Frugal Fashion
When Anne Cramer fell in love with wallpaper that cost $300 per roll for her living room, she made a few quick calculations: After repairing the shabby 100-year-old walls, and paying for the paper and installation, the bill would have topped $8,000. “Not happening,” she says, flatly. “We have kids in college and private school.” But she had a vision, and would not be dissuaded. Her approach to the spirited home she pulled together for her family of five, which includes husband, Paul, and three sons Timothy, 19, Patrick, 13, and Flynn, 4, reminds us of the refrain of that old Crosby, Stills, and Nash song: “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” She found Ralph Lauren’s silvery metallic paint and a stencil at JoAnn Fabrics, and spent the next 10 days with a paintbrush, level, stenciling brush, and more than her share of chutzpah. “It’s not perfect, but I even love the cracks,” she says. “They are part of this home.”
The recipe? Start with some talent and a good eye. Add resourcefulness and plenty of sweat. And you get something to celebrate in times like these and proof that there is often little connection between cost and style.
1. Splurge
Know when to save and when to splurge. Bad foam cushions and cheap fabrics just don’t hold up to the wear and tear of three sons. Cramer felt good about buying these classic pieces from Restoration Hardware for the living room. The graphic cotton stripe feels almost like ticking, a casual fabric on a traditional form, which would work in almost any setting. The neutral sofa is softened with pillows from Ikea and Tuesday Morning.
2. Save
Anne dressed the windows in Ikea’s nylon tulle curtains—$4.99 a pair. They come extra long; just cut to the length you like. No hemming necessary.
3. Mix It Up
The sparkle on the mantel is a mix of high and low, and another illustration of Cramer’s talent for using what she has—and loves. The glass candlesticks were closeout items at Target. The mirror from ARC Value Village (cost: $6.99) is rubbed with metallic paint. All work beautifully with the silver candelabra, a gift to Cramer from her husband. By limiting a display to only two materials (glass and metallics here), you can mix shapes and “provenance,” and it works!
4. Attitude
What can’t be seen, but is certainly present in this home is the attitude that nothing is off-limits. Whether it is Target or Tiffany, beauty matters. “I didn’t baby proof this home because I wanted to teach the boys respect for our things,” Cramer says. “It’s fun to see them developing their own sense of style and an appreciation for design.”
Alecia Stevens is a Minneapolis writer and interior designer.
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