The No-Spend Zone

The Reveal and then some....

Happy Sunday and Happy Mother's Day to my comrades in the frugal design world.
Today was our official first day, so check out the full column in today's Miami Herald
Blessings to all for the calls and emails.
Spread the word so we can help save some homes/yards, one Penny-pinching pad at a time...
So I promised you a reveal and a reveal it is.
Here are some of the photos from Debbie's condo.

I'm happy to report that she has not left the room since we finished last week. Ok, ok, she leaves it long enough to sleep in her master bedroom which alas, is my next challenge. I've created a monster, but a happy one at at that.
I'll break down the budget in tomorrow's post and give you tips on how to do a similar design on an even tighter budget plus reveal some of the inevitable challenges on any project - believe me something ALWAYS goes awry.
Crazy week ahead and it will involve yours' truly, plenty of cement, a client I affectionately call the Diva, her husband with a penchant for REALLY penny-pinching. He has a knack for hiring pookie and brethren to tackle some projects with how shall we say this? some interesting results?
Did I mention that this is an outdoor project? Have ya'll noticed that it's been like 100 degrees outside? Lemme just say this: that cute hairdo in that picture above will not survive. It aint gonna be pretty. Stay tuned..

Champagne vs Beer

Alas, it's finally here. "Your Pad on a Penny" -- our guide to helping you transform your space to that oasis you have always wanted but thought you couldn't afford.

There won't be many rules. We'll likely tackle some of the best ways to decorate key rooms - living rooms, a master bedroom, a powder room, a patio, a small water feature - but helping you pinch the pennies to get it done. I'll also give you a behind the scenes look at how my partner Ralph Forde and I tackle some of our current projects at my design firm, Oasis Interior/Exterior Design. (Read entire column in tomorrow's Money Section in the Miami Herald)

Okay, so I lied. There is at least one rule: Know thy budget.

Whether it’s $500 or $5,000, say it loud and proud and be disciplined enough to stick to it.

The truth is most of us have champagne tastes on a beer budget and oh boy, no where is this more evident than in our quest to decorate our homes or landscape the yard.

We want it all!

Designer chairs, custom-designed silk drapes, waterfalls in the yard, outdoor kitchens and then the reality of just how much pennies there are in the bank comes into play.

Be honest with thyself. Be honest too with your decorator or designer if you hire one, because they need to know these things if they are seriously supposed to help you.

So here’s the trick.

A. Make a list of what it is you want to accomplish in that space and how much funding you have to get it done.

B. Are there items you can reuse? Do you really need a new sofa or can you simply reupholster the existing one? New mantra – reupholstering is thy friend.

C. Trust your decorator. They probably have some experience on finding you the best deals since they do this for a living.

My client Debbie has agreed to be used to illustrate this point clearly.

She’s stuck in her 2/2 condo. It should have been her starter home but alas, the market is what it is and she aint going nowhere anytime soon so she called me in to revamp her office/guest bedroom.

Things I had to work into the design: a brushed-nickel ceiling fan and a media center she'd purchased for a pretty penny from Crate and Barrel. She'd also decided on a paint color after turning her wall into a crazy color wheel - Caribbean cool.

She wanted a minimalist-chic space. No curtains, no fuss. Just clean lines. She wanted to spend a lot of time in this room so it had to be fabulous but on a budget.

Must haves: a day bed, a new desk, a new computer monitor (did I mention that Debbie is also a packrat? she'd had that monitor since college!) desk chair, seating area for friends and window treatment that had to be clean and simple. The room had to be painted. We would also need some artwork.

We set a budget of $2,500.

Aha, but Debbie is a designer junkie at heart and she would soon have multiple love affairs with some very expensive items.

First off: The Barbados daybed.

It would eat up a hefty chunk of the budget but it was BEAUTIFUL, had tons of storage and room for an extra mattress and fits her room like a glove.

Desk: She then fell in love with the Micah console table from Scan Design. Sigh. It was pricey. It was also very narrow. But most important, it would kill the budget. We settled on the Torsby dining table from Ikea

Bigger sigh. The table was sold out at the store so we had to order online. Shipping costs would push us over the limit.

