Question:
I want to make my home a little more grown up and entertainment friendly and I’m pretty sure I need some professional help. How do I go about finding someone that can help me freshen up my home without going all out and hiring a designer? Or, do designers do this sort of thing? I don’t really want to purchase a lot of new items, I just want to use what I have and make it better! Help! — Christy Nelson
Answer:
Hi Christy! I love your question. And yes, there are designers who do exactly what you’re describing. They’ll come to your home and work with what you have. For sure! The best way to find them locally, is to start making inquiries. Call a few interior designers and tell them the kind of services you’re looking for. If they can’t help you, they’ll probably know someone who can.
Another option is to get an online consultation. Last year, I wrote a post about this topic and listed four services that offer interior design served up over the internet. You send in images of your space and you get back suggestions. For very reasonable rates. You can find the links here.
Your turn, Dear Readers. Who or what would you recommend to Christy?
image via Oh Happy Day
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I do alot of magazine and internet searching, looking for ideas that I can incorporate. Crazy thing, that blue cabinet in the picture above? I saw that and searched out the dicontinued item on craigs list and bought it for cheap! It is a slower process than bringing in a designer I am sure, but it works for me. Especially since I know what I like. If you’re unsure perhaps a designer would be better for you.
Some years ago, I happened upon a book called “Use What You Have Decorating.” It’s exactly this sort of thing, and it’s proved extremely useful to keep coming back to. The author is Lauri Ward, and she also has a company called Use What You Have Decorating; the website is http://www.redecorate.com. That site can help you find someone with this approach in your area (if you’re not in NY or FL, which are the main areas her company serves).
I offer online services, mostly geared towards baby/kids, but would be happy to talk to you about your needs (reader) Christy!
I wanted the same thing, Christy, and found the solution through the owner of my favorite boutique-y furniture store. Her services were $55/hr and she spent two hours at my house. We went room by room and I wrote down everything she said on drawings of my house on a clipboard. She even right then helped me move my bed to a different wall or moved end tables to a new place. I was thrilled!! So worth it. A year later I am still referring to my notes and implementing her ideas. It has been so fun and such a great use of those initial funds. My suggestion is to go to your favorite boutique and ask their hourly rate. Around here (Arizona) it is $50-70 and I’ve heard similar for Utah. Good luck!
You could look into InCircle Interiors- they do it all online and you can pay as little or as much as you want- they specialize in helping those with a tight budget.
I cannot believe how much inspiration I am finding in my own home! Sometimes I just need a little Pinterest time or a few magazine images and I realize I already have what I need. Sometimes it might need a new coat of paint or some fresh fabric, but usually all it needs is a room change.
um, is it totally tacky if i tell you about my business? i guess i’m tacky then. check out kelly + olive, christy!
Don’t hire a designer; just my opinion. You can do it yourself…you really can! I just stumbled on Pinterest.com. I think it’s great for getting ideas the fastest way possible. You can find stuff like a patio couch and headboards made from pallets which you can usually find for free! And I’m talking cute stuff, not junk.
I uploaded pics of my home on HGTV’s Rate-My-Space and next thing I knew one of their producers called me! That’s another story but my point is that I furnished and decorated my entire house with low-cost, free, or refurbished items that I already had. I made a point of it. I’m doing the same thing for our cabin at CowicheCamp.com. I am furnishing the entire 600 sq ft, including kitchen cabinets, for under $1000.
You can search Craigslist for free items but do yourself a favor and install CraigsEasy. You can’t believe how much time that will you save you in your searches.
Happy decorating,
Rebekah
Like Carol F, in the reply above, I hired the owner of a local shop that sells recovered and painted used furniture, affordable artwork, beautiful lamps/lights, one-of-a kind accessories…to come to our home for 2 hours and took notes on everything she said. At the time she charged $60/hr. She got a sense of what we liked and took it from there. Some things that I was unsure were working in our home she said were great. It was very validating and gave me a better sense of my/our style. She had lots of great ideas that didn’t require a lot of money.
I follow this blog http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/ . It has a lot of practical and good advice. Maria who writes this blog also offers online consultancy.
Be sure you ask all the right questions before paying. My daughter paid for advice on line. Admittedly her home is very large, but the advice was to basically tear this out and that out (walls, fireplaces etc which is not what she was prepared to do) None of the info was usable without spending $$$$$$$$ and the charge was several hundred dollars. None was refunded.
Her name is Leah Moses (leahnicole@gmail.com), and she is fabulous. I consider myself a designy/color-savvy person, but when I had blind spots when it came to my own living space. Leah used all stuff she found in my house, so it was cheap and everything had meaning and personal value to begin with. She rearranged the furniture, designed the bookcases, put beautiful arrangements of stuff I would never have considered wall art on the walls, tweaked my existing curtains, and overall made my house gorgeous and fresh and feel more like my own home, like it represented me more . Am I gushing? Do I sound like I’m gushing? I was thrilled. My husband liked it too, and when we moved, wanted her to come do the same thing in our new house. One happy unexpected outcome: I’ve felt more confident doing the same thing in other parts of the house since seeing my own things beautifully combined and arranged.
FYI, we worked out a trade arrangement for payment.
Oh, also fyi, she worked for me in UT and ID.
Another cheap & easy idea – find a friend whose style you love and ask her/him for help! Those of us who love to decorate love to share too. It’s fun to get to play with other people’s stuff once in awhile. : )
I’d like to add that I love the blog purestylehome.blogspot.com.
I recently moved into a new condo that is basically a blank canvas for me to do whatever I want. So far, I’ve picked out paint colors and throw pillows and the works but I’ve run into a road block. I have these chairs that I acquired in college; they’re amazing but I don’t know what to do with them. What kind of table do I get? How do I get them to go with everything else in my home? Here’s a link to the chairs I have: http://modernica.net/images/product_option/11/3183475637_stacking_mustard.jpg
How do I incorporate these into my new little home??