Surprising, huh?
Last week, the New York Times decided to task five NY interior designers/decorators with sprucing up the homes of five New Yorkers who had just lost their jobs. They were tasked with using a budget of only $300. Sounds good right? The article says that many got miffed about using that tiny an amount of money and only one was able to come in under budget. Bravo for Christopher Coleman, who was the winner in my book with a final balance of $296! While it was not my style, I have a feeling it fit well for his single-bachelor-tech-geek-client.
Last week, the New York Times decided to task five NY interior designers/decorators with sprucing up the homes of five New Yorkers who had just lost their jobs. They were tasked with using a budget of only $300. Sounds good right? The article says that many got miffed about using that tiny an amount of money and only one was able to come in under budget. Bravo for Christopher Coleman, who was the winner in my book with a final balance of $296! While it was not my style, I have a feeling it fit well for his single-bachelor-tech-geek-client.
Styled by Christopher Coleman
You would think the others would realize that future clients; people who will be looking at their work in this assignment, might find it a plus that a designer CAN actually come in on or under budget.
Rearranged by Hilary Unger of Perianth
Well, at least for me that would be considered an important quality to have in a designer. Not that they did that bad, they still all came in under $500 and the results were all lovely. I just felt bad for the designers that could have easily come in at or under budget if they had just invoked some DIY and repainted furniture or items that the client already owned. Of if they had installed hardware and stitched the simple cushions and pillows themselves instead of hiring outside workers. What a great message that would have sent too.
Rearranged by Bradley Thiergartner
Links to the makeovers:
One-bedroom - $296 by Christopher Coleman
One-bedroom - $304 by Bradley Thiergartner
Studio - $326 by Hilary Unger
2-story house - $452 by Fawn Galli
Shared apartment - $490 by Elaine Griffin
This story was published in the NYT on March 12, 2009.
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2 comments:
I had similar thoughts about that article--$300 is a fair amount for most people, and I would have preferred that they stick to the budget as opposed to coming up with the absolutely most gorgeous room.
Yeah, I actually thought that was kind of rude = "Oh, this is the criteria? Well we're too fancy for that, sorry". If they had hung their own shelves or sewn their own pillows it would have been much less obnoxious, although I'm less annoyed at the ones who went $4 and $24 over than the ones who went more than $100 over.
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