How one couple fashioned a cheap home makeover

Photo: Lucas AllenSalvaged Office Doors

Last winter, when snow netted Emily an unexpected day off, she set her sights on using a pair of yard-sale doors to fashion a sliding barn-style entrance to the home office. She balked upon discovering that "the track alone cost a couple of hundred dollars," so she substituted casters and plumbing pipes for the expensive kit.

Office doors, $78: Fifty-eight dollars' worth of hardware—including casters and plumbing pipes—transformed two salvaged $10 doors into a barn-style entry. (hardware; homedepot.com)




Photo: Lucas AllenHome Office

Artwork, $14.99 each: Simple Target frames turn blueprints of the Knottses' home into art. (target.com)

Table, $250: A free door and $250 in iron pipes comprise this desk. (pipes; homedepot.com)