Making an Entrance

I get obsessed with a vignette or 'look' I see online; see above. Man, do I want this entry in my next home! I already have the rug so this could be an easy job.

A mirror looks great sitting against the wall on the chest (note - this beauty was not much more than the silver version at Ikea!).  Adding an ornate chair would emulate the look of the beautiful vintage door in the inspiration pic. Books, baskets and vases all round of the old-world lived-in look. 

BTW - I forgot to mention that Saturday was my lovely mother's birthday. I wanted to put up a nice tribute honoring her mominess but we had an action-packed weekend and time got away. To you Mom - for the millions of breaths you've breathed into my life, from the very start until now! I wish you the happiest of years ahead.  I wouldn't want to do any of this without you.

look for less

I hope all of you Americans had a lovely 4th of July holiday!  We sure did.

We haven't done one of these in a while so we're starting back with a funky modern space recently featured on Style at Home.

Let's start with the less costly of the two rooms that they are showing.  Less costs $4279.  Not terrible for new room decor, wouldn't you say?

Now do you wanna see the high?

This high look costs about $8000 more than the low version coming in at $12,043.

I bet I can do you one better.  I bet I can half the price of the low room even still. You know why I can do that?  Because nothing in this room is a classic, timeless piece.  That's good news for us, because almost everything can be found at a retail store following current trends.  Which means, we can shop it out for pretty inexpensive pricing!  The more rare or hard to find items always sport a hefty pricier tag.  

Shag Rug $167.25 

Malachite pillow $42

Blue and Persimmon Velvet Pillows $39.99 ea

Acrylic Painting on Canvas $400

Pouf $89.99

C-Table $115

Geometric B/W pillow $10

Rainbow Pillow $5

Teal Ombre Velvet Pillow $16.99

Floor Pillow $6

Sectional $999

Wall Sconces $49.99

Our grand total for this look for less is $2040!  

Reason # 405 to hire a designer  -  You can always get the most out of your budget and achieve the look for less!

Michelle Adam's Look for Less

We all have seen the images floating around - pin after pin of the gorgeousness that is Michelle Adam's (Editor for Lonny Magazine) bedroom.  I wanted to try to recreate some of the magic for the price of one her glorious Schumacher bed curtain panels.

So a little gets lost in translation, but for the most part, it carries over.  This wallpaper gives a similar look and feel at an iota of the price.

Wallpaper

Bench

Dresser

Clear Knobs

Mirror

Vases

Tortoise Lamps

Leopard Pillow

Moroccan Pillow

Shag Rug

Curtains

Curtain Hardware

Horse Print

This room weighs in around $1400 (depending on how much wallpaper is needed)!

Initially, I wanted to cover some simple white Parson's X-benches (Ballard has the best price in town at $189) in Jamil velvet from Calico Corners (a steal at $40/yard) but any time you buy fabric by the yard and recover something, you can get stuck down a steep rabbit hole with workroom/upholstery costs and extra yardage.  A great option for the DIY upholsterer, though!  Another easy DIY would be to paint abstract polka dot art for above the bed for the minimal cost of a canvas.

If you have a room that you'd like to send in, we always love a good challenge.  Let me know what room you'd like to recreate on the cheap and we'll try our best to feature it on our next Look for Less segment!

-Bethany

An interior decorator can help you create the exact look and feel you want in your home.  Contact us today about our services! 

Look for Less - Black and White!

Seems like the majority of you are down with the achromatic look, too!  So I thought I'd put together a fun Look for Less in honor of our two friends, black and white.  I find you can redo a room to get the same look and feel for $1000 or less, despite the endless budgets in the inspiration pics.

When I saw this photo in Style at Home, I knew I had to replicate it!  I had just seen this dining table at Pier 1 Imports on a recent outing so I knew this would be a cinch! Believe it or not, the centerpiece bowl (from Crate & Barrel) was the second most expensive item in this room.  If you found another suitable bowl, you'd bring the total under $1000.

Dining Table $119

Parsons Chair $89 each (4 chairs)

Bowl $149

Capiz Shell Fixture $49

Mirrored Cabinet $299

Green vase $17.99

Mirror $69.99

Grand Total $1064!!

How easy was that?  I may have to rethink my current dining room situation... Oh god.

