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.

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

WHO DOESN’T DREAM OF A CABIN IN THE WOODS? Architect Richard Kenney made that dream a reality–for about the cost of a new car. It started in 2002, when Kenney paid $11,500 for a dilapidated mountain cabin (above) an hour outside of Seattle. Working on weekends, he cleared out debris, repaired leaks and wiring, replaced some of the existing windows with salvaged units, and installed 1920s kitchen cabinets rescued from a Seattle hotel renovation. Kenney was equally thrifty when it came to decorating, refinishing $5 garage-sale chairs and sprucing up a 1960s boomerang coffee table with a coat of paint. Altogether, he spent about $15,000 fixing up the cabin (below), proving that when money is in short supply, charm (and a good eye) can go a long way.

Photos courtesy Richard Kenney