FLOOR TO CEILING
This weekend, despite living in a home where almost every inch needs attention from floor to ceiling, we stepped away from our power tools, put down our hammers and drills and enjoyed a lovely work-free weekend (well, sort of). When we aren't chipping away at our renovation projects we often like to watch other people struggle with theirs, so we turned on the tube hoping to find inspiration in high-definition. First things first: in the real world, carpenters don't look like underwear models. Their underwear is usually exposed while they fill your cracks, but typically they don't arrive at your front door wearing tight t-shirts and Gucci sunglasses. Furthermore, most designers I've met don't have implants, fake tans and go by the name "Candi." What was more shocking about some of these make-believe reality design shows, was how absurd some of the designs were. $2,000, believe it or not, can go a long way. At least a lot further than chocolate paint, a few mirrors and red curtains (which is basically what I saw in every design scheme after watching an afternoon of programs). So we clicked off the TV disappointed that no one on the tube thought outside of the box. Take, for example, a basement "mancave" I'm working on where, like many unfinished spaces, the floors are raw and the ceiling is wide open. Sure, for $2,000 we could put down wood floors or carpet, hang drywall and move right on to the next room. But what if you don't have (or want to spend) $2,000? For well under $200 we covered everything from floor to ceiling, making this space a must-see for any visitor. Bare plywood floors got two coats of porch and floor paint and instead of hanging drywall on the ceiling we purchased 1"x4"x8' wood planks usually used for flooring (one side is a smooth 4" wide plank, the other side looks like bead board). With the extra $1,800 these homeowners could buy a new big screen HD TV, blue ray dvd player and enough movies to never need to watch reality programming again!TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Three days
COST: Can of floor and porch paint at the Home Depot: $18; 1x4x8 wood for ceiling: $145
STRESS LEVEL: making someone with high expectations happy: LOW
