Where to Invest and Where to Save: Interior Design Tips for Buffalo Homeowners with Jason Pleskow
Good design isn’t only about how a room looks — it changes how a home feels to live in, how it photographs, and how quickly buyers can picture themselves there. For this Buffalo by Design segment, Enas is joined by interior designer Jason Pleskow, the Enas Latif Team’s design partner, to talk about where homeowners should invest versus save, how to blend the pieces you love with something new, and how a designer’s eye helps both sellers and buyers. Here’s the segment, with the full transcript below.
Originally aired on Daytime Buffalo, WIVB News 4, Buffalo. Segment courtesy of WIVB.
Key takeaways
- Invest in the long-term, hard-to-change things: flooring, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, countertops. Save on paint and wallpaper — inexpensive, and they transform a room.
- Start with function. Jason begins every project by asking what the client needs from the space day to day, then designs around that.
- You don’t have to part with heirlooms. A new frame or a new placement can give a sentimental piece new life; Enas stacked her “non-negotiables” and Jason found a home for every one.
- For sellers: depersonalize, then let a designer rearrange furniture and edit what’s in each room. It photographs better and appeals to more buyers.
- For buyers: most people can’t see past the current owner’s taste. A professional eye helps you envision what a home could be — and, after closing, which projects to tackle first and where not to overspend.
Read the full transcript5 min segment · 3 min read
HostFor today’s Buffalo by Design segment, we’re examining interiors with Enas Latif and interior designer Jason Pleskow. Hi, you two — thanks for joining me.
Jason PleskowGood morning. Thanks for having us.
HostJason, we’ll start with you. Tell us more about your business and how you help homeowners create a space that’s special and personal to them.
Jason PleskowFirst and foremost, I grew up in this business. My mom has been an interior designer here in the Buffalo area for 42 years, so I got to see how she works, and I understood the importance of completing a room and making people feel really happy about the end result. You spend a lot of time in your home, so you want it to feel welcoming and warm. When I’m working with a client, I try to understand the functionality — what’s important to them on a day-to-day basis — and start the process there.
HostAnd Enas, tell us how your collaboration with Jason began, and why it’s important to offer a design expert to your clients.
Enas LatifIt began with me wanting to redo my office space at home. Jason came over and we started collaborating on what to do — color choices for the walls. We ended up color-drenching it. The transformation of my space, and how it made me feel on a daily basis sitting and working in my home office, is really how this collaboration started, and how we work together with clients now.
HostJason, let’s talk about how you help clients determine where to invest versus where to save some money.
Jason PleskowWhen you think about investing in a space or a home, think about what’s going to be very long-term. Flooring — that’s important; you want to spend the money there. Kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, countertops — those are not areas that are easy to swap out and fix. That’s where I’d suggest a client invest. Whereas paint is cheap, wallpaper is relatively inexpensive as well, and they make such a big difference in a space. That’s how I’d divide the two.
HostDo you have any tips on how to mix existing pieces with new decor?
Jason PleskowThere are certain pieces in a person’s house that they don’t want to part with, and I understand that. But there are so many ways to get creative about updating a family heirloom, or an art piece that was framed a while ago and just needs a new frame or some new life. It’s important for me to make sure it fits into the space, but also to hear and understand the client’s attachment to certain things.
Enas LatifI’m laughing because I had my non-negotiable pieces working with Jason. I literally stacked them in one area and said, these are non-negotiables, they stay. And he said, we’ll find a home for them. The way he reorganized everything just made it come to life.
HostTell us how you’re able to work together to help sellers prepare their homes for the market.
Enas LatifThank you for asking that. It’s very important that when we have a home on the market, it’s attractive to the majority. Depersonalizing is one thing, but sometimes Jason can come in and really help reorganize how the furniture is placed in a room — adding a little something in one area, removing certain things from another. That can help a house photograph a lot better and be more appealing to the majority of buyers in the market.
HostAnd how does his expertise help buyers see the potential in a home — that this could be theirs?
Enas LatifMany buyers, when they walk into a home, can’t see beyond what’s there. If the current homeowner’s taste or color palette isn’t to their taste, they can’t see past it. So sometimes it’s important to have a professional eye helping them envision what it could look like based on their own liking. And especially after they close, sometimes they’re overwhelmed about what to do, which projects to tackle, and — to Jason’s point — what to spend money on and what they can do relatively cheaply and shouldn’t be spending a lot on.
HostGreat tips. We know the market is tough right now, so having experts like you to guide people is so important. Viewers, contact the Enas Latif Team to take the stress out of selling, and contact Jason to make your house feel like your home at jasonpleskowdesign.com.
Transcript lightly edited for clarity.
What this means for you
Whether you’re getting a Buffalo home ready to list or settling into one you just bought, the order of operations is the same: spend on what’s hard to change later, save on what’s easy, and get a second set of eyes before you start. Enas can tell you what buyers in this market respond to, and Jason can show you how to get there without redoing everything.
Buying or selling in Western New York?
Talk it through with the team before you sign anything.
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