A HOME BY EBAY VALENCIA RESIDENCE FURNISHED EXCLUSIVELY WITH ITEMS FROM AUCTION WEB SITE.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

Type, type, type, click, point, click, type, type, click. Ding-dong!

The new couch is here. So is the sundial, the collection of sock monkeys, the tiki bar, the autographed football, the 50-pound box of shells and the '60s vintage Pucci scarves.

Barbara Guggenheim, a Los Angeles-based fine-art consultant by trade, enjoys browsing and buying on eBay, the $2-billion-a-year online buying, selling, wheeling and dealing auction Web site.

Last year she made a proposition to a friend, Bruce Karatz, who is chairman and chief executive officer of KB Home: Wouldn't it be a fun challenge to furnish one of KB's home models with nothing but items purchased on eBay?

Karatz admits he loves a good marketing gimmick. His company has given away homes in televised contests, built a replica of ``The Simpsons'' cartoon house in Las Vegas and, many years ago, constructed a house on top of Printemps, Paris' tallest department store. So he agreed.

Today, the fruits of Guggenheim's five-month project go on display in Valencia's Windsor at Creekside development, in a 2,044-square-foot townhome-style model with four bedrooms and a loft.

Surfing eBay without some sense of direction can be overwhelming; the main page lists 31 broad categories, the last of which is ``everything else.'' In the Home and Garden category, the sections steer you from ``water'' to ``wine,'' with stops at such quirky subsections as ``shower curtain hooks'' and ``bug traps.'' Oh, and don't forget to pick out something under ``mailboxes'' in which to receive all your other purchases.

Guggenheim aspired to create themed rooms: a country cottage feel for the living, dining and kitchen areas; tiki lounge for the loft; military motif for the boy's room; Adirondack hunting lodge for the guest room, '60s mod pad for the girl's room; colonial Asian plantation for the master bedroom.

eBay's research estimates that 60 percent of its home merchandise is new and 40 percent is used, vintage or antique; Guggenheim's selections mirror that.

``A lot of what we did was cribbed from magazines,'' said Guggenheim, who has bought many furnishings on eBay for the Malibu home she shares with her husband, attorney Bert Fields.

Rather than perusing the categories, she homed in on particular items she hoped to find on the site: a collection of decorated ladies' hankies for $8, an unframed floral needlepoint for $4, old records for a few dollars apiece.

She said she recalled once seeing a display of classic surfing gear and photos in a Malibu house. ``That made a dent in my brain and 10 years later I said, 'Hmmm ...' '' The KB model now sports a sunflower yellow fiberglass surfboard mounted in the stairwell, with black and white photos of surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku leading to Pan Am vacation posters. The tiki loft at the top of the stairs features a wall covered with colored LP records, vintage Bakelite radios on the shelves and a small Hawaiian shirt mounted in a Lucite box.

There were a few disappointments when the goods started coming in, such as the master bed that arrived in pieces - and apparently was in that shape when it was sold - and the towel shopping that netted a bundle of used washcloths.

The ``eBay only'' rule she set for herself came to haunt her when she tried to purchase a wool University of Southern California baseball cap for the boy's room shortly after the football team's national championship victory.

``That was incredibly expensive! It was like $20,'' she said. ``I was so frustrated that then I (typed in) 'Stetson' and that's when I bought the cowboy hat.''

But the bargains and the convenience of shopping from home on your own schedule usually offset the disappointments.

Karatz said KB Home generally would allot up to $75,000 to outfit a model with furniture and a smattering of accessories. ``And this was a fraction of that.''

Guggenheim said she purchased more than 600 items on eBay for the model. ``I would say 75 percent were under $40,'' she said, adding that a comparable effort at retail outlets would probably run double or triple her $40,000 budget.

``If it doesn't work, what's the worst you've lost? What's your downside?'' Guggenheim said. ``You can always resell it on eBay.''

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

What: Model home decorated completely with items purchased on the eBay auction Web site by art consultant Barbara Guggenheim.

Where: 24098 Stonecreek Drive, off Fairview Drive, west of McBean Parkway, Valencia.

When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 1 to 5:30 p.m. Fridays, through the fall.

Get a piece of the auction

Barbara Guggenheim will offer a workshop on decorating with online purchases in KB's Windsor at Creekside model on April 29. Information is available by calling [phone] or going to www.kbhome.com/designonline. Here are some pointers from the designer and KB for those unable to attend:

-- Think before you buy. Don't go on a buying spree. Look for inspiration in magazine articles, consider the space you are furnishing, and keep in mind those items you love and want to keep.

-- Get organized and stay organized. Start a notebook for jotting ideas and make an ``inspiration board'' with photos, fabric swatches and color samples for easy reference.

-- Check the seller's feedback, particularly if the item you want is expensive. Don't hesitate to ask questions of the seller, and be wary of those who appear reluctant to answer.

-- If you really love something, add 10 percent to your top bid. Guggenheim calls this ``the love factor.'' It may spare you the agony of losing it to another buyer by just a few dollars.

-- Look carefully at the photo, but remember that an item that is less than ideal to you as offered can be reimagined; a coat of paint (or paint stripper) or reupholstering can work wonders.

- V.K.

CAPTION(S):

10 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) point, click and furnish

Decorate on a budget with help from eBay

(2 -- 4 -- color) Interior designer Lindsay Dakota, above left, moves part of a bed frame with Hugo Salas, helping to assemble the master bedroom furnished by fine-art consultant Barbara Guggenheim, right, who decorated the entire house with items bought on eBay. Sock monkeys, above right, are among her distinctive purchases for the KB model home.

(5 -- 6 -- color) Dakota and Guggenheim, above, compare frames at the model home. Of the more than 600 items she purchased on eBay, ``I would say 75 percent were under $40,'' says Guggenheim, arranging some of those finds on a table, right.

(7 -- 8 -- color) Anna Bonella, left, sews curtains for a room inspired by the vintage Pucci scarves seen on the wall. Another of Guggenheim's ideas: laundry bags, above, hung on a rack to better display their whimsical stitching.

(9 -- 10 -- color) Guggenheim, left, stands amid the fruits of her online labors - with her eBay feedback rating no doubt greatly enhanced. By using the auction site, she was able to procure collectible items, such as an autographed football (above), to complement her design.

Photos by Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

Get a PIECE of the auction (see text)