TV Party: 'Design on a Dime'

By Michael Korb, Zap2it, Zap2It.com | July 14, 2007

Summer Baltzer on 'Design on a Dime'

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TV Party

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If you've ever thought, "Gee, I'd love to throw a nice party, but my house/apartment/
condo/jail cell is just too much of a dump," have we got the party for you. The great thing about HGTV's "Design on a Dime," airing Saturdays, is that it shows you – the average person without taste, money or a cool place to live – how to turn a disaster into, well, less of a disaster for $1,000. True, $1,000 doesn't buy what it used to – two girls from Heidi Fleiss or a tank of gas, for example – but it is still more than enough for a couple of gallons of paint, a throw rug, and enough fabric to re-cover the sofa, the chairs and six strategically placed accent pillows. So call your friends, your landlord and your creditors because you are remaking your place into something special.

Setting the scene: First, let's remember that through the magic of television a room can be made over in just 30 minutes – including commercial interruption. In reality it takes a couple of days to figure out what to do and then to do it. You've got between three and four hours, tops, so have a plan of attack already prepared. Minimize clutter in the room you're looking to redo and already have paint options at the ready – as well as the tools to get the job done with up to 30 guests wandering around. What you'll need to do is have pillow covers and sofa covers made beforehand, but not installed, so that guests can participate in the transformation. Same for new bookshelves and artwork. Scatter Ikea catalogs all over the house for when things slow down (instead of watching the paint dry).

Attire: Designers who specialize in "budget rehabs" don't usually come with the same flair of high-end decorators, but encourage guests to be as flamboyant as possible to get those creative juices flowing. Fuchsia ascots, anyone?

On the menu: It's not so much what you serve during a design party but rather how you serve it. Chocolate fountains, lemon towers, pate sculptures, etc. – make everything look like a centerpiece.

On the hi-fi: "Color My World" by Chicago; "Song Sung Blue" by Neil Diamond; "Feng Shui" by Gnarls Barkley.

The showstopper: Contact a local video production company – or call your local high-school or college audio-visual department – and have a camera crew film the transformation. Nothing says "smooth process" like having 30 guests with paint rollers being chased by people with video cameras and boom mics.