose to carry out their own home improvements, rather than employ professional specialists, following a longstanding cultural tradition known as DIY. In this paper we report part of a study of the DIY practices of 27 householders, characterising the types of activities which constitute DIY for them and how they organise the labour across projects, some of it amateur and other professional. The paper is based on a naturalistic qualitative social research methodology relying on interviews, participant observation and an analysis of archival and contemporary housing documentation, including building trade literature and DIY advertising. The paper is located in scholarly debates about the home as process, focussing particularly on elements of work (i.e., making a home) and self-building activity. We argue that while the term do-it-yourself is suggestive of a solitary activity, (homeowners doing their own home improvements, and deriving a great deal of personal pride and satisfaction from their achievements), in fact each project is an act of co-construction at the centre of a much wider ‘social world’ (Becker 1976). The outcome of this work is the ‘DIYed home’. This is a place in which to dwell and a mainspring of personal experience, meaning and pride; an ongoing and inherently creative family project. It is a place which is commonly talked about with others and proudly exhibited to houseguests – a socially and physically constructed place – ‘personalised’, ‘adapted’ and to be enjoyed.