Designers use the trick of carefully balancing a mix of “high & Low” items to make a room look expensive without breaking the bank. Most designers find themselves needing to stretch the budget to create a memorable room that also functions well. To pull this off, a designer must know when and where to spend the money and where to skimp. Designers never like to buy the “set” of furniture. We prefer to mix and match the pieces to create the “wow” of a unique one of a kind room.
I will use my living room as an example of how I have incorporated both fairly high end purchases with low end steals. The more expensive items in this room include the custom built-in cabinetry, the area rug, and the leather and mohair sofa and armchair. The big saves include a European daybed and the coconut shell round end table (recycled from a previous design project.) But the real steal was the coffee table….
With the space planning complete, this living room required a large coffee table to anchor the seating arrangement, which included a 9′ long sofa. Because I was at the end of the budget, the challenge was to find a large table with a price tag less than a used car. After an unsuccessful and exhaustive search, my idea (brilliant!) was to find an inexpensive dining table and cut down the legs to make it work as a coffee table. Ikea to the rescue! With a price tag of $179.00, this table measures 77” x 37” which was the perfect size for the sofa. After my handyman took a power saw to the base, I ordered a custom size piece of beveled, brown glass to top it off. So the total price tag for this oversized coffee table was only $380.00. A custom equivalent could have been priced in the thousands.
My partner proudly tells the story of the clever and inexpensive coffee table solution on every tour of our home. Six years later, it is still one of our favorite parts of the room proving that you don’t need to spend a fortune on every purchase to enjoy the benefits of great interior design.
written by Patricia Lockwood
Patricia Lockwood is an award-winning designer who runs her successful interior design business in Palm Desert, California. Self-described as an Interior Designer with a twist; she passes along trade discounts and special pricing to her clients, making her services a true value.
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