Friday, October 1, 2010

Designers Challenge 101: Top tips for decorating like a pro on a budget

So if you haven't heard, (with my big mouth it almost seems impossible,)  we are having a challenge today! 7 designers, one room, 7 different ways. The participants included in today's challenge are:


Traci Zeller of Traci Zeller Designs
Kelly Berg of Arte Styling
Kelly James of DesignTies
Dayka Robinson of  Meditations on Life and style 
Kathy Passarette of Creative home expressions
Amanda Burdge of Abhomeinteriors.com
Susan Snow of  Movingdesignz

Please make sure you visit everyone's blog today to see what all these talented individuals did with their rooms!


The goal was simple:

Take an average family room and design, space plan and furnish it, with only six thousand dollars. Seem like a lot? According to cost helper the average design of a family room in 2010 costs $15,000. So my goal was to slice that in half, and show you how the pros do it.
Each one of us had three weeks to work on it. Find as many great products as we could, and design a fabulous room on a shoestring budget. The purpose of these posts are not only to show you that design doesn't have to be super expensive, but also that a budget does work,
 if done right! 

The room:



My Inspiration 

I wanted the room to have a  young and youthful feel. A throwback to the late sixties, with a modern AB HOME twist. Strong pops of color with tons of functionality, I wanted the room to feel alive, robust and hip. Perfect for entertaining with family or having cocktails with friends.

So how did we do it?
1) Select the furniture: We set aside roughly half the budget to the furniture. All of the pieces below are vintage except the sofa. Vintage simply means they are old, but not old enough to have a big price tag. Anything less than 70 years old is vintage and anything over 70 is considered an antique, cha-ching!


Pic 1: Rosewood Storage cabinet, 1960's danish. We used this as our bar cart to store our booze, mixers, and utensils. $495, Century Modern Dallas, TX.
Pic 2: Lane 1960's side tables x 2 for each side of the sofa. Etsy, $220
Pic 3: Clear glass cocktail table in front of sofa and chairs. Calligaris All modern $632.25
Pic 4: 1950's Barrel lounge chairs $675 s/2. Century Modern
Pic 5:  Karlstad sofa $379. IKEA

2) Select accent pieces with personality, and that speak to you: We estimated about $1500 for accessories. I wanted items that were fun, colorful and a throwback to my childhood.

Pic 1: Green open edge depression glass bowl for cocktail table. $18.00, Etsy.
Pic 2: Vintage smith corona Typewriter for book shelves. $60, Etsy.
Pic 3: Dansk Danish modern Plastic cans for bookshelf. $30, Lushpad
Pic 4: Quill mirror for above fireplace. $699.90, Horchow
Pic 5: Gold floor lamp, Arteriors, AB HOME $499

Some additional items we used:

 Hollywood regency Ceramic Ram heads $48, Lushpad.


 Vintage Ameoba ottoman $145, Lushpad.

 Vintage Electrohome table radio $195, Lushpad

 Vintage 1970's copco yellow trays x 2 $14.00, Etsy.

 Porcelain Julie lamp AB HOME, $439.00.

1956 Stromberg Carlson rotary phone $50, Vintage Swank



 Koldby cowhide rug $199, Ikea.

 Renate Ljuv pair of draperies $19.99, Ikea
                                                           top 3/4 of drape

 Ritva Pair of draperies $19.99, Ikea
                                                           bottom 1/4 of drapery
Du verre Pomegrante hardware 


3) Once you have pieces in mind check your budget:
Add up the items you have found and determine if you have everything you need to complete the room. If you have found an item on sale, as we did, that savings can be added elsewhere. Don't forget to set aside money for any additional costs such as shipping, and tax. Keep a binder with all costs, photos and dimensions for future reference if an item becomes unavailable, or you need to buy something for the room in the future.

4) The Extras: We came in at roughly $5400 with the items above, so we decided to buy a gallon of Benjamin Moore's Fiesta yellow paint and paint the cabinets. 
And we were lucky enough to find white glass tile on sale at Home depot, so we decided to install glass tile on the fireplace wall as an added extra. We were delighted with the results!

The results:



I am giddy with excitement about this challenge and cannot wait to hear everyone's responses. Be sure to take a moment to see everyone's results and let us know what you think! Don't forget all of us are available for online design services. If you have a design challenge, strict budget and need some help, be sure to contact one of your favorite designers to get you through like a pro!

Traci Zeller of Traci Zeller Designs
Kelly Berg of Arte Styling
Kelly James of DesignTies
Dayka Robinson of  Meditations on Life and style 
Kathy Passarette of Creative home expressions
Amanda Burdge of Abhomeinteriors.com
Susan Snow of  Movingdesignz


Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!



