Interior Design Blog by Jil Sonia McDonald of Jil Sonia Interior Designs

What percentage of my interior design budget do I spend on draperies & blinds? Here's your Interior design budget breakdown...

6/8/2022

Wondering how to divvy up your total interior design budget? What percentage to spend on furniture? What % to pay on window treatments? Here's a quick summary.

Let's say you have $30,000 budgeted for your living room décor.
Here's a wise way to break it down.

5% goes towards painting your room.
35% for furniture - I know, it seems low right?
10% on rugs
15% on accessories - they really do make a difference!
30% on window treatments. Yikes! Yes, it's really that high. This includes any blinds, roman shades, horizontal blinds, shutters, drapery, drapery rods & installation. Really though, it's imperative to having a gorgeous room. Even cut back on the furniture if you have to!
5% on electrical & shipping.

I usually tell my clients to add an extra 10% contingency fund, just in case something comes up that we don't anticipate.
Don't forget taxes & design fees are on top of this.
Our fee for full service, virtual interior design is $875 per room.

Interior Design by Jil Sonia Interiors.

Rendering by Vasyl Mihay

I provide my clients with low, medium and high budget ranges, so they know in general what you need to budget for each room. Contact me if you'd like a copy of this!

Interior design budget levels for living room

Budget by Jil Sonia Interior Designs

I hope this gives you a little guidance to know where your money will go, on average, for a residential living room! Contact me if you need help!

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Window treatments, Drapes, Blinds - what's the average cost?

4/7/2022

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What is the average cost for window treatments & draperies?

Many of my interior design clients recognize that window treatments, whether functional blinds, drapes, or valances (those are the decorative fabric window treatments that go on the top of your windows), add so much to their rooms esthetic, but wonder what the ball park costs are.

This post will provide you with average costs, so you know which ones, might work best for you. Of course costs will vary, but this will provide a great starting point.

Sheer Drapery

How much do window drapes blinds cost? Jil Sonia Interior Designs

Drapery, sheer shades, Interior design by Jil Sonia McDonald of Jil Sonia Interior Designs

1. Let's start with drapery, some folks call them curtains, which is fine with me!

Let's remember to include the rod, brackets, hooks, carriers & finials, along with the cost of the fabric, lining, labour & shipping fees. Everything can and does add up.

I'd estimate for a pair of drapes & rod to be approximately $2,000 for 2 panels, along with an 8' rod. Of course, if we go with sheer fabric, as shown at the top of this post, the pricing will be lower. If we go with a high end fabric of course the price will be higher. The ones shown above are in a mid range fabric.

2. Sheer shades, shown above, some people call them by the brand name Silhouettes, by Hunter Douglas, are a gorgeous shade, offering glare & UV protection, privacy and light filtering are beautiful. In fact, I used them for my own home.

In general, I'd estimate $1,000 per window, of course depending upon the size. This is my price for a 5' x 5' window.
A fabric blind, or hard window shutter would be approximately the same cost.
These beautiful sheer shades above are by Graber.

Sheer blinds how much do drapes & window treatments cost? Jil Sonia Interior Designs

Hard faux wood window shades / blinds by Graber. Design by Jil Sonia Interiors

3. Hard blinds, which are the old horizontal blinds most of us grew up with are the lesser priced option. They come in real wood, or faux wood (we don't often see vinyl or aluminum blinds anymore.
Remember real wood blinds are very heavy to lift up, faux wood is lighter, but it still leaves a bunched area at the bottom or top area, which shuts out the light. I don't specify them too often. Their price ranges from $350 - $700 per 5' x 5' sized window.

how much do drapes and blinds cost? Jil Sonia Interior designs

Sheer draperies and gorgeous marble flooring photo by Glen Ardi

Installation may or may not be included, depending upon the supplier.

I hope this helps give a basic guideline for window treatments.

Which ones are you loving?

Jil Sonia Interiors virtual e design, remote interior home room design Canada, USA

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Kitchen renovation - how to create the perfect kitchen

10/22/2021

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I was so happy to be featured in Home Trends magazine, featuring a client's kitchen renovation.

Kitchen with fireplace, Jil Sonia Interior Designs Maple Ridge, BC

We ended up having to remove a wall that was dividing the old dining room from the kitchen. The fireplace was too close to the table, due to the tiny room. I also opened up the hallway by removing that wall. Wow, what a difference that made!

Interior design new kitchen renovation Jil Sonia Interiors

Before kitchen

Here's the old dining room - see how tiny it was? The room got waaay to hot with the fireplace on! This is the same fireplace that we used in the above photo, I just removed the mantle and reclad it in an aged brick to add to the farmhouse look.

Before - old kitchen

After our discussions, I showed my client the suggested material samples, hired a contractor, then we went to work!

interior design samples for kitchen renovation

I then created a mood board to keep everything in mind. I used my 15 point check list to ensure I didn't miss a thing. Flooring, check. Lighting, check, Contractor hired, check...