Rules of Renovation

Save and Splurge

1. Combine mass-market items with splurges.

"We mixed Ikea and the Home Depot with more expensive purchases," Joe says. "More modest materials sometimes work better, like the five-ply bamboo floors from Harmony Grove Company. They're more durable and much cheaper than oak floors, which I would have had to treat myself."

The slate in their bathrooms and mudroom came from Santa Monica's Bourget Flagstone Company. "It cost a buck a square, and it's easy for an amateur to lay because it's intrinsically uneven."

Pictured here: Christmas lights in bamboo covers from Target