You've got $30,000 to spend upgrading your home. Do you buy yourself a boring redecoration or do you try something a little more unusual?
If you're a "Star Trek" fan and your name is Line Rainville, you build yourself a woman-cave that Spock himself would dig more than the prehistoric ice cave on the planet Sarpeidon.
The Canadian social worker is a diehard fan of the original, 1960s-era "Star Trek" series, and recently overhauled her basement by transforming it into something that looks like it came right off a Desilu Productions sound stage.
She has re-created parts of the Enterprise bridge, transporter room, recreation room, observation deck, and even Spock's quarters in her home in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Quebec, about an hour north of Montreal, birthplace of The Shat.
"I enjoyed 'Star Trek' because it was about space, unknown worlds, and aliens who often ended up being more friendly than expected. I enjoyed learning about Vulcans and seeing the interactions between the characters."I was 9 when I first watched 'Star Trek' in French with my father," Rainville tells CNET. "I became addicted to this show and during the week, and I looked forward to each Tuesday at seven for another episode.
"I was fond of Kirk and almost jealous of Spock because he was always around the captain, a place I wanted to claim."
A few years ago, Rainville decided she wanted to build herself a home theater but also remind herself of her childhood. Recreating the Enterprise as a suite of basement rooms was the perfect solution, but implementing that vision to a realistic degree wasn't easy.
'Star Trek' fan Line Rainville says her Enterprise basement evokes her childhood.
(Credit: Line Rainville)
A designer she consulted had never seen the show, but gave her some ideas. Rainville began by building furniture for the stations on the Enterprise bridge that would face a central viewing screen. She scoured eBay for replica panel buttons while searching for just the right shade of red for the paint.
Getting her widescreen TV to fit the space reserved for the bridge viewing screen was tricky. Sacrifices also had to be made on the realism of some details.
"At some points, I took so much time to find out the precise item that it seemed like an obsession," she recalls, obviously referring to Captain Kirk's state of mind in the second-season episode "Obsession" (her favorite is "Operation: Annihilate!").
"I had put in so much energy seeking what I wanted that to accept failure is difficult, even to this day. Although people say they are impressed with the decor, I know well each inaccuracy, the exact places that I could improve."
Rainville spent over a year and some $30,000 on her suite of "Star Trek" rooms. She bought some things online, such as a tricorder and 3D chess set, but also re-created many of the props seen in the original series, such as food replicators for the recreation room, utility piping seen in the Enterprise corridors, a set of Vulcan bells (seen in "Amok Time"), and the colored floppy disk-style rectangles used by the Enterprise crew.
She visited dozens of online and brick-and-mortar shops searching for a fabric that looked like the one seen on the bed in Spock's quarters. She ultimately decided to make her own bedspread with the same pattern, as well as a blue throw blanket. When the bed was finished, she was suddenly overcome with emotion.
"Standing there, being 51 years old, I was kind of beamed back into that 9-year-old girl's mind who so often wished her beloved Captain Kirk could bring her aboard his vessel," she confesses.
"All at once, I was aboard the Enterprise. The illusion had became my reward. I told my mother and my sister that it was so strange. I'm not sure they have fully understood how I was feeling. But they were there, supportive and sharing this unique moment."
Rainville is planning a housewarming party for her Enterprise basement. On the menu: Vulcan Plomeek soup and lots of colored food blocks.
Check out more pics of Rainville's home in the gallery above. Would you ever redecorate your home into your favorite series?
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