Pressing Problem No. 4: A Bedroom That Feels More Like a Bomb Shelter
If I didn't have an alarm clock, I would never know when it was time to wake up. This nine-by-seven-foot chamber, where I sleep (and oversleep), receives no light, and the Silly Putty-colored walls didn't do anything to remedy this. I was forced to cram my bed in the corner, college-dorm-style, because I had to accommodate my two dressers, and even then I had bins of shoes and sweaters stacked everywhere.

Impressive Solutions: Finding the Center
Though there were just 13 inches left on either side of the bed, Page, Kendra, and Rebecca insisted I center it against the back wall. Then they added a headboard -- really just fabric hung from a wooden dowel. "There was no room for a headboard with any depth, so this serves as a stand-in, says Rebecca. And we used the same fabric here that we did for the sofa pillows, so the apartment felt unified. The law of symmetry prevailed again, this time in the form of bedside tables. Impressively, it took only two attempts to find versions that were narrow enough (the first set missed by a maddening half-inch). Built-in drawers and the storage boxes below now hold underwear, bras, socks -- you get it.

Moondance" fabric on headboard by LULU DK, $90 per yard, Boston Design Center, 617-449-5506. Hemnes" bedside tables, $50 each, ikea.com for stores. Canvas storage photo boxes, $26 each, westelm.com. Linen bedding by Area, $60 to $225 for full- or queen-size, areahome.com. Hector Dome" table lamps, $185 each, Marston & Langinger, 212-965-0434. Vintage framed doilies, from $165 each, Camp, 212-463-0419.

Impressive Solutions: Some Hidden Storage
Now all that was left was the off-season stuff, my jewelry, and, gulp, all my shoes. Sweaters were placed under the bed in a 27-by-63-inch drawer that I can roll out for easy access. Rebecca screwed simple shoulder hooks into the inside of my closet to hold necklaces. And as for my shoes, they stand proudly -- and neatly -- in two sturdy wooden organizers. Aspelund bed storage box, $50, ikea.com for stores. One-inch shoulder hooks, $1 for three, sealenterprises.com. 12-pair shoe organizer, $35, containerstore.com.