Nate's Save Money Makeovers
Nate Berkus' latest assignment is a doozy. Step 1: Throw a neighborhood swap meet. Step 2: Redecorate four rooms with only $500 per home and some used furniture. Step 3: Watch as creativity comes to life.
Before Nate got his hands on it, Ndu and Mary Ann's bungalow looked disjointed with its mismatched living and dining rooms.
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A perfect-fit cabinet (inherited from a neighbor), an outdoor rug and a DIY paint job of warm beige with coral stenciling and hunter green for the fireplace transforms the disparate rooms into a cohesive space for relaxing and entertaining.
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Judy and Stephen started remodeling their home three years ago, but the recession has made completing the job impossible. As a result, their living room feels bland and unfinished.
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A few small additions—an old Tibetan table that once held a neighbor's TV, a re-stained side table from Ndu and Mary Ann and craft paper behind the bookshelves for accent color—give the once ho-hum living room a jolt of personality. An inexpensive stretch couch cover ("Spanx for furniture," Nate says.) breathes new life into an old sleeper sofa.
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Sarah's scattered office is littered with leftover fabric and supplies from her defunct sewing business.
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Sarah's new streamlined study has space for everything, and a Velcro drapery panel turns open shelving into closed storage. Nate refreshed the tired room, originally intended to foster creativity, with paisley drapes, burnt caramel paint and a glass-door chest from neighbor Judy.
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Chelsea and Shawn's cottage home is small on space and short on style. Their beautiful furniture is generally too big for their tight quarters.
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Showcasing Chelsea's flea market finds in unexpected ways—a vintage camera on the fireplace, an old-school suitcase propped between two tables—meant Nate didn't need to add much by way of accessories. The family room gets a facelift with the addition of outdoor garden tables and a vintage velvet love seat—the most coveted item at the swap meet.
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Published 08/13/2009
