Costs: high vs low...vs affordable

I did it again...

While many young women leaf through the latest gossip in Cosmo, People, etc, I'm leafing through the latest trends in Style at Home. I love this magazine. But I don't have a subscription since I just read it in the Grocery store at the check out. Or I just go online and read the parts I can without getting the online subscription. You should check it out (styleathome.com).

My favourite section is High and Low where they show a beautiful room with some priceless items in it, then they replace the key items in that room with very similar items at a lower cost. They do a great job with this, however, the only problem I find with their low cost rooms is that I would still not spend that much on one room. I'm sure some people would and it's not a heart stopping price, but for the cost of the room they show, I would have assumed that EVERYTHING displayed in the picture is included in that price. I'm talking about the paint/wallpaper, the smaller items such as all the vases etc. 

What I have done is taken the lower cost room, and found the items on line, either on kijiji, ikea, ebay etc and create the same/similar room for a fraction of the price. (Other items that are similar/possibly even less expensive are out there, so don't limit yourself to just those two or three resources)

 So here goes: 

The high cost room:

HIGH $12,965

Hooker Furniture leather-topped Seven Seas DRESSING TABLE, $1,360, Stoney Creek furniture, stoneycreekfurniture.com. Fruitwood 18th-century CHAIR, $1,875 per set of 2, Convex Dorian MIRROR, 24", $685, Ribbehege & Azevedo, ribbehegeandazevedo.com. Redford House white alder wood Swedish DRESSER, $2,877, restored vintage Liat CHANDELIER in Antique White, $835, Au Lit Fine Linens, aulitfinelinens.com. Wool/silk Dorothy RUG in Blue/Grey, 9' x 12', $3,785, Elte, elte.com. Thai Silk DRAPERY PANEL in Optic White, 50" x 96", $259, large Estate Silver ROD, 6', $95, large Ball FINIAL, $89 per pair, RINGS, $54 per pack of 7, Restoration Hardware, restorationhardware.com. Teal grosgrain 8900 RIBBON (on drapery), $14 per metre, Mokuba, 416-364-5144. Ceramic Antique-Finish garden STOOL in Apple Green, $375, Teatro Verde, teatroverde.com. SCARF, $130, Winners, winners.ca. Vintage Coach Heritage HANDBAG, $450, REmix Clothing, remix.ca.

The low cost room:

LOW $5,040

Solid pine Edland DRESSING TABLE with clear lacquered finish, $249, IKEA, ikea.ca. Josephine CHAIR upholstered in Charlene Wedgewood, $1,164, Ethan Allen, ethanallen.com. Round Soleil MIRROR, 27", $49, President’s Choice Home Collection, pc.ca.Boudoir DRESSER in Country White, $949, Urban Barn, urbanbarn.ca. Hampton Bay Heritage 6-lightCHANDELIER in Antique White, $189, The Home Depot, homedepot.ca. Wool Mia Wallace RUG in Blue/Light Grey, 9' x 12', $1,745, Elte, elte.com. Polyester PT Milano DRAPERY PANEL in Winter White, 50" x 96", $190, pewter Connections ROD, 6', $45, silver Connections Mozart Ball FINIAL, $45 per pair, silver Connections RINGS, $13 per pack of 10, inVU Drapery Co., invudraperyco.com. Teal Herringbone 5700 RIBBON (on drapery), $8 per metre, Mokuba, 416-364-5144. Green ceramic garden STOOL, $150, Pier 1 Imports, pier1.ca. SCARF, $15, Winners, winners.ca. Vintage Kate Spade HANDBAG, $200, REmix Clothing, remix.ca.




the affordable room:

Okay so again there is not pic of the actual room becuase I would have to purchase all these items, paint my walls and take a pic. I don't want to do that every time I do this blog. So once again, take note of the items in the room above and replace with the once below.

dressing table. $49 at Ikea. 

remove the legs from one side of  the  dressing
 table and replace with this. $50  Ikea

chandelier. $35 kijiji

old dresser, add a couple coats of white paint and
 find some old knobs $50 kijiji

upholstered antique chair. $60 kijiji 

mirror. $30 kijiji

fabric for curtains. $20 +10 for rings=$30 Ikea
(seems like a fairly pointless picture to copy and paste!)

curtain rod. $20 kijiji

large  rug. $200 kijiji

green handbag $25 kijiji

scarf$10 Meetups (?) in Scarborough (I found the link on kijiji)

large turquoise vase $40 I could not find anything like that green ceramic stool.
That  in an item that is not often  duplicated So I replaced it with this. Kijiji

Grand total: $600 

One of the key items in both images seems to be that dress form/mannequin, and yet it doesn't have a price. However I found one of those on Kijiji too, though it is black I think it could still look really great in this room. 

dress form $80 kijiji. Although you might find one on the
 side of the road like I did

Also, not included is the wall (paint? or paper?) either way, Rona, has recycled paint, which I think is fantastic, unfortunately it only comes in 16 different shades. However, I'm sure you could find it in a blueish colour and some kind of white and they cost $17 per can so that makes another $35. And you can use this paint for the dresser too. 

All thats left to do is to place some old books ( owned or thrift)  and a storage box or blue/green basket on top of the dresser. And Voila, you have a new room for about $715 that someone else paid over $12, 000 for!

So lets review the costs of all three rooms:

High: $12, 965

Low: $5, 040

Affordable: $600 (or$ 715 if you add the dress form and paint)