• The edge of the steel lip under the table may be sharp. Use silver caulking along the seam to smooth it out and avoid having to buy a new pair of hose every time you sit down to write a letter.
• If a metal chair seems stylish but hard on the old fanny, buy a comfortable chair at a yard sale and spray paint it silver or black. Add some galvanized steel desk accessories.
• If you're handy with electricity and wiring, you could turn an old-fashioned oil can into a desk lamp.

Bright Idea: Make a coffee table with a two-foot high tub. If the tub is wide enough, the tabletop might not need to be screwed to the base, and you could use the tub for storage.

Bright Idea: Use smaller trashcans as bedside tables. Again, you might not need to screw the tabletops on, and you could store memorabilia or your secret diary or trashy romance novels inside the cans.

tell it to the 'tat Got a great idea? Know something we don't know? Or maybe there's something you want to know? Write it up. Let us know. Submit an article, an idea or a plain old question. Let the cohabitation begin.