Top New Jersey Interior Designer's Guide On Where To Spend And Where To Save In Your Home
Sarah Elizabeth
Carly Jara Photography for Sarah Elizabeth Design
As a top New Jersey interior designer, I’d like to help you get real clear on where to spend in your home design, and where you can save. Over the course of a decade plus designing home in New Jersey and beyond, we’ve developed methods in the way we choose furniture and decor for homes and want to share the reasons why, and how you can implement the same methods. Many of our clients are busy professionals with young children and pets, which means durable fabrics and floor covering are needed, and items designed to last - which is how we design most all spaces. This can mean investing in custom items like a sofa with a washable velvet you love and will all dive on after a long day, paired with a washable pattern rug, that can be switched out as your kids grow - remember that patterns hide stains like a pro… Another scenario we see are young professionals who crave an elevated design, requesting some luxury items to mix with apartment and budget-appropriate furniture, knowing they will eventually move out and move up in the next 5+ years. Here I recommend saving on the bed frame for example as you can get lovely upholstered beds on One Kings Lane and even CB2, paired with pricier sheets you cant resist for the quality and feel, or maybe its the lovely bedding thread color in the stitching that just ties the bedroom together…
A few other notes to keep in mind: The old saying - you pay for what you get -does ring true in terms of furniture especially the larger pieces you use the most. Meaning the more you spend on say a quality sofa (which could mean made in America using a hardwood frame like the photo above and below) the longer it will last. Another bit of advice: While we can tell you where to spend and where to save, if something makes your heart happy, you should have it in your home - whether a spectacular chandelier you saw in a showroom on your way to the subway that cant stop thinking about, or a vintage piece you saw browsing the 1st Dibs website late one night... Certainly sleep on it, and but if it would make you happy seeing it in your home, meaning add richness, than its truly priceless.
Vanessa Casella for Sarah Elizabeth Design
Where to Save:
Area rugs for your living room, dining room, mudroom - think high traffic areas. We like Revival and Ruggable for higher-end looking and seriously washable rugs, with some great patterns!
Accent furniture - Remember, for main pieces including your sofa, where you plant your b-hind most evenings after a long day, you want something that’s not only going to last, and hold up but look and feel good for the long run. Accent furniture are by no means an afterthought, yet we have found many great looking metal side tables and drink stands, and even marble coffee tables at West Elm and CB2.
Decor items including kids room decor - There is such great ceramic and glass vases, candles and candle holders, and objects out there to style your entry console, coffee table or kids rooms. For kids rooms there seem to be endless fun and even hand-made wall art and decor out there from Crate and Kids and even Etsy. This can also include cotton or linen throw blankets for the arm of your sofas during the warmer mosts.
Your bed frame and head board, not to mention your kids beds and even guest room beds: We have seen and used lovely upholstered bed options at mid-priced vendors like Lulu and Georgia, Crate and Barrel and One Kings Lane, who offer a selection of velvets and linens with not so long lead times. Below is a great examples of high and low, using a bed from One Kings Lane paired with lux bedding from Ann Gish.
Sarah Elizabeth Design
Where to spend:
Wallpaper and a good painter - Wallpaper can easily cost as much as the cost to install it as you want a pro to do it, which I cant stress enough. Likewise with finding the right wallpaper pattern - one you gravitate to and keep going back to is the one you should go with. Wallpapers are sold by the roll or by the yard, and cost between $150 and $300 a roll normally. That said, you will have the wallpaper for what could easily be a decade - many clients call us back 10-13 years later to redesign their home for example. So that few hundred dollars you might spend for the pattern you love the most will not make a difference in the long run - but what would make a difference is liking VS loving it! The powder room below is a great example, the client and i kept going back to a show-stopping Australian artist’s wallpaper design that cost more than the others but SO worth it.,
Lighting for dining rooms and other main rooms - These are direct reflections of your style and personality and should be designs you love and ones that will last. While exposed-bulb trending lighting can be cheap and sold at big box stores, after having an electrician install it its going to be costly either way, and chances are you will tire of the style, so why not pick something made well, that you love and will last ✨.
Window treatments - They are the finishing touches (think the perfect jewelry to go with an outfit). You want to budget $800 + per window for fabric shades.
Artwork (and a professional art hanger to hang it) - Artwork is very personal, much like wallpaper, where each of us is drawn to different colors and patterns. In my professional opinion, giclees and prints are never as powerful as the real deal. Dont get me wrong, there are many up and coming artists, many who we partner with, who’s work ranges in price and can start at as little as $1000 for an original piece. Using a professional art hanger so that your artwork is hung right is also imperative - the first thing I notice when entering a home is the artwork height, if the artwork is hung too high (or low) it’s distracting, your eye and brain sense something isnt right and it takes away from the room’s overall look and feel.
That goes with any professional - Choose the most qualified person so the job is only done once. As you would want the most qualified dentist, or the most educated lawyer or financial planner, same goes with your home projects.
Your mattress AND your bedding - You work hard, you should be surrounded by something that feels luxurious and elevated when climbing into bed. Bedding isnt as pricey as people might think and when it’s great quality, like most things, it lasts.
Beautiful wool or cashmere throws - They will last forever and feel so indulgent when curling up on the sofa during the cooler months.
Iris Bachman Photography for Sarah Elizabeth Design