Decorating 101: How Much Is This Going to Cost Me?
You’ve just moved into a new home, and you’re ready to decorate. Or you’ve been in your home for a while and want to give the place a whole new look. And you want to do it yourself. The big question is: What’s it going to cost you?
There’s no magic formula for figuring out how much you can expect to spend on decorating. (Trust me — I asked.) But there are steps you can take to figure out what the project might cost and where the money should be spent.
Make a Budget
Assuming you’ve figured out what you want your home to look like and have made the decision to decorate the home yourself, you need to come up with a budget. Instead of trying to guess what the project might cost, start out with a figure that represents what you’re willing to spend. Make a list of the rooms you want to decorate, and list the items you will need to purchase for each room. (Don’t overlook wall treatments, flooring, lighting, accessories and labor.)
Enter this information on a spreadsheet and assign a cost to each item. Do some basic research in stores and using catalogs and Houzz. Sure, you can spend $500 for a sofa or $5,000 for a sofa. But what are retailers charging for the kind of quality and style you want? Then plug that figure into your spreadsheet; do that for each of the items on your list.
What to Spend More On
There are some areas where you should spend more money, and some areas where you can scrimp. Most professionals agree that seating should be a priority. “I don’t like scrimping on a good upholstered piece,” says Woodland Hills, California, designer Alana Homesley. “If you have a quality sofa, it can last you for 30 or 40 years.”
Claudia Juestel, the owner of Adeeni Design Group in San Francisco, agrees. “Buy the best mattress you can afford and the best sofa you can afford,” she says. Even when she’s working with a small budget, Juestel will order custom upholstered pieces, because they will get used more than anything else in the house and will last for decades.
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Decorating 101: How Much Is This Going to Cost Me?
