A room makeover done with exisiting pieces

July 18, 2012 11:36 AM

When Adrienne Kessel, owner of Adrienne Kessel Interior Design, made over a room in her Port Jefferson Village home, the designer didn’t have to go far for the furnishings. She used existing pieces from throughout her home to create the sitting room/library. “Whenever I work with a client, I encourage them to shop their home for pieces that can be repurposed in the new space,” Kessel says.

Furnished mostly with itmes she inherited or found at garage sales and discount stores, Kessel reupholstered the sofa her mother left her and turned an old sewing machine case into a storage cabinet.

The room is small -- only 12 by 12 feet -- so she used furniture sparingly and kept an eye on scale. “What people usually do in a small room is try to get as much seating as possible in it,” Kessel says. “That just emphasizes the size of the room. Furniture of an appropriate size will make the room feel larger.”

Total: $3,048 (Kessel’s fee for a room like this would be $650 to $750). --SYLVIA E. KING-COHEN