22 comments:

  1. As you are the hostess, Amanda, I wanted to stop by your post first and say thank you for hosting! I also wanted to see your design and I love your ideas! Love the vintage typewriter and phone as accessories. I was going to look at Ikea for a sofa, too! I like your tip about if something is on sale; I do say that to my clients, as well.

    I had meant to put in my post that just putting this type of thing together takes time, especially if you think you're done, but it's over budget and you have to go back and decide what is going to be changed.

    This was a great exercise and challenge ~ thank you!

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  2. Hi Amanda,

    Good morning and what a great room you did. I love your design, it has a happy vibe to it. I actually think I remember some of those items from childhood, like the black rotary phone :)

    Thanks for including me in on this challenge. It actually gave me something to focus on other than our move.
    Have a wonderful day!
    cheers
    Susan

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  3. Amanda, I love your design ! Can't wait to check out all the others. ( I have to make 3 huge cushions first, though)

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  4. I love your rendering!! The turquoise chairs are great -- so bright and fun :-) And the vintage side tables from Etsy are a really unique shape -- love 'em!!

    I'm having so much fun checking out everyone's designs. It's interesting to see the similarities and the differences in all the living rooms. I hung a sunburst mirror above my fireplace too :-)

    Thanks for inviting me to participate in your designer's challenge -- other than having major post uploading issues (UGH!!), it was a lot of fun :-)

    Kelly

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  5. You are a design goddess! I can barely take my eyes off these selections - and can't wait for the others either! :)

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  6. Fun, fun, fun! I love your little 60's/70's throwbacks. I can definitely drink a martini in this room! And your drawing is great. :) Everyone who's never rendered...take note. AB logged some hours on that, right AB? Nicely done. I get tired of seeing 3D computer drawings...this is refreshing. :)

    Thanks for hosting the Designer Challenge! I'm off to look at everyone else's work now...

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  7. Oh no - Kathy at Creative Home Expressions, I'm getting a malware warning when I try to go to your site. Something connected to thematerialgirls.com? So sorry to not see your design!

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  8. Oh, I love this! The room looks great, Amanda! The glass tile and cowhide rug is great!
    Have a nice day, and have fun at your meeting.
    Teresa

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  9. This is so great and so much fun...next time though let me send you our awkward room with misplaced fireplace and goofy light fixtures : )

    xoxo

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  10. Back again after looking ( I have to return again and study each carefully)...I loved all but the one where I could fit in happily with kitties was Kelly Berg's...love both space and color and order! Wow, Amanda, this is the best idea ever that you had! xo

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  11. I love yours! Now off to check out the others!

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  12. LOVE it, Amanda ... and your rendering is fantastic!! I am especially in love with your vintage pieces!! Thanks so much for putting this together. I have so enjoyed seeing everyone's version of the same room. It's fascinating!!

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  13. I love this room, it is retro-modern. I came across your post this afternoon while browsing interior design blogs and the topic of window treatment selection was very interesting to me. It is true that you must dress your windows appropriately to bring out their true beauty. Thank you for writing and as a special thanks to you and your readers, I would like to offer a 20% off coupon using this code upon checkout: BLG20.

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  14. Wow Amanda, I love it and your rendering skills are amazing! I like that you created a design inspired by your childhood.

    BTW, that lamp is breaking my heart! Lovely!

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  15. amanda--i had so much fun participating in this challenge! i've been out all day, but it's ben great to come home and see the vision that each designer saw in the space. your rendering is amazing, and i love that you added so many vintage elements to your space--you know i'm a sucker for vintage! all of your accessories have such personality, and budgeting for eye-catching tile over the fireplace was very smart--i'm loving the look!

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  16. I love your choices and their vintage appeal. They definitely gives the space personality. I love the unexpected turquoise chairs. There is a pleasant surprise for the eyes as they wander every niche in the space. Beautiful! xx

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  17. Your room is fabulous! Love the yellow and turquoise!
    xoxo
    Maria

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  18. HOly MOly Amanda I love this! From your inspiration right through to execution here...amazing job! Off to check out all the other takes on this!

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  19. Love your design! Such happy colors will make a great vibe for the room. Also, thank you for the definitions of antique and vintage. It seems, from reading ads, that vintage and antique are used interchangeably.

    Monique

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  20. Love it!!! The mix of vintage pieces and great colors. fantastic, and easy on the wallet!

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  21. Desire for any house architects or interiors designers to perform their job. At times too much of things would mess up the looks and comfort level.

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