Decorating your home is always exciting, whether you’re working with a designer or putting your own design skills to work. But when it comes time to spend the budget, the excitement can begin to fade quickly. To stay on budget, decisions have to be made: can you afford custom furnishings and draperies or will stock items work? Investing time in researching products and services before you start to shop will help you determine where to splurge and where to save.
There are always ways to find a less expensive version of something you can’t live without, so shop around! That’s the fun part!
Living Room: Splurge
• When space is tight, a beautiful buffet serves both the living room and dining room, offering storage for china and a surface for lighting and serving.
• Customizable furniture like the demi sofa and the two elegantly shaped velvet chairs shown in the accompanying image cost a bit more but they’re the perfect size, scale, and colour for this small living room.
Living Room: Save
• Choose stationary window panels over full coverage draperies and save money on fabric, labour, and installation costs. Add semi-opaque blinds or shades for privacy and UV protection.
• A soft, cut pile or patterned area rug adds warmth and texture while defining areas in an open floor plan.
Bedroom: Splurge
• Custom drapery panels in shimmery faux silk add a touch of glamour to a bedroom.
• Reflective wallpaper with a raised geometric pattern of intersecting ovals, circles, and quatrefoils creates visual impact on a feature wall.
Bedroom: Save
• Paint and paper are the easiest and least expensive ways to decorate any space. Choose a paste-the-wall paper for a feature wall and save money by doing it yourself.
• Shop for designer bed linens at discount stores or during seasonal sales at department stores.
• Flowers give a room instant elegance but fresh flowers can be expensive. Invest in good-quality faux flowers to enjoy year round.
Dining Room: Splurge
• An elegant eight-foot maple dining table with tapered legs gives a small space a formal and sophisticated look.
• Upholstered dining chairs with silver nail-head detailing in a light, neutral, linen style soften the look of a dark dining table.
Dining Room: Save
• The unframed abstract art inspired the overall colour scheme of the living/dining room and draws attention to the dining area.
• Beautiful white faux lilies in clear glass vases look lovely on a dark table when dining or as an everyday decorative accent.
Visit www.CanadianHomeTrends.com/JackieGlass for sources.
Canadian Home Trends Magazine gives you a personal tour of the most stunning homes and condos. In each issue, you are given the tools to recreate designer spaces you’ve always dreamt of having at home, in-depth renovation and design advice, and the best places to shop. To subscribe, visit www.CanadianHomeTrends.com
