Empowering the future, one adventure at a time.
Budget Builder
Design It. Budget It. Build It.
Recommended for:
Guides
Rangers
Estimated Time:
90
Minutes
Materials:
Ikea
Catelogs
Computer
Celebration:
Careers Week
Activity Description
Turn your meeting space into a mini interior design studio with Budget Builder, a creative, hands-on challenge where girls become junior interior designers and work together to transform empty rooms into stylish, practical spaces… all while staying within budget!
How to Play
1. Meet Your Client – Split into teams and give each group a client design brief. Read through the client’s story carefully and learn about their personality, favourite colours, room size, budget, needs, and design challenges before you begin planning.
2. Plan Your Space – Using the floor plan grid, draw the shape of your room and add important features such as doors, windows, sockets, or awkward corners. Remember that 1 square = 1 metre, so your furniture must realistically fit in the space.
3. Start Shopping – Search the IKEA website, catalogue, or showroom to find furniture and decorations that match your client’s style and needs. Think carefully about practicality, storage, comfort, and layout, not just aesthetics!
4. Track Your Spending – Record every item on your shopping receipt worksheet, including the item name and price. Keep adding up your total as you go to make sure you stay within budget.
5. Design the Layout – Add your chosen furniture to the floor plan and decide where everything should go. Make sure there is enough space to walk around comfortably and that important items like doors, sockets, and storage remain accessible.
6. Present Your Design – Once your room is complete, present your finished design to the rest of the group. Explain the choices your team made, how you stayed within budget, and why your client would love the finished space.
Looking for programme ideas?
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Demanding Designs (UMA 30)
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Room in a Box (UMA 60)
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Design Time (SB SfmF 2)
Keeping the Adventure Alive
At Hummingbird HQ, the goal is to keep resources free, accessible and available to leaders nationwide after a challenging period for my own unit, when rising costs and uncertainty around meeting spaces made it clear how fragile access to guiding activities can be. That experience shaped a commitment to sharing resources openly so that more leaders can be supported without added cost or barriers. Every donation, big or small, helps keep Hummingbird HQ running and enables the creation and sharing of new, free resources with leaders everywhere.
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