Jan. 25, 2008
Kelly Edwards grew up in Chicago and went to college for business degree. When she finished, she started working in Corporate America.
But she had all these fantastic ideas in her head: I can build stuff! I can make your room look nifty!
So she took off for Los Angeles to try to score a job on a design show.
“I literally packed up a suitcase moved out there and never came home,” Edwards said.
She got hired and worked as an assistant behind the scenes on HGTV’s Design on a Dime. When the cable channel decided to launch a Chicago edition of the show, she auditioned to be one of its designers.
“I was working behind the scenes for two years in LA, now I’m in my third year on-camera,” Edwards said.
Now she’s bringing her ideas to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry Milwaukee Chapter’s 46th annual Home Improvement Show
“There’s so many design shows out there, but our show’s budget is only $1,000,” Edwards said. “We don’t do anything on the show for a lot of money we just kind utilize what’s around us.”
Some helpful, low-cost tricks include changing the lighting in a room. By switching out light bulbs to compact florescent bulbs with a lower wattage, which will cast a room in a softer hue. Incorporating wall sconces or table lamps can also change the way things are lighted, and therefore the look of the whole room.
Simply moving around furniture could totally improve the feel of a room, but imagining “how the couch would look over there” is not always the easiest. Moving it all around and trying new things is worth a shot, Edwards said. If you live alone, or can’t lift furniture, or just like to make the Internet work for you, there are Web sites with interactive furniture-arranging features. Enter the measurements of your room and furniture, and you can click and drag the items around your virtual space.
“People have a hard time space planning, so they can’t visualize what their furniture would look like in a different spot,” Edwards said. “You don’t have to be a designer to change up your space.”
It’s not always easy for Edwards herself to envision the end product of a low-cost redesign, especially when homeowners ask questions about their own rooms at remodeling shows.
“It’s so design specific to their space and without being able to see it sometimes it’s hard to visualize,” Edwards said. “Sometimes you try to help them in a direction.”
Edwards also likes to incorporate interesting fabrics and mirrors into her designs. When a homeowner is ready to splurge on a big ticket item, or has an priceless heirloom or favorite chair, it can be the centerpiece of a room, she said.
“If you love that chair, then you can design your room around it, you can pull colors out of the chair to make sense of it,” Edwards said. “Go with timeless pieces, so that as your style changes you can change the style around it without spending a lot of money.”
And when new bureau or bookshelf is absolutely imperative, embrace that “diy” attitude.
“I actually just started building in the past year,” Edwards said. “Anything that has to do with woodworking — it’s so empowering to bust out all the power tools.”