Photographs by Michael Kirby

SOLUTION:
I’m a proselytizer for Benjamin Moore, the cheapest, fastest way to transform a room. So imagine my surprise when even the elegant #2129-40 couldn’t disguise my cruddy living-room walls. The paint was flat; the surface was not. I enlisted Brad Ford, interior designer and founder of the blog Design Therapy, to mask the trouble spots without damaging the apartment. Ford’s usual clients are high-end, but he gamely suggested a budget-friendly plan for me: a salon-style grouping of art, hung with fishing wire from a single rail.

As the daughter, sister and best friend of artists, I have a veritable gallery of framed art, but Ford thought my collection was too “grandmothery” to make a singular statement. Instead, we fitted those frames with primary-color construction paper, and bought others (Brownstone Treasures, 220 Court St between Baltic and Warren Sts, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; 718-237-1838, brownstonetreasures.com) to fill with vivid oak tag. “The variety of frames gives it charm, and the paper palette makes it consistent,” he said. Using fishing wire, we connected each artwork to a clip, then hung the clips over a rail , meaning I’ll be able to change the layout and the art itself. “Honestly, if we had more frames, we would have hung them,” Ford said. Sure, come back anytime—I’ve got three more walls.

—Sophie Donelson

PROBLEM: Gross, peeling floors»