TheDesignFile

Design Translation: A dresser for our virtual room

We're just a few weeks into our virtual budget remake of our inspiration room -- a guest bedroom from the 2009 HGTV Dream Home -- and we've already spent roughly $1,000 from our $7,750 budget. You can see the room at right.

Fortunately, though, some of the big purchases -- the bed, the rug, the bedding -- are out of the way. Today, we'll take care of another one of the more expensive purchases: the dresser.

Here are your five options, with more details below.

But first, check out what readers already have picked.

At right, you can see the Mohawk Home Prismatic Rug for $499 from Target, the Kristin Bed from Overstock for $199 and the American Living Savannah Quilt with shams and throw pillows from JCPenney for $274.

Click the collage for a better look.

That leaves us with $1,778 to spend from our $2,750 budget. That seems like a lot. But we still have to purchase the chair, ottoman, cabinet, lamps, wall art -- and of course the dresser!

So back to that dresser... You'll vote for your favorite in the poll below.

Here are the details:

The modern patchwork rug wins!

We'll be adding a great patchwork-style rug to our virtual bedroom remake. About 52 percent of readers of The Design File picked the Mohawk Home Prismatic Rug in brick red (see at left) from Target to replace the checkered one in our inspiration room.

The rug is is 96x132 inches -- a fantastic size -- and is $499. That's definitely not cheap, but we're doing really well on our budget so I think it's a great choice.

With our earlier picks of a $199 bed and $274 in bedding (see at right), we now have $1,778 to finish the room. It won't be easy. We've still got to choose a dresser, chair, ottoman, cabinet, lamps and more. Wow!

But we've got several of the biggest pieces in the bag. So I think we're doing OK. 

Tune in Tuesday when we'll pick the dresser. I think you'll be pleased with some of the surprisingly affordable options I've found. See you then!

Design Translation: Choosing a great rug

When readers of The Design File voted earlier this year to make the bedroom shown below the inspiration for our next Design Translation, many seemed to like everything about it but the rug. So this week's pick should be interesting.

I've got five rug options below, which range in price from $280 to $698. The inspiration room is shown in the top middle.

You'll get all the details about these rugs below.

But first, check out what readers already have picked. At right, you can that we've chosen the Kristin Bed from Overstock for $199 and the American Living Savannah Quilt with shams and throw pillows from JCPenney for $274.

Click the collage at right for a better look.

That leaves us with $2,277 to spend from our $2,750 budget. That seems like a lot. But we still have to purchase the dresser, chair, ottoman, cabinet, lamps, wall art -- and of course the rug!

So back to the rug... You'll vote for your favorite in the poll below. Here are the details:

Buttery quilt picked for our virtual makeover room

The Design File readers have spoken and picked the American Living Savannah Quilt from JCPenney (my personal favorite!) for our virtual room makeover. That's the quilt at right.

It's a great choice for the room and our budget! The quilt with two shams and three throw pillows costs just $274.

That leaves us with $2,277 to spend on the rest of our room.

The quilt won by taking half the vote, easily surpassing the next most popular option -- the Pottery Barn white duvet and red quilt (shown above left).

So far, we've picked a bed and bedding based on our inspiration room and you can see all of it in the collage below. The inspiration room is on the left side.

 

On Tuesday, we'll turn to the rug. It will be an interesting pick. Many of the readers who helped choose the inspiration room said they liked everything but the rug. So tune in on Tuesday to help make that call!

Design Translation: We need bedding for our bed

Last week, readers of The Design File picked the iron bed from Overstock as the first piece of furniture in our budget translation of an HGTV Dream Home guest room.

It's a great choice for our budget and a nice likeness for the one in our Americana guest room (shown at right). Now it's time to pick some bedding to go on it!

As always, I've got five options for you to consider. None are replicas of the inspiration room. That's OK because we're simply trying to re-create the feel of the room -- on a $2,750 budget. Here are your choices:

Remember, our budget is $2,750 and we already spent $199 on the bed (shown at right).

Plus, we'll have lots more decisions to make after this one. We have to pick a dresser, cabinet, rug, chair, ottoman, lamps and accessories. So choose wisely!

You'll vote for the bed you like best with the poll below. But I'd also love for you to explain your choice in the comments to give everybody an idea what you're thinking.

