No basements here in California either. (those pesky earthquakes, ya-know.) Diane is into Quilting and we were going to share a hobby room until the brother moved in. Alas alack. I'm figuring that if I do a good enough job on the table layout I can win her over. BTW, $300 may not be a bad price for that coffee table layout as I am into this one about $200 and I havent layed one piece of track yet, much less started on the table itself. I will consider myself lucky to get out of it for less than $1000.