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!