Is it your dream to have a home that functions with practicality on a daily basis, yet is also inviting and reflects your sense of style? If your decorating attempts have not lived up to your dreams, or you just can’t decide where to begin, there is an easy, affordable answer: interior redesign.

INTERESTING NEW INTERIORS
While the name may vary—interior redesign, interior arrangement, interior decorating—the concept is the same: A decorator comes into the home and, using items the homeowner already owns, rearranges them in new ways to better fit the client’s needs and personality.

“By simply combining existing furniture and accessories in creative, unexpected ways, interior rearrangers can transform a room into the warm, stylish place a homeowner has always wanted,” says Lisa Billings, president of the Interior Arrangement and Design Association. One of the first things an interior rearranger will do is simply talk with the homeowner to find out what he or she hopes to achieve and gain insight into the homeowner’s personal style.

“The completed room should always reflect the homeowner’s taste, but objectivity is key to the redesign process,” says Nancy Bruno, co-owner of Decorating Makeovers & More. “Because they become attached to their items, homeowners can get stuck in a rut and not be able see beyond their own point of view. It’s easier for someone else to come in and make the pieces work in a more stylish and functional way because that person doesn’t have a history with them.” Rearrangers usually work with one room at a time.

REINVENTING ROOMS
Before the makeover starts, the rearranger will make an inventory of items throughout the house that could be used in the redesign and will remove everything from the room being rearranged in order to start with a clean slate. Then the rearranger will create a focal point in the room and continue to add items, using skills and training to incorporate balance, scale, texture and color while also incorporating the homeowner’s lifestyle, creating a good flow and using items in a new way. The entire process takes about four to six hours, depending on the size of the room.

“We deal with the usable space that’s already there,” says Sharon Black of Anew Design Inc. “We can bring out the hidden potential in furnishings and accessories that the homeowner was never able to see before.”

Candidates for redesign include people going through a life transition such as a death or divorce, or a family moving into a new home. “It can be difficult for people to visualize their items in a new space and to decide where they fit and how they need to be arranged,” Billings says. “And while some clients are moving into a larger house and need to know how to make the most of what they have in a larger space, others are downsizing and need to edit their belongings.”

ADDING NEW TO OLD
If the client asks, rearrangers often will work with him or her to create a “wish list” of new furniture and accessory pieces to purchase or offer other services such as assistance with color schemes and wall and window treatments. In some cases, they will even do the actual shopping.

“The goal is to use what the homeowner already has and loves, ‘shopping’ the rest of the home to bring in items from other rooms,” says Melanie Serra of Interior Revivals Inc. “Sometimes, though, there may be a few things that would make the room perfect that the homeowners don’t have. In that case, we can shop for them for an extra fee, or leave them a wish list and advice on where to find exactly what they’re looking for.”

The cost for interior redesign can either be based on the square footage of a room or be a flat fee per room; other services are an additional charge. In the Atlanta area, the flat fee charge starts around $300 per room, which includes the initial consultation.

“Redesign is really an affordable option for everyone,” Serra says. “Since we’re using what you already have, all you have to pay for is the time, which can be as little as half a day.”

MAKING A FIRST IMPRESSION
Similar to interior redesign, but used to achieve a different goal, is home staging. While the goal of interior redesign is to make your home more livable for the current homeowner, the goal of home staging is to make your home more marketable to a future homeowner.

“A home stager works with the homeowner to showcase the house to its best advantage in preparation for selling,” says Wanda Hickman, staging course trainer for StagedHomes.com. “Stagers will remove the homeowner’s personal items and minimize distractions by rearranging the furniture and accessories. While the house should be warm and inviting, staging shifts the focus to the size of the rooms, the architectural elements and the view.”

Stagers typically work with the homeowners to create a plan to prepare the home for sale, and the homeowners can usually do most of the work that needs to be done with the stager assisting as little or as much as the homeowner would like. Home staging takes into account the entire house, including the exterior, and stagers will recommend changes such as trimming shrubbery that blocks the view of the home, painting rooms a more neutral color and removing unnecessary objects from countertops and furniture.

“People buy space, so rooms need to look as usable, functional and spacious as possible,” Hickman says. “The purpose of neutralizing and decluttering the home is so potential buyers can begin to visualize their items in the house and imagine living there.”

In the Atlanta area, a home-staging consultation can range from $200 to $500, and it is usually based on the square footage, location and condition of the house; assisting with the preparation is an additional charge.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Sometimes homeowners like the results of their home-staging experience so much they ask the stager to help them create the same look in their new home. “After a staging, many clients will comment about how great the house looks, so we offer a service called ‘staging to live,’” Hickman says. “Basically, staging to live is a simplified approach to decorating that is very neutral and limits clutter.”

So whether you are looking to pull your home together in a way that better reflects your style, want to make your house ready to sell, or just want to simplify and streamline your decor, home staging and interior redesign are both affordable options with quick results.