SMART DESIGN

I'll admit, focusing on a project at home is often about as difficult as getting a politician to keep his pants zipped, but with nasty winter weather forcing us to stay indoors most weekends, I'm forced to focus on the bombed-out room (s) in the middle of our house. With a design in mind, rather than putting pen to paper, we took sledge hammer to wall this summer and took two nasty old rooms and created one giant mess. The Plan: figure it out as we go and use the dark, cold months of winter to create our bright vision. So, the time has come to focus on what this room will be (After living with the open space for a few months we've decided to turn it into a family room/lounge/not sure what-the-heck to call it). But, for the way we live we think it's a smart direction to take this old design. While we have a clear idea of how we'll use the room, it's always a good thing to put a plan on paper. The days of literally putting pencil to paper are long gone (and if you have the attention span of a hummingbird like I do, quick tools are essential). As we start to build an entertainment unit/bookshelf on one side of the room, we thought it would be a good idea to lay out the rest of the space (when thinking about what furniture we'll place in the room, what size wood burning stove to purchase, etc.) so I logged on to http://www.smartdraw.com/, downloaded the free trial membership and created an easy, smart layout for our space. If you're doing major renovations you'll most likely have an architect involved who, more than likely, will charge for every drawing and design change (which could cost thousands of dollars). I'm about as techno-savvy as George Bush Jr and I figured out how to create this plan in thirty minutes. Even if you're just planning on purchasing new furniture for a room in your home, be smart about it and log on to see your vision in black and white.

TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: 30 minutes

COST: $0 by visiting http://www.smartdraw.com/ and downloading the software (free for one month). Program allows you to integrate furniture pieces, manipulate size, shape, etc.

STRESS LEVEL:Creating a smart design without spending a dime: LOW