with a budget.
Work within the outline of the floor
plan and work room by room.
Remember it is always intelligent to
spend money on a few sleect items,
rather than the masses for the same
amount of money.

Umework
Arproxii

Steve Teich Of
Perlmutter and Friewald

When prospective clients approach
me and ask, "How much will it cost to
decorate our home?" I am a bit reluc-
tant to give them an actual dollar
amount. If pressed I will give them a
figure of $20-$30 per square foot, but
even that is not always accurate. Usual-
ly the budget is determined by such
things as the decorating style the
clients wish to achieve and the quality
of furniture, carpeting, accessories, art,
etc., they want to surround themselves
with.
A soft contemporary decor is a less
expensive look to achieve than a more
traditional one. Traditional interiors re-
quire more of everything — furniture,
window treatments, accessories and
art. Since quality levels range
anywhere from very low end to very
high end, prices range accordingly.
Many clients feel they would like to pur-
chase better quality furniture over a
longer period of time as their budget
allows. Others want a complete "look"
immediately and are willing to sacrifice
quality in order to achieve it.
I suggest to prospective clients that
they do a little homework before our in-
itial design meeting. Looking through
current design periodicals helps them
determine what decorating styles and
colors are preferable. Visiting furniture
stores aids them in developing a bet-
ter understanding of current prices and
quality levels. An educated client has
more control during the design pro-
cess and is usually happier with the
end result.
$15,000 is a very minimum budget
to decorate a condominium the size of
the Sierra Pointn model. In my
estimates I am assuming the builder is

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SPRING '90

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