Cole stuck to her limited budget by doing practically everything she could herself--including laying the stone floor. "Most of this stuff doesn't require a lot of skill," she says, "just a willingness to get down on your hands and knees and do some manual labor." (The exception: She recommends having an irrigation system professionally installed.)

Game Plan: Before putting down hardscaping, think through how you're going to use the space. Cole learned her lesson the hard way: It wasn't until she dragged her furniture out that she realized she'd laid a path that was much too narrow--and had to extend the edges.

Materials: Cole relocated the yard's hard-edged red bricks inside. (Now "aged" by a coat of mortar, they cover the floor of her flower-arranging room.) For the new path, she bought 1- to 4-inch think flat mountain laurel stones quarried in Pennsylvania. (Cole suggests talking with your local nursery or to a stone supplier; most are happy to track down stone wholesalers.)

Process: Pull up the bricks with a crowbar; for stubborn cement mortar, use a pickaxe. Dig out an area 5 to 8 inches lower than your desired surface, and use a rake to even out the bottom. Add a solid, 1-to 3-inch layer of pebbles (to support the heavy stones and provide drainage) and a 1-inch layer of a 50-50 mixture of pebbles and soil. Place the biggest slabs of stone first, staggering them throughout the area you're paving. Add the remaining stones, as if you were putting together a puzzle.

Position small stones, which kick up easily, at the less-trafficked edges. Once your stones are in place, level any low-lying slabs by backfilling with the pebble and soil mixture. Cole packed soil between the spaces and let nature take its course; moss and creeping thyme can be planted in the cracks.

UP ON THE ROOF - The Culture of New York City's Rooftops at the New York Historical Society

BACK STORY - Rebecca's own garden transformed.

GARDEN DESIGNER MEETS INTERIOR DESIGNER - This relationship is important to your home's final result. Find out how to make it work.