Eight designers share secrets about the costs of assembling finished spaces—and the numbers may surprise you!
June 2013 | By Barbara Ballinger | Realtor Mag
Surveys such as Remodeling magazine’s “Cost vs. Value” report detail how much it costs to complete a variety of major popular home improvement projects each year, including the always popular kitchen and bathroom redos.
But those numbers don’t reveal many of the additional expenses that give a room a truly finished look: a good paint job, built-in cabinetry, furnishings, carpeting, lighting, accessories, and so much more. Buyers and sellers who haven’t recently decorated or remodeled have no clue how quickly costs add up — sometimes exponentially.
To get an idea of what finished rooms cost to complete, we asked top designer-owners of Decorating Den Interiors franchises in different cities to show us a single room they designed. They shared before and after photos, furnishing costs, and each space’s challenges and advantages. You’ll hear where they splurged and when they cut back, as well as additional tips to guide you through the process of completing a room.
What:Living Room
How Much: $15,630
Designers: Barbara Elliott and Jennifer Ward-Woods, Atlanta
Challenges: This room already had a contemporary design but was nested within a traditional house. Also, the room had several openings, making it tough to arrange a functional layout. Finally, the home owners owned almost nothing other than the console.
Advantages: The room already had attractive built-ins and a fireplace and had been painted a nice taupe gray. It had good hardwood floors and a ceiling fan.
Solutions: With a modest budget of between $10,000 and $20,000, the design partners focused on purchasing a quality circular two-part sectional that would offer a lot of seating and anchor the room. They also purchased a pair of side chairs to flank the fireplace, a good area rug, and upscale silk window treatments, which are visible upon entering the foyer. The designers knew these purchases would last; they cut back on accessories to fill the bookcase. The designers also completed the room in two phases—first choosing the upholstery, window treatments, rug, and one work of art, then introducing accessories and lamps later.
Tip: Splurge on pieces that provide the greatest longevity and take the most wear and tear. “The sofa was custom-made, came with some pillows, and cost $3,300, but it was well worth it,” says Elliott.
What: Living Room
How Much: $13,049
Designer: Lisa Landry, Arlington, Texas
Challenges: The designer’s own home had a living room with limited access to the kitchen and patio, a poor circulation path through public areas, and little flow within the room itself. “When my dad, a real estate salesman, showed me the house, he said, ‘You won’t like the layout, but will like the yard,’” she says. “But I saw it and found there was no way to get into the kitchen, except through the dining room. I said, ‘Why can’t we knock out a wall?’ And I did!”
Advantages: It’s a good-sized room with a fireplace and a view of the yard.
Solutions: Landry removed the wall to the left of the fireplace for access to the kitchen, making the kitchen less claustrophobic and creating a better circulation path within the living room. A door to the patio replaced a window. She replaced the carpeting with stained hardwood flooring and arranged the furniture in a conversational square.
Tip: Make sure you use all four corners of a room so you don’t waste space. Also, create the traffic pattern around the furniture grouping, not through it.