Adjustable shelves line one side of the stairs up to the top bunk.

A Family Home When Megan and Casey Collins moved into their four-bedroom Minneapolis home four decades back, it was dark with dated everything. "The challenge was to turn it into a bright, fresh place without spending lots of money to a major reno," says Megan, a freelance writer, that shares the house with her husband and their kids (from left) Liva tv mounting toronto . 3, Isla, 5, along with Mia, seven.

Personal Touches After painting nearly every square inch and searching for budget-friendly furnishings, she discovered ways to weave in creative tricks at every turn. There is the deed to the home, blown up and framed in the entryway; the high chairs converted into seats for the children at the kitchen table; an inexpensive upholstery move in the living room.

Living Room Megan purchased the ivory leather couch from the nearby Room & Board outlet with some trepidation. "With young kids, I believed, Uh-oh, this could be a disaster," she says. "I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on it, which is likely not what leather experts would imply, but it works"

A Pair of Tables Two identical wood cubes painted steely gray stand in to get a coffee table. When friends come over, Megan pushes them throws a little tablecloth on top, and uses them as a miniature buffet for beverages and snacks.

Thrifty Fabric Trick Angled Initial Having a bit of leftover cloth (Chiang Mai Dragon by Schumacher), Megan covered just the seat backs of a $50 pair of Craigslist seats. The rest is upholstered in cheap linen. This gold-painted wood C is from an antiques store. Find similar ones in ballarddesigns.com.

Bowls onto a Mantel When Megan seen this set at a junk store and realized they matched each of the colours in the room, she put the dishes on screen.

Art Hung Low Paintings don't need to be in an adult's eye level. Megan frequently hangs art where her kids can appreciate it. It's a lot easier to appreciate if you're seated, also.

Entryway The old floor was blue laminate. "We couldn't stand it, but we did not budget for a new flooring," says Megan. Rather she had the first one painted and sanded in a checkerboard pattern with a protective epoxy finish. "It cost about $800, but it would have been thousands to replace it"

Enormous Memento Animal Hooks The previous homeowners gave Megan the original deed for the 1907 home. She had it discounted to approximately 20 inches by 40 inches at an art supply store, then framed it. Rather than a coatrack, the household hangs coats and bags on a set of brass hooks from Anthropologie.

Scripty Rug The wrought iron rug from ballarddesigns.com features a French poem about an ant and a cricket.

Clear Console An acrylic table out of CB2 practically disappears in the corner. The woven bins, from West Elm (green) and shopmille.com (blue), hold bicycle helmets and dog leashes.

Dining Room To match the entire family for vacations, Megan found a wood table on Craigslist that can stretch to seat 12. She paired it with contemporary white Anziano seats by Donghia (for a similar appearance, try allmodern.com) and two leather bunch seats that were on sale at a local design center.

Straightforward Centerpiece Soft Seats Megan's trick to get a fairly, durable arrangement: Queen Anne's lace (normally a bouquet filler) in a transparent glass vase. A scrap of fabric is layered over the dining table runner. White cushions from IKEA (about $7 each) create the timber side seats comfier.

A Tree Inside Curvy Pendant The big bay window gives the fiddle leaf fig tree that the bright, indirect sunlight it requires. Megan's sister adored this sculpture-like glass fixture from Artemide so much that she hung the exact same one in her master bath.

Kitchen Though the kitchen's tight, Megan wanted the family to use it to get meals. "I could not find a desk that fit the awkward area, therefore my neighbor, who assembles furniture, made one out of reclaimed barn wood," she says. The countertops are speckled brown/beige granite, along with the cabinets, painted White Dove from Benjamin Moore, have knobs from Restoration Hardware.

Right-Height Chairs Instead of giving the children adult chairs that are too low, Megan bought high chairs at an antiques shop. One had an attached tray, which she eliminated so that they could be pulled close to the table.

DIY Drapes The curtains are made from a lightweight 38-inch-by-78-inch Turkish towel (scentsandfeel.com) cut in half, using 1-inch pockets sewn at the top to match a pressure rod.

Playroom The sunny room right off the kitchen is where the children play and watch TV. The TV stand and nearly 8-foot-long sofa are both in the Room & Board outlet, and the red cast aluminum dining table is from West Elm. Megan left the bank of windows, which overlooks the backyard, bare to allow in as much light as possible.

Magnet Art Wall The wall behind the sofa is coated with magnetic paint (Magic Wall magnetic paint by Kling Magnetics) using a layer of latex paint over it. The kids' pictures stay put with miniature Mighty Magnets in The Container Store.

Replaceable Carpet The room's Flor carpet squares (Mild Mannered from peacock, flor.com) could be picked up and phased out if they become stained.

Photo Grid Polaroids of the children taken in their birthdays and half of birthdays act as a crafty growth chart.

Girls' Bedroom "My sister and I shared a room growing up, and that I wanted Mia and Isla to have the identical bonding experience," says Megan. To maintain floor area open in the little room, she had a carpenter build a loft bed with a real staircase instead of a ladder for Mia. Isla's toddler mattress fits snugly underneath. The colorful hooked rug is out of Dash & Albert, and Megan found the look-alike doll bunk mattress on Amazon.

Party Decorations Crepe paper flowers left over from a friend's birthday are hung from fishing cord and ceiling hooks.

Hidden Bookcase Adjustable shelves line one side of the stairs up to the top bunk. "Proof that it can be fun to work with a really small area!" says Megan.

Guest Bedroom When Casey's family and other out-of-towners visit, they stay in this guest room painted green. The queen-size black leather bed with white sheets gets a color with throw cushions from Etsy (Megan's favourite source for designer fabric pillows on the cheap) and a coral wool toss by Zuzunaga (kcolette.com for buying info).

Cool Hardware The vest, which Megan spotted sitting outside a thrift shop in New York City, was once drab green. White paint plus new glass knobs from Anthropologie totally turned it all around.

Fuzzy Bedside Rug "I love the feel of sheepskin in your feet once you first get out of bed," says Megan.

Photo Shelf A framed snapshot of Megan and Casey sits to a shell-shaped shelf just below a photograph of Casey's grandparents as a young bunch.