Bright, Personality-Filled Home Built on a Budget in Austin

Shane Michael Pavonetti, an Austin-based architect and contractor, and his wife, Holly, built their eco-friendly home on a lean budget of $175,000. They opted for an industrial, untreated finish with an exposed steel frame, concrete floors, and bare decking upstairs. Coupled with finds from Ikea, Home Depot, and Cost Plus World Market for the interiors, they were able to keep costs down for their new, 1,600-square-foot home in East Austin. "The design vision was one of a vernacular influenced by modernism that highlights the process and details of construction," Pavonetti says.