Smart Buying

Space Lifts

Fix four common problem rooms for less than you think. Plus, see our slide show of high-impact, low-cost renovations.

By Pat Mertz Esswein, Associate Editor

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, October 2006

$2,500 Family room

Problem: Greg and Amy Elliott of Port Matilda, Pa., just outside State College, say their basement is a partially finished "wreck" that serves as a family room, home office, storage space and music room (it's home to a drum set).

Designer: Lynn Staab-Fischer owns Organized Spaces, in Pittsburgh, Pa. She has also worked as a project manager for one of Pittsburgh's largest architectural firms. She is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers and the National Association of Professional Organizers, and she is also an authorized dealer of Easy-Closet Systems.

Solution: Create individual "zones" that flow together. Staab-Fischer suggests first sorting items into "keep," "donate" and "trash" piles, then assigning "keepers" to proper storage. Next, she says, paint the walls and trim, tile the stove hearth and wall, and spray-paint existing bookcases and storage wall units black. Buy furniture for a home office and a child's laptop work area, and put in a fabric panel to separate that space. Relocate the drum set and hide it with a privacy screen. Install blinds. Finally, place silk trees to draw the eye away from structural columns and add lamps, task lighting and candles for mood and accents.

The plan
Paint: $175
Tile: $500
Home-office furniture/storage: $544
Furniture/storage/accessories: $1,290

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