Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 25/01) - There's a cheerful little yellow house in Kam Lake.

It's so optimistic-looking. You think of a positive cure for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Then you notice the ragged barbed-wire fence surrounding the house and the large "Beware of Dogs" sign tacked menacingly onto the front gate.

The view from outside Craig Yeo's house - Merle Robillard/NNSL photos

If this sounds contradictory, wait 'til you hear what's inside.

For starters, there's a Malibu barbie wearing miniature rollerblades hanging from a tiny crucifix and a sculpture of the devil glued to a chunk of sandstone from a German cathedral.

No, the owner of this house is not a misogynist or devil worshipper. Craig Yeo is just a guy who likes to put weird things together and decorate his home with them.

"I've always been amazed by crucifixes because they drop into the background," he says, "although it's an absolutely hideous representation of torment that people just look right through."

Inside his bright and spacious abode -- the top floor is painted a tropical blue and orange -- he has 13 barbies displayed in a makeshift cabinet decorated with pictures of the last supper.

A jar of dirt from Dostoevsky's grave hangs on the wall and Yeo sleeps on beds that were originally in the jail. A chambermaid's cart is his stereo and television cabinet, and his lamps are made from architectural glass. "A lot of things I keep here, just because I can't bear to throw things out," he says.

Amazingly, Yeo's place doesn't look cluttered. He uses junk to achieve a relatively minimalist look. Even the pink lower denture in his washroom with a small, round picture of Jesus on it has its own tidy place.

It was the lack of selection in Yellowknife's stores that fuelled Yeo's interest in finding various and different objects.

"Anyone who has bought or built a home knows it's mostly ugly crap out there," says Yeo. "Try finding a couch here that doesn't have those big, hideous flounced cushions. I mean, this isn't evangelism or anything, but at some point, people have to think, enough velour."