A Clean Slate

I don't know how parents do it. Some days I can barely haul myself out of bed, pay enough attention to our dog so she feels loved (and won't eat our expensive pillows), remember to brush my teeth and put two same-colored socks on. Growing up with two working parents, I'm constantly amazed that we didn't arrive at school hungry, dirty and naked. By 7:30 AM we had been washed, ironed, clothed, fed and dropped off at school in a seemingly effortless routine. I approach designing a house with a similar philosophy. If someone told me I had to take care of a kid for a week, I'd probably have a nervous breakdown and start bleeding out of my eyes. With kids back to school, a client decided to decorate his weekend home from soup to nuts. The only problem (and challenge) for me is the budget of $2,000 to decorate a three bedroom, two story home. So, today, as kids grab their sack lunches and jump on big yellow buses, I'm starting with a clean slate-floored house. Check in Friday for the final results, resources and costs of everything I put in the house.
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Five days (most likely less). So, start out by measuring the spaces. For this fairly tight living/family area the space has to serve dual purposes of formal and casual living, so I jumped on line to get measurements for the average sofa. Once I had that, I cut newspapers in the size of the sofa I liked and moved it around the space until I found a configuration that worked for me. This is a GREAT way to plan the space before moving all of the furniture in. So, now that I've done that, it's off to shop.
COST: Less than $2,000
STRESS LEVEL: Turning a blank slate into something comfortable: LOW