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