Budget Design:
Local designer tackles client's needs one room at a time

As homeowners in New York and elsewhere tighten their belts, it’s not surprising that they’re thinking twice before spending a fortune on decorating. According to a recent survey by the American Society of Interior Designers, interior decorators are getting fewer requests for residential projects and tackling single rooms, instead of whole houses. They are also finding ways to charge less.

When Maria Brito hired interior designer Tracy Ward, the corporate attorney made it clear she wanted the antiques, art and furnishings from her old apartment to look at home in her new condominium in Chelsea. Most of all, she wanted hints more than help.

Ward’s firm, Use-What-You-Have Interiors was something of a novelty in the design world when Ward’s mother, Lauri Ward, founded it in 1981. While the company will work with people who are starting out with bare rooms, they are best known for pioneering the concept of budget-friendly, one-day redecorating, using things people already own.

“It doesn’t matter if they have a lot or a little money — everybody makes the same mistakes,” says Lauri Ward, whose latest book, “Downsizing Your Home With Style,” recently became available in paperback. “Somebody living in a studio apartment makes the same mistakes as someone living in an estate.”

The company seemed like a good fit for Brito. Like many others in today’s design-conscious world, Brito, 33, relishes do-it-yourself decorating, and she can’t afford to pay a designer thousands of dollars or buy all-new furnishings. She already has a knack for successfully mixing high-end, middle-of-the-road and budget furnishings.

When she moved into her Chelsea apartment, Brito didn’t think it necessary to carry out an expensive, elite makeover to give her home a polished look. She wasn’t looking to go on a shopping spree. Still, she wanted advice from a pro.

“I have an eye for design,” says Brito, who is a native of Venezuela and whose husband is from Brazil. “I’ve always enjoyed browsing design books. But I have no formal training. I really needed guidance.” Her apartment had good bones, according to Tracy Ward.

“She had a really nice place and had good furniture to work with,” says Ward. “The pieces she had chosen really did work well together.”

While Brito’s place is filled with cabinets, tables and chairs representing different styles and periods, nearly everything is in the same dark shade of wood, which ties the mix together.

“I don’t like to see a lot of mixed woods,” says Ward. “I try to keep woods in the same family.” That rule of thumb works in the baby’s room, which is filled with white painted furniture. The white crib, day bed and changing station look like they could be a matched set, but Brito purchased the crib at Bellini Baby & Teen Furniture on the upper East Side, the changing station from Pottery Barn and the day bed from IKEA.

“I wanted to create a special place for him,” says Brito, holding her son, Daniel, in her arms.

With furniture and accessories already in hand, Ward’s job came down to planning, rearranging and making recommendations on paint colors and a few incidental purchases for three rooms. Ward and Brito got together on a Saturday to design the new space. They started at Brito’s apartment in midtown, where Ward got a look at Brito’s home and possessions and a sense of her style. From there, they traveled south to the modern steel and glass tower in Chelsea where Brito and her husband purchased a three-bedroom, 2½-bathroom condo in early 2008.

Ward measured everything “to the smallest millimeter,” Brito says. Fortunately, the old furnishings fit. Ward wrote a design plan for Brito that covered everything from where and how high to hang oil paintings to how to position the sectional and a pair of armchairs in a cozy, U-shaped arrangement.

Ward specified light but warm paint colors, and steered Brito to yellow-and-blue checkerboard carpet tiles for Daniel’s room. The designer also drew a plan for constructing an office nook in the master bedroom. “Nothing was unclear,” Brito says. “She’s very, very precise.”

Ward steered her client to placing her bed on the longer wall in the master bedroom, and recommended moving an oil painting of Frida Kahlo by French artist Corinne Dalle-Ore to a wall near the kitchen. Brito followed nearly all of Ward’s recommendations. The designer’s services for three rooms set Brito back about $1,800.

“It’s a very sensible solution for people with limited budgets,” says Brito. During a recession, it was nice to hear a designer wanting to keep items, instead of buying new ones.

“We’re seeing fewer people move into new spaces and start over with all new things,” says Lauri Ward. “People don’t want to get rid of things they realize they can use.”