Housing Works prepares for annual high-profile Design on a Dime fundraiser in Chelsea
CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) -- Housing Works, an organization dedicated to providing housing and health care to New Yorkers with HIV and AIDS, is preparing for its annual high-profile fundraiser.
Every year it holds an event where the public can purchase merchandise curated by the nation's top interior designers with donations from hundreds of top brands.
The Design on a Dime fundraiser can be exhilarating - a treasure hunt of sorts through all things fabulous.
It's taking place this year inside The Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th street in Chelsea. On Wednesday, 58 designers were busy setting up -- and in some cases hand painting 60 rooms.
The spaces are all 20 by 20 and packed full of items the public can buy.
"From a sofa to a side table, pillows to home accessories to sometimes fashion," said Housing Works COO Andrew Greene.
It's the 19th year for the extravagant event - a key fundraiser each year for Housing Works. The best part for the public is the prices are up to 80% off retail.
"The design community is so amazing that they are so willing to just assist us, help us, give us what we need but it takes a lot of time," said designer Kesha Franklin.
Harlem-based designer Antonio Deloatch has a one-of-a-kind showstopper that was made with a 3D printer.
"We've created essentially a chrysalis, which is what allows a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly, very similar to what Housing Works does for the LGBTQ community and to be able to give them a space where they can grow and come back to where they need to be, and that's how chrysalis came to be," Deloatch said.
Each one of the spaces started as a blank slate and the designers only had about 17 hours to transform them.
"It's always different each year, the creativity is off the charts," Greene said.
The sale opens Thursday with a free ticketed event Friday and Saturday.
Click here to learn more.
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