Chairs: Another romance. This time with the Barcelona chair. Okay, not the originals which cost about $4,000, but even the knock-off was not in the budget: https://www.shopseating.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=43&gclid=CMeHoauenJMCFSE0kgodgEm2rw

Here I had to stage an intervention. Now, they are beautiful but for an office? Nope. We fought. I reminded her of the budget. We fought. She relented.

We settled on the Klappsta chairs also from Ikea. After the Ikea purchases she'd learned some harsh lessons about the budget and stopped fighting me on every turn!

It was all gravy after that.

That fabulous chair she had her eye on at West Elm would not be had.

We settled on the Bentwood office chair from Walmart.

We saved money on artwork by using a series of photos she took while on vacation in the Dominican Republic.

And the end result?

To be revealed in tomorrow’s blog. Come on, a girl's gotta give you a reason to come back for more...

And now it's time to say goodbye

It's been one eventful month for us. Furnishing and decorating our first bachelorette pad -- not to mention the every day purchases we shared -- was more stressful than I thought. But it was a good financial learning experience for the both of us.

If I could do it all again, I think I'd try to stick to a budget. Of course that's easy to say now. Before, I didn't really know the cost of things, so I just winged it and tried to get the cheapest things when possible.

But now that I have a better idea of the cost of necessities, I'm going to make a monthly budget. I'll save some money for things like movies and going out for drinks, and always put a set amount away into my savings. There will always be temptations to spend at the mall or when I'm hanging out with friends, but if I stick to a budget, I think I'll be in good shape.

Nicole White is taking our place for the next month. She's a designer with a flare for frugal. I wonder what she thinks of how much we spent on decor. We did hunt for bargains for things like the couch and bedroom furniture, but I'm sure if we had her on our side, we could have found ways to save even more.

Adieu, to you and you and you

Well, as of 5pm this afternoon Chicks And Balances will come to an end.  I was unhappy that I wasn't posting as often recently (which is a natural progression since we only have so many things we can buy in a given space of time), but I'm satisfied with the overall way we were able to express ourselves as individuals.  Bridget and I are definitely opposites in many ways - and we certainly have fought because of it - but that's spilled milk compared to the good stuff we're able to share as roommates....namely, I get to play her Guitar Hero whenever I want, but I digress.

Will Bridget's influence continue to lead me down the path of thriftiness?  Perhaps.  Maybe...ahem...possibly.  Though I think it's a dubious sign for the future that I'm concurrently typing this up and browsing eBay.  But if I could leave one lasting message through this blog it would be this: don't be afraid of money, people, and don't be afraid to use it!  Don't spend over your means, but don't covet all of your earnings to the point that you're restricting yourself.  In the end, a tight-fisted Scrooge is just as bad as a hopeless spendthrift.  So while I'm readying my debit card (once again), I'll leave you with this little farewell:

P.S. Good luck and happy spending to the next blog, Your Pad On A Penny!

I see London, I see France...

Some women buy tons of shoes. I only buy a pair when my old ones fall apart.

And my sneakers have finally fallen apart. The decorative straps started to snap apart two months ago. I tried gluing one, but now more are breaking. Sigh. Time to buy sneakers this weekend.

And it's not just that. Amanda's dad pointed out to me last week that I ripped a hole in the back of my jeans. Hopefully the people who saw my underwear thought I was making one of those I-buy-ripped-jeans fashion statements. Guess that means it's also time to go jean shopping.

I'll go out to the mall after work today and see if I find anything. I'm pretty picky about my shoes and I always have a hell of a time finding a good pair of jeans that are cheap and fit well. There is a doorbuster sale tonight and tomorrow morning at JCPenney, so maybe I'll have some luck!

Amanda is working tonight, so I'm not going to take her along. I'm kind of glad. She's been bugging me to go shopping together for many other things that I "need." But I don't want to turn this errand into a clothes shopping-o-rama. Although I like to have another person around for their opinion, I think in this case going alone is for the best.