I got a sneak peak at some of the spaces at the Metropolitan Pavilion that will be unveiled tonight at Housing Work's Fifth Annual Design on a Dime event...
This year's event is presented by Kmart and Sears — so there are larger room presentations by Ty Pennington, Jaclyn Smith and Country Living Magazine. We pulled some of our favorite rooms and listed them below (it should be noted that there were lots of cool rooms that just weren't ready to be photographed yet!):
• 1 Harry Cushing, Inc.
• 2 Nathan Egan Interiors
• 3 Nest
• 4 John Bartlett & John Esty
• 5 Huniford Design Studio
• 6 Flair
• 7 Franck Hodelin
• 8 Laura Bohn Design Associates
• 9 Mark Stephen Design
• 10 Design by Joshua
• 11 Alex Bandon & Amy Hughes for This Old House
• 12 Charlotte Moss
• 13 Hable Construction Craft Room!
• 14 Luis Caicedo
• 15 Housing Works Fifth-Annual Design on a Dime
WHAT Housing Works Fifth-Annual Design on a Dime
WHEN Opening night VIP shopping and party, May 7 from 6 - 9pm; sale continues May 8 and 9, 10am - 6pm
WHERE Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street betw. 6th and 7th Aves
TICKETS Opening night VIP event tickets start at $150. Purchase tickets at www.housingworks.org/dime. Event is FREE May 8 and May 9
BENEFITS Housing Works’ lifesaving services for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Marisa and Peter's Playfully Eclectic Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
Do the designers have a certain dollar amount that they couldn't exede in designing/dressing the rooms? Some of them look way more expensive than what I think of when I think of designing a room on a dime.
OK, second pic, the two black and white hanging rugs/material anyone know where I can get these?
plastolux: I assume the rooms/contents have all been donated to Housing Works, which is a non-profit?
Aaron, do you know if that's what "designing on a dime" means in this instance?
The designers are responsible for procuring whatever they use to furnish and decorate their rooms - most items are donated, many are made by the designer, etc. I believe "Designing on a Dime" is in reference to the great deals one can find every day at Housing Works...?
I have a question about the first room. The big red tote bag seems integral to the balance of the color scheme, as do the casually tossed books on the floor. (The "reading lamp" is way too low for actual use, by the way...)
I do realize that this is not an actual home's decor, more like a store window, but does it bother anybody else that the room relies on emphemerally placed items of clothing or entertainment to complete the effect? If I lived in that space, my red tote would go to the closet and the books to the shelves and it would start to seem a bit flat.
# 11 reminds me of Roman Holiday when Audrey Hepburn is totally wasted and Gregory Peck rolls her off the couch onto the bed facing the wrong direction. I remember when i was little i used to make my bed the wrong direction sometimes just to mix things up because my mom wouldn't let me hang posters or decorate my room.
There are some scary rooms there. Good thing it's for charity. Plenty of charity is needed.
But, Mark Stephen's (#9) made me exhale.
Any idea where the desk in #8 (http://atgallery.apartmenttherapy.com/assets/0012/2891/housing-works-08.jpg) comes from?
I went to this sale on Saturday afternoon and it was EMPTY! People were buying every single last thing. Everything that was left was drastically marked down - furniture, art, accessories, lots of linens.
Next time I will definitely go earlier!