"As a professional designer, I love to transform spaces - both my own and my clients' - but I am determined to do it without spending a fortune. It's a learned skill: I started out with limited resources and had to get creative, and my clients don't have sky-high budgets, either. (Before I was a professional designer and an antiques dealer, I worked in theater as a prop man and set dresser, so I have 35 years of experience in hunting for bargain-priced gems.)"
"Over time, I developed what has become my signature rule for creating beautiful spaces: the TGIF Rule, which stands for thrifted, gifted, invented, and found. This rule helps me skip buying things straight from retail stores and instead get more creative with my shopping. Here's how I use the TGIF rule to create spaces that are super homey (and very affordable)."
"In my work, I start every design process by taking stock of what a client already has, what can be obtained on the secondhand market, and what we can invent together - and I do the same thing in my own home (most recently, when transformed my bare patio into my own cheap slice of paradise). Here's how I use each piece of the TGIF rule."
A professional designer developed the TGIF rule — thrifted, gifted, invented, and found — to create affordable, unique interiors without impulse buying. The rule evolved from a budgeting shorthand into a design philosophy that prioritizes secondhand, gifted, and repurposed items to add character and savings. Design process begins with taking stock of existing client pieces, sourcing from vintage shops, flea markets, and estate sales, and inventing custom solutions when needed. The approach fills rooms with story-driven objects while minimizing retail purchases and stretching limited budgets, and it has been applied successfully in the designer's own home and outdoor projects.
Read at Apartment Therapy
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