apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i can tell a knock-off dog anywhere...

damn, i have expensive taste!

Splurge on things that will last. I buy real wood, vintage furniture on the cheap versus big box latest design that won't last more than a few years. i bought a sofa from a brand name store that only lasted me 3 years and cost me $600. I just recently bought a sofa that is 100 years old for $50 that just needs new fabric.

Oh.....is it me or does the dog in the expensive room look REALLY uncomfortable?

The ikea chair gave it away for me. One note. At a distance it all looks cool but sometimes the details make a diff in person, although, you could practically buy a BMW with the difference in price.

I would rather have a kids piece of oringal work of art on my wall than a copy.....Copies are just that...so fake

I would go with the cheaper room but with the expensive chair...and I agree with the above I would choose a cheaper original piece of artwork.

okay, there is absolutely no comparison here!!!

you just can't fake luxury.

RachelOM,

No, it's not just you. He looks miserable. You can tell he was promised a REALLY good treat to "stay" for the shot.

In my opinion the chair and the oil painting are the only items worth the splurge in the top shot.

RachelOM,

You seriously just cracked me up!! LOL! I thought the same thing! For that very reason I thought that room was the knock off! I'm like, "come on that looks like a cheap doggy bed!" And look! I was wrong! LOL!

Im broke but bummed out by the second room's tacky rug, bad lines on the table and horrid chair...

The dog looks more comfortable in the cheaper room.

The chair shows a lot, the table shows a little (look at the very bottom of the legs), fake art is just gross, everything else, who cares? especially as the WS rug is probably still very good quality.

RachelOM... too funny. I was thinking the same. The room may be beautiful but the rich dog is sleeping on a throw pillow.

hmm. I have no taste. I like the lamp in the cheap room better for some reason. I know that's wrong, but the other one looks like an alien space ship. The chair looks way better in the expensive room. I hate the rug and artwork regardless.

that chair is hideous.
replica art- tacky! you can find local artists work for less than 100 dollars or art students work.
but even the original room i find hard to look at-- the styling of the room could be much better, the knock off room is even worse.

oh god, a 45K home office? sorry, but that makes me ill.

A 1970s "antique"? O_o

Hilarious...I too couldn't help but notice miserable rich dog, and then frugal dog..who wanted to know when he could resume his nap....

The more expensive room was obvious to me. Not that the replica is bad. I probably would not spend the $45K, but I do like that rug.

I understand patronizing local artists, buying original and so forth. But sometimes you just really fall in love with an already famous painting! (I confess to having an enormous print of Leighton's Flaming June in my bedroom..::swoon:: it makes me feel peaceful and happy)

But that being said, I do like the original room better overall. It's mostly the chair and the lamp that make the difference to me, but certainly I wouldn't spend that much money!

I don't think I'd notice the difference between cheap and original if they'd cared enough to match the color AND proportions better... They just got lazy, and I think that's what it all comes down to... a nicer shade for 50 bucks, an exact replica of the same painting with the same size frame... etc. Luxury isn't in the price tag, it's in the details.

Candian Style At Home magazine does this I believe, or some magazine similar, a feature called "High/Low" that shows two rooms and often times they are IDENTICAL, not like in the above photo but like if you were to look at it you'd think it was just the same picture repeated, and the difference can be often several thousand dollars

As per 'copy' art- I own a few- each is a print purchased and attached to very fond memories and sentiment. I have no problem with it. I'm a painter- my home is filled with TONS of originals- but a 'fake' print of my favorite painting- it makes me smile.

I think if you applied the 'originals only and always rule' to aspects other than art, you'd be in for quite a surprise. Almost everything is a copy or in some way derivative of something else. It'd be like saying that if anything wasn't entirely hand-made and unique you couldn't ever own it...

okay, i think art should be enjoyed because if i have to love and look at it everyday, i'll spend $5 or $50000 depending on what i love, not what's in style.

The vintage chair is just gorgeous, and i say that is one good thing to invest in an office.

The rest i think you can do on the cheap.

One look at the legs on the desk chair in the $45k room and it was a clear giveaway which was high and which was low. The legs of desk chairs just aren't made like that anymore. And the low, at $7k, still isn't worth it in my book. What did they spend the $7k on? The chair, replica painting, and the rug? It doesn't do it for me. I'm sure any frugalista designer could have come way closer without spending as much. And I totally agree with Djluckyonline, they could have done better with the details. Proportions do matter when trying to produce a low end copy, especially when the room dimensions are the same.

If spending $44,000 why not spend a few hundred on a nice big doggie bed big enough to hold that adorable pooch. He looks like he's teetering on a saucer sled.

The lamp and chair gave it away for me.

I'm not that status conscious. If I really loved something and could afford it (and needed it), then I'd buy it. But I'd never try to consciously ape a certain style or look with cheaper versions of the items used. That seems kind of sad to me. Just get what you like and ignore what the label says.

I'd happily spend $45k on a room, but not if it looked like that.

You give me 44 000 $, and I get a nice house. You give me 7 485 $ and I get all the stuff that goes in it, and beautiful, to boot!

Non mais.

SPLURGE....

there's a clear enclosure on the rich dog doggy bed, thats why he's so uncomfortable looking--he's all sqeezed in poor guy. personally, I think the overall design concept is boring. what would i spend money on? perhaps something i like enough to want it to last a lifetime, so long as its not too hard to move without damaging.

The only thing I'd prefer in the expensive room is the chair and the vase. And if I had the cash, the desk. Everything else, I'd rather have the cheaper version. Especially the dog bed!

