Good Works Makeover: Academic Excellence

Always resourceful, Elaine salvaged a pew from the building's former chapel for the dining area. Matthew Haly of The Furniture Joint covered cushions in Beacon Hill's striped cotton, turning the pew into a banquette. Elaine paired it with Room & Board's zebrawood table and leather chairs, all set beneath globe lamps from Lowe's. She also used a Textile Arts kit to turn Marimekko fabric into the wall hanging behind the Home Decorators Collection console and Lamps Plus table lamps.

The Dell plasma TV mounted on the wall to the right was an instant hit, thanks in large part to free movies from Netflix. So were the new table lamps and lighting globes—all, thank goodness, incandescent.