Room goes from Awful to Awesome

By Kimberly Papa

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, March 20, 2004

"It just kind of happened”, Roberta Miller said as she stares into a room that is no more than two computers sitting atop a folding table, surrounded by a sea of bills, board games, magazines and homeless items crammed into a 9 X 10 foot space.    Her walk-in closet had slowly, but surely, evolved into a home office that was in dire need of a makeover. Desperate for a space devoid of clutter and saturated with style, Miller called on a design duo to revamp a room she described as “ is draining to walk into”.

Lisa Feigenbaum, a New York School of Interior Design grad with seven years of professional practice, and Suzy Parker, a residential interior designer with ten years of experience, are Binghamton’s mavens of interior makeovers, and the design team known as Inspired Spaces, LLC. The two paired up last November to create an affordable way for people to get professional interior design advice.

The “two-hour home makeover” session was soon born, and for $99.00 Feigenbaum and Parker offer design tips using what you already have in your home to create a fresh new look. The team then leaves homeowners with a “ laundry list” of suggestions, which include everything from paint color and accessories to furniture and fabric recommendations. Clients have the option of completing the makeover on their own, or having a full-service makeover facilitated by Feigenbaum and Parker. Full service costs depend on the size of the room and what is to be done. The cost of labor for doing a room like Miller’s would be about $200.00.

Miller felt that she wasn’t ready to take the room on herself and opted to have Feigenbaum and Parker give her space the VIP treatment. “People are busy. They want a quick, easy way to make their home look great”, Feigenbaum said. “But good design shouldn’t cost a fortune”. A fortune is something Miller and her family were not willing to sacrifice for their decorating overhaul. With a $700.00 budget, Miller put her faith in Feigenbaum and Parker to create a space with style and plenty of storage that her entire family could use.

Parker takes plenty of before shots on her digital camera stating that it is hard to take in a space when you are standing in it, and that pictures help to show balance and symmetry. Feigenbaum sketches out the room with measurements and says, “Everyone has this kind of room. You carve out a place for the computer but the space isn’t inviting, and you don’t really want to spend time there”.

Above the clutter a teal, fringed scarf hangs sadly over the window. Parker jokingly asks Miller, “How do you feel about new window treatments?” While Feigenbaum and Parker promise plenty of design inspiration, they stress the importance of responding to the client’s needs and taste.

Because the office is off the master bedroom, it will have to incorporate the Miller’s existing décor, which includes lots of hardwood, forest greens and earth tones. Sometimes the decorators have the vision for a room right away. Their first assessment of the Miller’s office reveals a need for organization. At the end of their first meeting, Feigenbaum and Parker have mapped out goals for the room: create more worksurfaces so that all the family members can use the space, and make the room visual and fun since it is used often.

Their greatest task will be to stick to the budget. “If money were no object, it wouldn’t be fun – that’s the challenge!” Feigenbaum says. Parker says that you don’t always have to go out and make purchases to get a new look, but adds that this room will need a few.

After their two hour consultation, Feigenbaum and Parker leave to begin a week long makeover, as Miller anxiously envisions a room where she, her husband, Dave, and her daughter, Joan, actually want to spend time.

One week later, the Miller’s office is an unrecognizable space filled with warm shades of gold and copper, and is more organized than a Hold-Everything showroom. By “cutting the room horizontally,” as Feigenbaum describes, a much larger work space was created, along with plenty of storage underneath the desk tops. “It’s just magnificent.”, Miller says giddily. “I just love walking up the stairs and seeing the room.”

The majority of the Miller’s budget (over $400) went to the work surfaces, which include cherry finished hardwood tops. The desk tops were used, but in excellent condition, when Feigenbaum and Parker discovered them. Paint played a large role in the transformation as well. In addition to the warm golden-hued paint on the walls, a glowing shade of terrra cotta used opposite the computer stations creates symmetry in the room (which has an asymmetrical ceiling), Parker says. The shelving and CD storage racks were emphasized using an iridescent, pewter wall color directly behind them.

“There is symmetry and balance in the room, and the combination of those things tend to give a calming effect,” Parker says of the serene space. The designers were able to cut costs by picking up accessories at some of their favorite bargain-filled stores (which include Home Goods, Target, TJ Maxx, and Lowes), and making use of existing furniture. Feigenbaum and Parker refurbished Miller’s old, black file cabinets, which were stripped of their stickers and re-painted hunter green. They also used Miller’s wicker baskets as storage bins. The haphazard window was restored using a $12.00 shower curtain from Target that the design team cut and hemmed. The new, warm toned window treatment ties many elements of the room together, and even incorporates the existing rust colored chairs Miller did not want to part with.

The mood of the room is carried through out the accessories, which include sleek vases and a hand carved chess set made by Miller’s husband. Feigenbaum and Parker also created home made memo boards using picture frames and cork. “They really paid attention to my style. They looked around my house. It’s very us!” Miller says. “ I’ve always thought about doing something with this room, but I thought that this would have been impossible. I could have never pictured it looking like this”.

Feigenbaum says, “We tried to make it all about them, using their colors and motifs in the rest of the house and the things that they enjoy. That’s what makes a room successful, when it reflects the people who live there.”