Affordable Interior Design: High-End Tips for Any Budget

by Betsy Helmuth, Dov Plawsky (Photographer)

Live in luxury—on a budget. Homeowners and renters of all means dream of having a beautiful home. The media makes it look so easy, but many of us have less to work with and still long to live in style. Affordable Interior Design makes luxury an affordable reality. In this DIY home decorating handbook, Helmuth reveals insider tips and her tried-and-tested methods for choosing colors, creating a gallery wall, how to use accent tables, entry benches, rugs, and more! Helmuth has shared her affordable design advice and step-by-step approaches with millions through live teaching workshops, guest columns, television appearances, and interviews. Now, she has distilled her expertise into this practical guide. The chapters follow her secret design formula and include creating a design budget, mapping out floor plans, selecting a color palette, and accessorizing like a stylist. It’s time to start living in the home of your dreams without maxing out your credit cards. Learn how with Affordable Interior Design!

Genres: Interior Design, Nonfiction, Design

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2019

Reviews

[Rachel B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love living thriftily and I love interior design, so obviously I had to read this book.

Most of the spaces looked like budget spaces, unfortunately, and I don't think it's because of the budget! They were missing texture, depth, or some piece that would bring interest. Helmuth doesn't seem to take any risks in her decorating, so the results are lackluster.

I agreed with her Super Secret Seven points to double check that a room is "finished," but I don't think she gives enough credit to those who have an "eye for design." Following her checklist still won't guarantee a room that "works."

She includes some helpful tips, but they're the ones that are in practically any book on design.

While Helmuth could be funny, she was mostly blunt and bossy. She was really opinionated about what she thought looked cheap/tacky, which was amusing since I thought many of her spaces looked cheap.

Also, she manages to work a sexual joke into a section about window treatments. Not classy.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most useful design book I've read for normal people. The cover is kind of unappealing and the layout isn't exactly beautiful, but the content is specific and useful and succinct. I think I'm better than average at decorating and I learned a few things, like that the scale of your table lamps will look best if their height is about equal to the height of the table they'll be placed on, and that while you can follow the common "make sure you have a few instances of each for it to look intentional" tip of mixing woods or metals, the average person's room will look best with a mix of woods or metals in the same tone (light, medium, or dark wood; cool, warm, or dark metal). Betsy is snarky and thoroughly entertaining as well. This is definitely an unpretentious guide and you can read it in an hour.

[Kasiabadura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I know next to nothing about interior design, it was very informative and easily digestible. Warning: a pedestrian style of writing and cheap jokes can cause some eye-roll.

[Sarah Brousseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 73/55: Affordable Interior Design: High-End Tips For Any Budget by Betsy Helmuth and photographed by Dov Plawsky. Two books finished in one day! What a rush to see these numbers climb! Some great tips amidst this gem of a read. I'll take these ideas with me as I shop mindfully for my next interior design project.

[Mangala Prabhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on interior designing. Loved all the details that was discussed in this book. Couldn't skip even a single line. The book was a plethora of ideas and suggestions for decorating beautifully as well as affordably. I instantly became a fan of this author. This book is definitely a very good read.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too snarky and I dislike when the illustrations in DIY books show something different than the narrative. Just a pet peeve of mine. Don't tell me not to do something and then show that very something in your own photographs. Sound, useful advice in this book though.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Disappointing Book

I bought this for inspiration but was very disappointed. The tips offered are the same ones that can gained by viewing or reading home-style magazines.

[Zahava · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tips in this book were definitely affordable and, judging by the pictures, could come together well for someone trying to upgrade their space. The tips were straightforward and clear and explanations were provided where I thought they made sense. This book is a pretty good mix of design images and written instruction to go along with them, however, a lot of the images are the same few places at different angles. I wish there had been more variety in the images but I'm not disappointed with what was there. I will say this is more for a homeowner than a renter, as I imagine most design books are, so keep that in mind if you're not the owner of your space.

[Kimberly Martin]

Really practical design book. I took too many notes to list here. I didn't agree with every piece of advice, but I did with most, and there were some things I hadn't put into words before that made a ton of sense to me once I read them. Betsy's writing style is very readable/down to earth.

