FROM THE “DUH-WHY-DIDN’T-I-THINK-OF-THIS” DEPARTMENT comes this clever idea courtesy of designers Martha Angus and Phillip King and Metropolitan Home’s Designer Showhouse in San Francisco. To give a boy’s bedroom a clever spin, Angus and King hung striped wallpaper sideways instead of vertically. You could do the same with any striped paper, making a common (and oftentimes inexpensive) pattern feel fresh and bold. I also like the way they incorporated budget  finds, like West Elm’s ubiquitous Parsons Desk, which frequently shows up in high-end interiors, but is on sale right now for a paltry $299.

Photos: Matthew Millman/Metropolitan Home

VISITORS TO OCTOBER’S SEATTLE HOME SHOW 2 got a sneak peek at the new Fortino prefab house from  Ideabox. The two bedroom, two bath rambler measures 1,250 square feet–perfect for a constricted urban lot or a second home in the country. While the rooms’ narrow proportions won’t fool you into thinking you’re in a McMansion, the stylish exterior (covered in fiber-cement siding and an optional corrugated metal) and welcoming indoor-outdoor flow are a far cry from your average manufactured home–plus the Fortino carries Energy Star certification, making it a good green option. You’ll also save some green on the price: just $148,750, with a $6,500 discount available for orders placed before December 14.

 Images: Ideabox 

I HAVE UNRESOLVED ISSUES regarding waste receptacles. I see attractive ones all the time, but I can’t bring myself to spend a lot of money on something I toss used Kleenex in. A recent roundup in House Beautiful, however, proved that stylish wastebaskets can also be affordable. There were attractive offerings under $20 from IKEA (below) and The Container Store , but one of the cleverest entries came from Mollaspace.com, whose $44 Tubelor Trash Can (above) features a colorful sleeve that slides over the inner receptable, allowing you to conceal the plastic-bag lining inside. Now I just need to train my dog not to pick out the trash and spread it around my home ….

Photo: Mollaspace.com/IKEA.com

I LOVE HOME MAKEOVERS (as long as they don’t involve sick children and Ty Pennington). But few are as thrifty as the one that Brad Ford pulled off at his parents’ guesthouse in Russellville, Arkansas. With just one week and less than $3,500, the New York designer transformed the 1,000-square-foot bungalow from bland to beautiful. In an article in Country Living, Ford relates how he draped a throw across the back of a boring sofa instead of reupholstering it, papered the bathroom with color plates torn from a $22 book, and adorned the walls with framed leaves he picked up in the yard. He swapped out some of the pedestrian furnishings for funky finds he found at rummage sales and antiques shops, and augmented them with new pieces from Pier 1 and Target. In the end, Ford proves that it’s personality–not provenance–that counts. 

Photo: Lucas Allen/Country Living

I RECENTLY READ AN ARTICLE in House Beautiful about the pros and cons of painting a single wall in an accent color. I’ve never been a huge fan of this practice, but in certain cases it can be very useful–like when you have a room with no focal point or architectural interest. “Painting an accent wall behind a seating group can define a living area–sort of like a rug, but on the wall,” explains designer Steven Sclaroff. A contrasting color can also make a wall appear to advance or recede, so it’s great if you don’t like a room’s proportions but can’t afford to remodel. And let’s face it–most of us are too cowardly to paint an entire room a bright color. But just a single wall of it, as in the example by Amanda Kyser, above, can cure your color cravings without a major commitment.

Photo: Ngoc Minh Ngo/House Beautiful

TWENTY SOLAR HOUSES designed by college students around the globe are on display at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s fourth Solar Decathlon. These compact dwellings–none more than 800 square feet–rely on photovoltaic cells, passive solar energy, reclaimed materials and innovative new products to harness the sun’s energy and preserve our natural resources. (Some of the space-saving ideas are clever, too, like Team Ontario’s bed that descends from the ceiling.) As astonishing as the technology is the beauty of these designs, many of which could have commercial potential as second homes or accessory dwelling units. (A few I wouldn’t mind living in full-time.) The homes are open to the public through Sunday, October 18, or you can check out a video tour of each at solardecathlon.org.

Photo courtesy Solar Decathlon

MY 1960s RANCH HOUSE WAS COMPLETELY DEVOID OF CHARACTER when I bought it 15 years ago, so I decided to add some wainscoting to lend the rooms architectural interest and scale. Since real wood paneling would have been prohibitively expensive, I faked it using drywall and MDF (medium-density fiberboard). I applied a smooth finish to the drywall on the lower half of the wall, then had my carpenter top the MDF baseboard with vertical battens installed at regular intervals using nails and adhesive. After the top rail went on, I painted it all with white semigloss paint, so the drywall actually looks like painted wood paneling. It really transformed the interior, and people are always surprised to learn that the background is nothing more than Sheetrock.

OKAY, FESS UP NOW. You’re still hanging onto those framed posters you’ve had since college. It’s time to graduate already. Can’t afford original art? Consider using mirrors instead. They’re a lot more affordable, and they add shimmer and sparkle to every room. Plus, they reflect light and views, making any space look bigger. You can find nice ones at Pier 1, Target and Ross, or pick up some funky old ones at garage sales and antiques stores. (I paid $2 for the vintage looking glass hanging in the foyer of my vacation home.) Display them over a fireplace, hang a grouping of mismatched ones on a vacant wall, or buy a full-length pier glass and lean it against the wall, a la New York decorator Vicente Wolf, for an artful, uptown look.

Photo courtesy Century Furniture.

WHEN IT COMES TO DECORATING, I’ve always been a move-the-furniture-around-the-room kind of guy. But all of that changed when I discovered the wealth of free room planners available online. With these fun, easy-to-use programs, you can arrange furniture icons any way you want atop a scale drawing of your room, then print out the results. I’ve tested a number of these, and my favorites include the Jordan’s Furniture Room Planner (above), Bassett’s Room Designer,  and Better Homes and Gardens’ Arrange-a-Room. All three are super-easy to use, and because there’s no actual lifting involved, it frees your mind to try things you might not otherwise consider. Feeling ambitious? Bo Concept’s Furnish takes longer to master and doesn’t work on Macs, but rewards you with 3-D views of your interior, just like the costly professional programs.

THURSDAYS ARE AN EXCITING TIME AROUND MY HOUSE, and not just because it’s trash day. That’s the day the New York Times Home section arrives. And with the downturn in the economy, The Gray Lady has taken pains to choose home stories that reflect the economic climate. Case in point was the October 8 feature on the Catskill home of artist and antiques dealer Sean Scherer, whose acquisitive eye turned a down-at-the-heels farmhouse into a quixotic showcase for oddities and ephemera. While few of us would think to make something beautiful out of an anatomical model, Scherer proves that it’s not the cost, but the character in something, that counts. I like the way he anchored the fireplace wall in his parlor by painting it a dark olive, and painted the floor to make it look like tile. He used old newspaper and even blank ledger pages to cover his walls, and built his bed into a nook that looks so beguiling (and simple to replicate) I fancied myself snuggling in its embrace.

Photos: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times