do it yourself

do it yourself (uncountable)

1. The practice of doing home improvements and maintenance oneself, rather than employing a professional.
   • 1960 October, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 640:

     THE LONDON & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY. By O. S. Nock. Ian Allan. 30s.
     [...] One scarcely imagined, for example, that the great steel works at Crewe owed its existence to Sir Richard Moon's penchant for the principle of "Do it yourself", a principle born of a methodical, economical and far-seeing mind.

• DIY

• do-it-yourself