1 of 2
a nearly empty living room with a loveseat and wood floors.
2 of 2
The house was wonderful but ... nearly empty.
Photography by Anne Matheis
The Problem:
Starting from scratch with nothing but hand-me-downs from relatives.
The Goal:
Finishing the living room so Keegan Baygents can use it and show it off to her friends and family.
The Designer:
Lara Bileski, June Roesslein Interiors
On the daunting scale, facing the other contestants in the 2006 Miss Missouri USA pageant last December came in a distinct second for Keegan Baygents to facing the bare walls and empty rooms of her new house. The e-mail came in with a plaintive scream: "ROOM IN NEED! PLEASE HELP!!!! I have just bought my first house in Kirkwood, and all my furniture is borrowed. Right now my living room is empty, but soon it will be filled with stuff from all walks of life!"
Before all of her relatives cleaned out their attics and dumped no-longer-cherished items on Baygents' doorstep, we dispatched Lara Bileski from June Roesslein Interiors. The only furniture in the room was a pair of couches Baygents picked up at Rothman Furniture and a pair of lamps. "It was kind of exciting to have a clean slate," Bileski says. "I could just go at it."
Baygents and Bileski conferred. Baygents' instructions were succinct: "Something warm. More traditional. No modern." Her preference was Pottery Barn. So Bileski, armed with the store's catalog, came over, and together they found things they liked but couldn't afford on the $1,500 budget.
The first step was painting the walls. Bileski picked Sunnybrook Yellow (color 711), made by ICI Paints. "I decided the yellow would be soft and inviting," she says.
Then it was time to hit the stores and the Internet. "The corner cabinet unit was the hardest thing to find," Bileski says. "There was no other wall to put it on. And everything I found was $600." Finally, she found one for $329 on Overstock.com. Shipping? An additional $1. She did a lot of buying online, zeroing in on the companies offering free shipping. "I needed that to be able to buy some of the bigger pieces. The ottoman was shipped free by Target." Locally, she shopped Pier 1 Imports, Garden Ridge and Weekends Only, where she picked up Baygents' favorite piece, a fire screen.
The end result was well-received. "It was more than I imagined," Baygents says. "I didn't think it could look that good on my budget and it did. Everything went together really well." Now Baygents has been bitten by the decorating bug.
"After the living room, now I want every room done," Baygents says. "It makes it so much more enjoyable to come home. And I show it off to everyone."
Ten tips from Lara Bileski
1. Choose one predominant paint color for the majority of your home (halls, secondary bedrooms, kitchens and great rooms) and choose a couple of key rooms to be bolder (master bedroom, dining room, bathrooms).
2. Do not be afraid to float furnitur—in this case, the loveseat. It is a more efficient use of space and creates a more intimate conversation area.
3. Blank walls are OK. Not all of your walls need a picture of Aunt Harriet as a tot. Choose a couple of areas in the room to accentuate with an oversized canvas painting or a 3-D iron sculpture, and leave the family portraits to a rogues' gallery (secondary hallway) or in an album set on the cocktail table.
4. Keep on collecting—whatever the treasure, collectibles are personal and fun—but remember, you don't need one on every table in your home. Display them all in a glass hutch or on a shelf in your guest bedroom.
5. Don't display every magazine from the past year on your cocktail table. Keep the most current issue out and store the rest in a trunk or in the bookcase in your study.
6. Big is in; less is more. Large floor jugs, chunky candlesticks and oversized art are hot right now, which means we can get away with fewer accessories to complete the look.
7. Area rugs do not need to fill your entire area; use them to unify a grouping of furniture while still showing off your hardwood floors.
8. Freshen up. Change out picture frames with your most recent candid photos or move the candles on the mantel to the bedroom dresser. Sometimes moving your existing art and accessories around will give you the new look you were craving without breaking the bank.
9. Garage sales are not always the source for diamonds in the rough. There is always an old desk you can refinish or an antique chandelier you can rewire, but it ends up becoming a mismatched group of pieces that will probably show up in your own garage sale next spring. Just because it's a bargain doesn't mean it needs to be in your house.
10. Accessorizing does not mean lining your candles up in a row like a kindergarten class going to the water fountain. Group accessories in odd numbers (we don't know how or why this works; it just does). Clumping objects together in groups of three or five adds interest, especially if they are of varying heights and angles.
Bonus tip: Hang all artwork at eye level. Unless you are hanging a piece above your built-ins in a two-story great room, your art should be at the eye level of a person of average height. If your neck pain acts up every time you walk by your favorite painting in the hallway, lower it.
Bottom line: What would it cost?
Bookcase, Target.com: $49.99
Ottoman, Target.com: $129.99
Red throw pillow, Target, 2 @ $4.98: $9.96
Drapery rods, Target, 3 @ $19.99: $59.97
Drapery holdbacks, Target, 2 pairs @ $11.99: $23.98
Wicker box with lid, Target $7.48
Wood tray, Target: $13.98
Painted canvas, Target: $99.99
Corner entertainment center, Overstock.com: $329.99
Round end table, Overstock.com: $89.99
Fireplace screen, Weekends Only: $64
Drapery panels, Old Time Pottery, 3 @ $17.99: $53.97
Dried decorative balls, Bed Bath & Beyond: $19.99
Pot of grasses, Bed Bath & Beyond: $9.99
Red candles, Wal-Mart, 2 @ $2.92 each: $5.84
Side table, Wal-Mart: $54.92
6-foot tree, Garden Ridge: $79.99
Accent pillows, Garden Ridge, 3 @ $5.88 each: $17.64
Iron wall plaque, Garden Ridge: $19.99
Small candleholder, Garden Ridge: $14.99
Large candleholder, Garden Ridge: $19.99
Small wire vase, Garden Ridge: $24.99
Large wire vase, Garden Ridge: $34.99
6 x 9 woven rug, Pier 1 Imports: $119
Wicker armchair, Pier 1 Imports: $200
Chair cushion, Pier 1 Imports: $60
Grand total: 1,615.61*
*Tax and shipping not included
