Do you find this simpler?

SELECTid,

MAX( CASE WHEN characteristic = 'color' THEN value ELSE NULL END ) AS color,

MAX( CASE WHEN characteristic = 'age' THEN value ELSE NULL END ) AS age,

MAX( CASE WHEN characteristic = 'gender' THEN value ELSE NULL END ) AS gender,

MAX( CASE WHEN characteristic = 'cost' THEN value ELSE NULL END ) AS cost,

MAX( CASE WHEN characteristic = 'description' THEN value ELSE NULL END ) AS description

FROM#temp AS t

GROUP BY id

If Yes, these are called CROSS TABS and you can find more information on this technique below

Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns[/url]

Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs [/url]