-Bethany

Look for Less

I'm a little obsessed with getting the look for less, if you hadn't noticed.  I believe there's always a way to achieve a look or feel in room design without spending an inordinate amount of money.  

So here's the inspiration for this weeks installment of the Look for Less:

I find it odd that I'm drawn to this at all, because I don't care for Rococo style-furniture or metal art, but I love how all of these pieces mesh together.  I initially pinned this image when I was looking for inspiration with my former RL polyhedron pendant.

Here's how to get this vibe for far, far less!

console | rug | chair | art | lighting | mirror | lamp | pillow | metal wall art

A few notes:

• I would look for a great Turkish or Persian rug on eBay and overdye it myself.  We've had tremendous luck with Dharma Acid Dyes. 
• The slipcovers for the Parsons chairs were from World Market, but you can get simple Parsons chairs at Ikea for around $50 a piece - a steal!  
• I'd also go in favor of framing my own dried palm fronds, which you could do easily with Ikea frames.  
• Even though the console isn't the right color (right now), it was such a deal and has the lines I was looking for and is easily fixed with primer and paint. 

For as much as one of the geometric Suzanne Kasler pendants in the inspiration picture, we've put together a similar look and feel!! 

What room do you want to recreate?

-Bethany

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. Nancy and Bethany

Another Look for Less

I covet this picture.  Neutrals with texture.  'Nuff said.  Easily my favorite genre of all time.

I wanna show how accessible this look is.  First, let's swoon.

BTW - remember when chair-and-a-halfs were all the rage?  I was hard pressed to find one today!

Paint a light grey color under your imaginary chair rail and voila!

Planter | Round Side Table | Slipper Chair | Chair-and-a-half | Moroccan stool | Easel | Art | Sconce | Stool | Plant | Mirror | Pillows

Reason 272 why you should hire a designer to get the look you want for way less.  You can really end up forking over some serious cash for oversized and well-worn.  But there's always a way to do it for less!  Each item here was sourced from a store that you or I have access to - either a big-box store or an online store.  I should take my own my advice and do a room just like this!  Too bad I've run out of rooms in my little cottage.  But this would be a room I'd love to recreate!

What 'look' are you dying to recreate?  Do you have a favorite room or inspiration pic?

-Bethany

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices.

Nancy and Bethany

the look for less

I love a good bargain.  But who doesn't, right?  That's why I always devour the latest 'High-Low Style' from online mag, Style at Home. I love seeing how they recreate rooms on a budget.  They also happen to pick the best spaces, too.

Which do you think is more expensive?

Enter room one.

And room two.

If you guessed room one, you're right!  But the difference in price may shock you.  We're talking almost $25,000 in difference.

The first room weighs in at a hefty $31,165.

The second, a much more reasonable $7768.

But this high-low exercise is a great example of why people hire a designer to achieve the look they want.  Not everyone can toss $30,000 at a new room (OK, for realzies, most of us can't).  But a couple thousand is much more realistic when looking to redo a room. Whether it's stowing cash for a rainy decorating day or using your tax return, you can expect to pay a good chunk of change to achieve the well-dressed, layered look you see in the mags.  And like most things, there are always the highs and lows, as we see here.  Hiring a decorator or a designer may be a great idea, to stay within a defined budget and to recreate a look.  In fact, designers PREFER when you come to the table with a look or a vibe that you're dying to try.  It makes our job so much easier, and it's so much fun to hunt down the best deals out there.

So with that, I think I can do you one better.

Lucite Chair $79

Orange Overdye Rug $385

Pink Bergere Chair $750

Orb Chandelier $299

x bench $179 

Gourd Lamp $45 

Painting of a woman $100 

Black Desk $116

turquoise box $39

gray shelf $149

black/white drawing $40 

Paris prints $135 

curtains $39 each (2 panels)

bronze stool $200 

My copycat of the copycat is still less, by way more than half, coming to a grand total of $2594!  What a steal!  For an entire room re-do, that's a fantastic price.  Although, serial DIY'ers like us balk at that price, it just shows that you can definitely get the look you want for a lot LESS than you think.

Mom and I are constantly looking at products for client projects so we always have our eyes out for the trendy pieces and timeless pieces, at the best prices.  If you'd like help creating your dream space, or recreating something you've seen in a magazine, we would love to help! We provide services from sourcing products and look-a-likes to full room redos.  Contact us for rates and pricing.

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

Nancy and Bethany