How you can afford an interior designer on a budget

You just moved into a fabulous new place. You've got more space, more natural light aaaaand a lot less money in your pocket because it was a bit of an upgrade. But what are you going to do with this gorgeous new home of yours, not decorate it the way it deserves to be decorated? Not a chance.

So where do you turn when you find yourself in this particular predicament? It's no secret that interior designers aren't cheap, but having that extra artistic eye is crucial to making any space beautiful. Thankfully, there's Havenly, the first online professional interior decor service that costs less than $200.

How does it work? Determine your decor style with an easy online quiz, and then based on the results of that quiz, choose which one of Havenly's talented designers you'd like to work with. You can read about each designer and see which styles they specialize in, so you're sure to end up working with someone who's on your same page design-wise.

Next, you take photos of the rooms you're looking to decorate, chat with your designer on the phone, and then they'll send you concept boards with product and layout ideas for furniture, wall hangings, light fixtures and more. Provide your designer with feedback on what you like and don't like until you come up with something you're totally in love with, and then order everything directly through Havenly at the best prices on the internet.

Genius, no? It takes all the guesswork out of designing your space and shopping for everything, making it a totally smooth and easy experience. We wanted to know a little bit more about the brains behind such a fantastic operation, so we chatted with one of Havenly's founders, Emily Motayed.

How did Havenly get its start? We were dying to know. "It really was born out of this personal need where I had moved into my own space in New York, and it was my first little apartment, and no one would work with me because I had a smaller budget and didn't want to pay someone hourly," Motayed said.

Having identified the woe that is being able to afford an interior designer in New York City, or anywhere, really, Motayed and her sister, Lee Mayer, built the infrastructure of Havenly around that.

"We created our service out of what we saw as a huge space in the market," Motayed said. "Traditional interior design is really cost prohibitive for people. So for a flat fee of $199, we design your space for you, but we do it all virtually."

Havenly actually offers two different products: the original product, which provides you with a full rendering (placement and layout) of your space for $199, and a second smaller option, which is only $79 and is a great solution for people looking for accents to tie a room together.

What's neat about Havenly is that it's an attractive service to so many different people, not just wealthy urbanites living in cities like New York and San Francisco. "The cool thing for me to see was that people in places like Iowa and Idaho are reacting really strongly to this product and concept. It proves that it's not just for the early adapters," Motayed said.

Regardless of whether you consider yourself an early adapter or not, Havenly may be exactly what you've been looking for! Check out the Havenly website here, and see below for Emily Motayed's top three recommendations for making a room look great.

1. The easiest way to spruce up a place is to invest in really beautiful throw pillows that match the decor of your place. Fun, bold patterns and prints are key for individualizing the sofa in spaces like living rooms.

2. Have a really clear styling of your coffee table. Little trays and accessories are an easy way to tie a place together.

3. Make sure you're doing curtains and rugs right. For example, know how long your curtains should actually be an invest in nice pieces to make your space look significantly more polished.

Click through the gallery below to see some of the amazing spaces designed by Havenly:

More in home:
3 ways to style your coffee table
Decorating for spring with Nate Berkus
Spring cleaning tips and tricks

Plus, check out the video below for more budget-friendly home decor tips: