A recipe for furnishing a home from scratch

By BARBARA MAYER

Associated Press

So, you're at Square One as you begin furnishing a new home.

You shop until you drop, agonize over every purchase, finally place the orders, then wait months for the arrival of your proud new possessions. Chances are you'll keep that furniture for decades.

But what if you can't take your furniture along and need to start all over again?

Michael Carson spent a few weekends.

The decorating team of Fox-Nahem Design accomplished the decorating task for a client in about six weeks.

The Pyttes, a recently-retired suburban New York couple, decided to try life in the big city and rented out their house completely furnished.

They found an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment in New York City and headed to Ikea.

"What we needed was so simple we didn't even make a list," Pat recalled. Within a few hours, they had picked out a sofa, chairs, tables, lamps and bedroom furniture at the Scandinavian chain known for its inexpensive, ready-to-assemble pieces. The bill came to about $3,000, including $99 for delivery.

"We furnished the whole place for less than the real estate brokerage fee for a furnished apartment," said Erling with evident satisfaction.

The sofa was assembled but everything else had to be put together, which took him the better part of a day. Then the couple plugged in their new TV set, a radio and a laptop computer from their previous home and they were ready to start their new life.

A few years ago, Michael Carson relocated from Philadelphia to Southern California to take a new job and had to furnish a one-bedroom apartment in Dana Point. Two weekends or so perusing the local Pennysaver advertisements for used furniture and a trip to a Target store for bedding and sundries, and he was comfortably at home.

Michael estimates he spent about $500 for the furniture as well as pots and pans, china and flatware. "I think I paid $50 for the sofa, which was decent but one stage below good," he said. "I might have paid $200 for the bedroom set which included a new mattress. A friend with a van helped me move the sofa. I also bought a bulky desk which I was able to get into my convertible by putting the top down. You can move some pretty bulky things in a convertible."

Asked if he was satisfied with the decor, Michael laughed. "It was definitely an eclectic look. I didn't expect to wind up with a designer apartment by shopping in this manner, but I feel I beat the system by furnishing so inexpensively. It was more of an adventure than walking into a store and buying something new. I also felt good that I completed my task quickly and I didn't have to worry about the furniture. It gave me a feeling of freedom instead of a feeling of being tied down to this particular place."

The Pyttes also are delighted with the results of their speedy furnishing job. "It's spartan and off-white and generic, which feels great _ perhaps as a reaction to the ordeal of picking out wallpaper last year _ and it is fun to manage with a lot fewer possessions," said Pat.

"Personally, I would live with a box spring and mattress, a TV and a folding table and wait to get the things I really want," said interior designer Joe Nahem.

But that wasn't an option offered by a couple who came to Fox-Nahem Design of New York seeking a decorating job for a two-bedroom apartment. The husband had a working assignment in New York City and they were keeping their existing home, so they needed everything.

With delivery waits of 16 weeks and up for custom pieces, it's rare for a high-end design project to come together quickly, but where there's a will there's a way. Fox-Nahem Design prevailed on a cooperative local upholsterer to make up a sofa and several easy chairs in four weeks. They selected fabrics and carpeting that were in stock and available for immediate delivery, and they relied on vintage furniture such as a dining table and chairs and other pieces.

"We didn't want the apartment to look as if everything dropped off a truck from Bloomies, so we hung a fabric curtain on a hook behind the sofa and we papered several walls with woven linen and metallic paper," Nahem said.

As for the couple, their time commitment was minimal. "We met with them only twice, once to get the plan okayed and the second time for them to make their selections from samples and actual items," Nahem recalled.

"When they moved in about six weeks later, the apartment was 100 percent done, from hangers in the closets to soap and monogrammed robes in the bathroom."