Talent for Change

I have a talent.   I didn’t always admit to it, because I decorated throughout the mad excessive eighties, when only the most frugal tree hugger would admit that they enjoyed re-vamping their old furniture.

Most interior designers who worked through the decadent eighties remember encouraging and celebrating excess, the more is more method of decorating, sparkle makes everything better.  Newness was celebrated, in sharp contrast to today’s philosophy of reduce, re-use, recycle.

We have a new found appreciation for time-worn, age (go, baby boomers!), exposed layers, provenance, patina, in other words, history.

My talent is that I can transform a space, home or office on a small budget.  I can do wonders with a can of paint or a bargain fabric.  A rickety chair will get the Cinderella treatment and become a treasure.

Many decorators have the same talent, as do many gifted do-it-yourselfers.

Witness today the abundance of entrepreneurs that hunt, demolish, scour the country-side for abandoned buildings and factories and gather the huge beams, old pine floors, corbels, mullioned doors and windows, wrought iron, and metal parts, to wharehouse and sell these found architectural, industrial and antique prizes.

These refurbished and salvaged materials become patinated wood floors, furniture, entry doors, and headboards (see the antique doors turned into a bed headboard, to the left), and find their way into home renovations, as well as new builds.  A word of caution though. The treasures found and resold by others are not necessarily bargains, but they have deep value and a story, which can’t be said of new stuff.

Embrace sentiment and economy:  you can take grandma’s scratched buffet and it can become a great new base for the T.V.  A tired family chest that no one else in the family wants can become the star of the great room. That old chest of drawers can be painted, or even more distressed and find new life as linen storage or to break up a tired pair of bed side tables.

The plain old bookcase, embellished with mouldings and styled, becomes a useful storage piece in the office.

As faux finishes have lost favour as wall treatments, some antiquing techniques can transform old furniture, creating future heirlooms.  How satisfying to recycle an old book found at a garage sale, the yellowed pages can be applied to drawer fronts using decoupage materials found at a craft store.  The same pages can be used as a wallpaper feature, just a small area over a bed or above a fireplace, or a tiny powder room’s walls or ceiling.

There are endless ideas for economical budget stretching projects on internet sites such as Pinterest. You can also just Google the items that you want to work with, for example, mason jars, and see what pops up, from lighting to soap pumps.

Dresser ideas are abundant as well, such as ribbon bows to replace handles for a little girl’s room, and interesting paint schemes.

Moving a piece of furniture from one room to another is my favourite simple and cheap way to inject fresh air into your home.  As mentioned above, break up a suite of furniture, in the bedroom or dining room and see how it makes a difference.  Take the hutch off a buffet and add a mirror to open up the space.  Invest in closet organizers and eliminate a dresser, the dresser will give you great storage in a hall or family room.

It’s all about tranformation, and doesn’t have to be expensive, so your frugal partner will be happy.  As you can see, a talented designer can help stretch your budget.  She can have a talent for “change.”