Transfer Site Treasures and Do-It-Yourself

One of the big differences between life in Denmark and life in Alaska is the “do-it-yourself” spirit that exists in Alaska. Yes, yes I know that America is known for its drive-through restaurants and even drive-through liquor stores and obese citizens who don’t do anything but sit on the couch and watch TV, but this is Alaska: on top of Canada, separated from the lower 48 states (the lower 48s as they are called here). Up here the settler/miner mindset is still strong and if you are thinking of building a house, a garage or a porch you are thinking of doing it yourself.

I don’t think I know anyone in Denmark who has done that. Or who have thought about doing it. I know people who have bought a house that was new. Or painted their garage by themselves. Mostly I know people who have assembled their own IKEA furniture, including myself, and thought it was a pretty great achievement.  Or redecorated their IKEA furniture to give it a personal touch amidst all the white walls and light wood floors of truly Scandinavian design. I like white walls and light rooms, and I miss IKEA just a little. But instead I now dream of designing my own wood house with wood from the forest outside and design mostly assembled from the Transfer Station. Yes, the Transfer Station, which some might also call the dump. In Fairbanks the Transfer Stations are open and unguarded: everyone can rummage around, as they like and there are always great treasures to be found. The house I live in is partly designed with treasures from the dump, like our couches, our coffee table, bed, TV, TV table, desk and huge collection of videos. We also have bikes, garden furniture and wood from the Transfer Station as well as enough glass to build a greenhouse. It’s kind of like a free flee market. Next comes the “do-it-yourself” house or maybe the garage – build with material collected for free.

One of the reasons it is impossible to “do-it-yourself” in Denmark is the enormous amount of permits that one needs to obtain to be able to build just the smallest shed. In Alaska, if you own the land, you can do whatever you want with it: it’s yours, and there is plenty of space, which is another thing Denmark does not have a lot of. I wonder if another reason the dream of building your own house is obtainable in Alaska is the amount of blue-collar workers that live in Alaska. People are used to practical, physical work, in other words know how to use their hands, where Danes, including myself, often spend their days in offices and institutions. Even though we do not have drive-through liquor stores in Denmark, a lot of us are less used to blue-collar work and I wonder who are really the most service-minded people?

The thing to get used to with “do-it-yourself” however is that it might not look like the interior design magazines think it looks, when you actually do it yourself.