The lamp was a giveaway. And yeah, poor dog, shoehorned into a Corbusier dog bed, lol.

I spend disproportionately on seating because your body doesn't give a crap about the quality of your rug, or table for that matter, provided it's at the right height. With a bigger budget though... ; )

Oh yeah, lamps. I spend on floor lamps. But not ones that look like drafting compasses.

They just needed a smaller dog for the pictures to make the expensive dog bed look more comfortable. I guess that goes along with all the "detail" comments.

Pretty obvious (just look at the table or the wood of the lamp)...

Poor dog though, squished into that "design statement"! Looks much more comfortable on the doggy bed in the other picture... which just goes to show that expensive design is useless if it is not comfortable or practical as well...

FYI, a table from the 1970s is not "antique." Jesus, AT.... I love you, but sometimes you embarrass me.

That new office chair looks bad, not knock-off just office chair in absolutely different style.

actually like the cheaper room better...but that could be a tad bit because i just feel so sorry for the dog squished in that little bitty bed.

With a difference in price that large, I'd go for the cheaper room. You could make in theory like almost six of the knock off rooms for the expensive on...which would allow money to do more than one room in your home. Trust me, I put almost $50,000 into a room and I'm going to place a glass door into the room and no one will enter - it will be like a museum.

Yes the dog looks MUCH more comfortable in the cheaper room - since the owners went for comfort over looks for their pet.

I do agree about art. I have prints, but nothing makes me happier than supporting an artist by buying their originals. Fixtures are a must splurge for me. When I did the kitchen in our current house, my husband convinced me that the home depot pull out faucet was just as good as the Franke and he could not have been more wrong (I secretly wish I had removed all of my fixtures from my old house and brought them with me!). The little hot/cold button popped out a few months ago and I hate it even more. I also went with cheap tile in the kitchen and now I obsess about the removal/replacement of it. I would not spend $37,000 on a room of furniture, but for fixtures throughout the house, I will never do that again.

Am I the only going, "man, $7,000 for a home office?" It's no $45k, but it's not a drop in the bucket either...

Poor puppers, that posh bed is too small for him.

LSUgrad03 . . . yes, i'm with you. $7k for a room is a splurge for me; $45k is obscene. the two most expensive pieces of furniture in my home are my mattress (a necessity) and my piano (a gift). i don't think anything else in the house was over $100.

That poor dog is just crammed into that tuna can "bed"! He looks much more comfortable in the less expensive room.

If it means having a dog bed that my dog will fit in to I'll take the "poor" room (AYKM!) to funny with the dog that makes my day! But seriously quality is quality. And for the earlier BMW comparision this might be more like comparing Rolls Royces; new vs. old.

The desk, chair and lamp were the things that convinced me. Especially the chair. And yes, poor puppy--that dog bed is for a pommeranian, not a lab!

both rooms look more or less the same in a photo. but i'm pretty sure you'd be able to tell the difference in person. while i think $45k for as little as they have in that room is obscene, i do think there are pieces you should invest in for the long term: art, rugs, beds, chairs, and paint [cheap paint isn't worth the savings]. everything else can be either luxe or not, depending on the budget.

Grab some cool digs at a local thrift store and give the money to people who can't eat.

The biggest flag for me is the proportions - I hate when someone tries to copy a designer room piece by piece, without thinking about how the items relate to each other.

Any amount of money spent is waisted with such a sad looking dog.

Seriously, how could they think that chair is an acceptable replacement?

I was so aghast at both rooms that I didn't even notice the dogs. Having said that, the Ikea/fake room is multiple orders of magnitude more hideous and instantly id'ed.

I havent splurged on a single thing. This probably has convined me to splurge on artwork...since i dont have any.

We are going with original room too, it seems warmer in spirit. We don't hate the dog bed as much as others here. It just looks like the dog is too big for it.

Both rooms are great. I would purchase pieces at a higher price that are one of a kind or perhaps a substantial furniture piece. Im not sure I would spend money on an original piece of artwork. It doesnt seem logical to have a $50,000 painting in a $37,000 condo. I mean, who among your friends would recognize such? Who would even care?

I like both rooms. I was easy to identify the most expensive room...although $7000 is still a bit high for me.

LSUgrad03 and doubledutch -- I agree with both. I can't think of anything in my apartment that cost over $200. I could redo the whole place with $7000. It's sad what people will spend excessive money on when they could help out society by donating to charities if they really must spend that money. I can't think of a single charity out there that wouldn't benefit greatly from a thousand dollar donation.

I splurge on the pieces I use the most and where quality makes a big difference (seating, sleep, overall health): sofa, bed, Egyptian linen bedsheets.

I cheap out on things I believe are transitional items for me personally: some mass market accessories that I'll retire because I find a newer shape I like, wine glasses (I always break them so luxe crystal was a complete waste of dollars!), lap blankets and bed quilt (have to replace them often with pets).

I wish I'd known all that when I was just starting out and furnishing my first home... I could have saved a fortune by buying antiques or solid wood, from the get go, and skipping the big box stores.

The lamp in the pricey room cracks me up - a couple of years ago, my husband surprised me with one that he had made out of an old surveyor's tripod he found at a salvage store. Probably cost less than $50, including the lamp kit and a thrift store drum shade. Looks almost identical!

Though neither are really my style, I definitely prefer the original room to the budget version (aside from the rug and the dog bed). Still, I cannot fathom spending that kind of money on an office.