We have built a small cottage from scratch and are at the stage where the plywood subfloors are in place and our budget is totally depleted.

Since then, Ms. Alexander-Perez has painted sugar cookie pattern stars in a soft, grayish blue atop an aqua beachy blue floor in the second bedroom, which will be a children’s bunk room.

Tucked in a narrow side street in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, Anchor & Hope dishes up seafood in a converted warehouse. High ceilings, brick walls and painted plywood floors give ...