Budget parameters guide projects

Instead of my regular columns, I thought you might enjoy a six-part series that will take you through the steps of decorating your home to make it look like a model. In the series, I will include actual budget numbers that I used to decorate a model home.

First, I believe that designing on a budget doesn’t mean cheap and tacky. It is where and how you spend your decorating dollars that counts. Since 95 percent of us do not have unlimited decorating budgets, I’m basing this series on a fairly inexpensive but actual model from my portfolio. Remember, you can decide exactly where your budget and decorating priorities are.

As with any decorating project, you need to start with a budget. So, that’s where we’re going to start. I’ll address each decorating category and what I spent; then each week I will go into more detail on decorating within that budget.

The model that I’m going to use is a 3,189-square-foot home with the following rooms: living, dining, family, nook, kitchen, four bedrooms, master retreat, loft, three full baths and a laundry. My client had a budget of $15.50 per square foot or $49,430 and below is what I spent in each category.

Furniture was 45 percent of the budget. Furniture represents the largest pieces in your home and is a category where you spend the majority of your budget. Pieces of furniture shouldn’t be bought on a whim since they are items that are not replaced for years.

Draperies were 12 percent of the budget. Window treatments add so much to a room and frame your windows with style and color, so I don’t scrimp here. In part three, I’ll share how to get the most from your budget with fabric, styles and added touches that make all the difference.

Bedding was 11 percent of the budget. Many times I spend a little more here, but for this project I was able to get some great store sales so I only did custom bedding in the master.

Artwork was 14 percent of the budget. Artwork dresses your walls and conveys your theme and color scheme. In this price range, all of the pieces were selected from a collection of posters that were prematted and framed. I find that I can purchase larger pieces with more matting and better framing than having the same piece custom framed. But it is “what you see is what you get” with no or few changes; for some pieces custom framing is still the better option.

Silk plants, trees and florals were 8 percent of the budget. Plants soften a room and bring nature in. Florals are still one of my favorite ways to make a home look like a model as they add an abundance of color.

Wall treatments were 4 percent of my budget. When I’m working with a limited budget, I use paint to add my color. I still like to use wall treatments to bring in a strong theme, but in this price range I’ll only do two to three borders, usually in the kitchen and then the secondary bedrooms.

Accessories are the finishing touches and what make a house a home. On this project I spent 5 percent of the budget. When working with a budget, I find that less is more. One nice piece purchased for $35 is nicer than three bought for $12.

Lighting was only 2 percent of the total. When decorating on a budget, lighting becomes a truly functional item. Keep with your theme and color scheme, but you can purchase great lighting packages for a fraction of the cost of even one table lamp.

So now it’s time to get started and work along with me in this series. To apply this to your home, take the square footage of the area you want to decorate, whether it be a single room or the whole house, and multiple it by $15.50. Then, apply the percentages above for each category to establish your decorating budget.

In the next five columns, I’ll address each of the categories in more detail. I also will post all of the columns on my Web site as they are published in case you miss one.

Now, it’s time for you to do some homework.

Gail Mayhugh, owner of GMJ Interiors, is a professional interior designer and author of a book on the subject. Questions may be sent by e-mail to: gail@gmjinteriors.com. Or, mail to: 7380 S. Eastern Ave., No. 124-272, Las Vegas, NV 89123. Her Web address is: www.GMJinteriors.com.