This is VERY similar/almost identical to Big Design, Small Budget but with updated photos. Besides the photos, I only found a few measurement guidelines that were slightly different. I would just go with this one if you're deciding between the two books.

[Cassidee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live in an area where I will never be able to afford the aspirational interiors you are surrounded by on Instagram and HGTV. I need to figure out my own thing. This book taught me a lot of design fundamentals and specifics, it's the how and why behind the what. I can't say I jived with the style of many of the examples/photos, but I am now able to understand why those choices were made and can work on translating those principles to my own home with my own style (with a few intentional broken rules along the way).

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on basic design principles that empowers any layperson to elevate their home’s aesthetic. It’s definitely a keeper for future reference. While the author’s tone is quite opinionated, with a few cringey jokes sprinkled in, the content is hands-down the best I’ve come across for non-professionals. Although the sample designs didn’t wow me, the practical insights are invaluable and will absolutely influence how I approach future decor decisions.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great beginner level book for a designer from a different discipline that doesn’t know all of the rules.

I would give it 5 stars if there were more photos to illustrate her points. From both her firm and others.

Love her podcast too. It’s called “Affordable Interior Design”.

I will be buying her next book!

[Neroshnee Cato]

After an endless search for a good book on understanding the basics in interior design, I was ecstatic to find this incredibly easy to understand book. The author has a lovely sense of humor too. It's well worth it to buy and keep as a reference for decorating throughout our lives. From South Africa to Australia, I have taken this book with me and its an absolute treasure to have.

[Cara Shimizu · Rating 5 out of 5]

IMO Affordable Interior Design is the BEST book if you really want to know that nuts and bolts of decorating, from start to finish. More than any other book, this on REALLY taught me the no-fail methods for great decorating. Highly recommend!!!

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting tips and tricks in this book. I'm not inclined to listen to anyone's decorating rules, but some of the information will be useful—especially about which items deserve to get the lion's share of the budget and which items one can look for cheaper versions of.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to interior design for beginners. I learned so much from this book, and laughed out loud at Betsy's unapologetic matter-of-factness. I'll definitely incorporate many of her suggestions into my own home renovation.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives good, basic information on interior design for do-it-yourselfers, but I didn't find it as informative or interesting as her other book "Big Design, Small Budget". It's not a complicated book so I recommend both for anyone trying to design a beautiful space for themselves.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick, well-organized book about interior design. Everyone can learn something.

[Jane DiGiovanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful. I'm glad I read it before I work with an interior designer.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re clueless about interior design or need some reminders, this book may help. I was disappointed that I didn’t learn anything new.

[Aya Cardel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snarky tone but with some useful tips. Didn’t learn a lot though and could use more visualization.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could maybe see myself coming back to this to flip through the color section as a reference. Otherwise it was very slim on any advice on how to actually save money while decorating your space.

Most of the design tips were incredibly subjective and will probably not even matter in 5 years as trends change. I didn't feel like I learned anything about *why* Helmuth gave the advice she did so it's hard to re-apply or modify her given rules.

"Have something black in every room. Skip the accent wall. Don't use table runners." And the only why given? "I don't think it's sophisticated." As whole it's probably only useful for a very specific style of decor.

[v'sreadingjourney · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Method: ebook

Rating: 4/5 stars

Thoughts: Not bad! I think it had some awesome points, but some images were really pixelated and it was pretty obvious.

[Tova · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many decorating books are so impractical. Most people don't live in $10 million mansions or have floor to ceiling drapes or designer furniture. This author helps the "poor person" with their day to day decorating questions. She includes lots of pictures and easy to follow advice.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a COMPLETELY design-deaf guy who felt some weird need to try to educate myself, this book was the bomb. I won't list any of Betsy's dummy-proof design tips here, but trust me, there are a lot. Simple, quantifiable, understandable, MATHEMATICAL. I love this book.

[Camilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really useful information, presented in a conversational way.

[Brianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interior design for dummies; font choices alone made me a skeptic.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author displays her rooms, and all but one photo were ugly boring and some cringeworthy.