Here are your options with details and pricing (click any of the photos for a better look):

Affordable iron bed wins close vote

Thanks to a few last minute votes, readers of The Design File have picked the Kristin Bed (at right) from Overstock as the first piece of furniture in our virtual remake of an HGTV Dream Home bedroom (lower right)

The bed was on sale for $199 at the time of the post (it's $209 now). That's great news for our $2,750 budget.

We now have $2,551 left for the rest of the furnishings and decor for the room. On Tuesday, we'll take a look at bedding for the room.

The Kristin bed gained 30 percent of the vote, just edging out the Hillsdale Bel Air Bed from BedroomFurniture.com and the LILLESAND bed frame from IKEA, which each received 26 percent.

Thanks to everyone who voted! Watch for our next Design Translation post on Tuesday.

Design Translation: Pick a bed for our new room

Today we start our new Design Translation project, in which we'll try to remake this fun bedroom from an HGTV Dream Home on a budget of $2,750.

If you're thinking that's less than we've spent in our previous two Design Translations, you're correct. In the past, we've had $3,000 budgets. But I wanted to make this project a little more challenging.

Also, I'm not counting a few of the expenses we would otherwise have, including the drapes and rods and the mattresses. The latter decision, I think, is obvious. I opted against having readers choose drapes because they're so plain.

But don't worry. There is plenty for you to choose from, starting with the bed. These are your options -- click the collage to get a better look.

The inspiration room bed is iron, with a beautiful curve that swoops down to the middle in the headboard and footboard.

Remember, we're not necessarily going for a replica here. The idea is accomplish a similar mood -- without breaking the bank!

We'll have lots more decisions to make after this one. We have to pick a dresser, cabinet, rug, chair, ottoman, lamps and accessories in our $2,750 budget.

You'll vote for the bed you like best with the poll below. But I'd also love for you to explain your choice in the comments to give everybody an idea what you're thinking.

Here are your options:

The results are in: The All-American country bedroom will be our next design inspiration!

Typically here at The Design File we focus on modern or contemporary interiors, but the readers have spoken and chosen what I'm calling an Americana-style bedroom to be the inspiration for our next Design Translation feature.

The room is from HGTV's 2009 Dream Home and the folks at the network have allowed me to use the photo her for our project. You can see the room at right.

If you've never participated in the Design Translation, here's how it works:

We start with an inspiration room -- in this case the Americana bedroom. Then over the next two to three months, we'll start a virtual remake of the room, replacing one piece of furniture or accessory each week until we're finished.

The goal is to recreate the feel and spirit of the room -- not necessarily a replica -- but do so on a budget. You can check out our previous two projects by looking at the Design Translation category on the blog.

I'll have more details soon.

Last days to vote on bedroom for budget redo

You've got until 5 p.m. Sunday to cast your vote on the bedroom you think we should use for our next Design Translation challenge.

You can read all the details about the challenge here. But in short, we'll be trying to virtually recreate the winning bedroom on a budget -- probably about $3,000.

Readers will get to vote on each choice -- the bed, the side tables, lighting, etc. -- for the makeover. But for now, we're just picking which room will be the inspiration. Here's your options:

You can make your choice by voting below:

Design Translation: A note from Shawn Henderson

A couple weeks ago we finished our second Design Translation, a budget makeover of a room created by New York designer Shawn Henderson, shown at left.

Readers spent a few months going through options to replace the designer room's sofa, chairs, tables and lighting and in the end "spent" just less than $3,000 on our virtual room.

You can see the results below right.

I was pleased to hear from Shawn with some thoughts about the process. Here's what he had to say:

I’m thrilled that my work inspired you and Design File readers. It’s been fun to watch the room come to life. Working with subtle colors and textures to build each room’s story is always interesting; and you pointed out so well that it’s a fun challenge to replicate that at any budget.

I believe that our lives are enhanced by good design; and that the most luxurious rooms are not always about the price paid for the furnishings, rather they are truly luxurious when they are original, beautiful and livable.

I can’t wait to see what you’re inspired by next!

My best,
Shawn Henderson

I loved hearing from Shawn and appreciate his input. And so I thought it would be fun to share some of the furnishings from his Amalgam Collection.

Below is the Alloy Chair, Mercury Daybed and Tungsten Console. See his website for additional pieces.