STAIR MASTER

Design isn't always about placing a pretty sofa in an ugly room to make a splash. Sometimes you have to think outside of the pretty wrapped box to make a space more interesting. What would fashion designer Rachel Zoe, for example, think about dressing a Sumo Wrestler for the Academy Awards? Sure, she can make Lindsey Lohan shine on a red carpet (getting her to stand up would be a great start), but how would she apply those same principles of form and texture to a person the size of ten Lindsey's? My point? I recently worked with clients who purchased a weekend home that is twice the size of my full time residence. The home, a 300 year-old farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley of New York state, was nearly perfect. A two story guest house (with high ceilings, large windows and plenty of space), begged to be reinvented. Not reinvented like Britney Spears after a head-shaving reinvention, but reinvention as in re-inventing the way one maneuvers around the space. I'm sure that sounds like a pile of something steamy, but it's true. Pretty sofas, beautiful wallpaper and paint colors, cool fabrics and interesting lighting only go so far. Look around your house. Is your entry wide enough to accommodate two chairs and a table? Can an extra closet in a family room be changed into a bar by removing the door and installing shelves? Can a stand alone cabinet in a kitchen be removed to create an eat-in kitchen? I'm getting carried away like Richard Simmons in a men's locker room, I know, but you get the point. Back to the guest house. Staircases tend to be huge wastes of space, for many reasons. Typically the space underneath is covered and useless. Take, for example, the area under the guesthouse staircase, which was covered on the outside with drywall. Upon closer examination I noticed it was simply hiding the open space beneath. So, I ripped away the drywall, refinished the rough edges and created a cool under-stair work area where the master of this home can stare into a computer monitor while dreaming of cool places far, far away from underneath a staircase.
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Two days
COST: Can of paint and patch to repair rough edges: under $35
STRESS LEVEL: Finding a treasure under the stairs: LOW