Monday, September 10, 2012

Bedroom Makeover, Part 1

Hope you all had a great weekend! I spent mine finishing up some details for my Moroccan/travel bedroom makeover (instead of doing homework, oops) because I was so eager to share this with you! I still have a lot left to do before my bedroom is complete, but just seeing this part of the room finished motivates me to get it all done. 

Here's a view of my bedroom before - long and narrow, with no decoration at all. I looked around at the beginning of the summer and couldn't believe I'd lived like that for a year already!
[Yep, that's a bookshelf holding clothes that wouldn't fit into my closets...]

And here is the after: 


[I know, that painting looks crooked - I think my level is mistaken]

I have been soooooo excited about this dresser! I picked it up at a garage sale about a month ago, for a whole $15! It's solidly made, with thick wood veneer, rather than the junk they make these days. It had good simple lines that would make the perfect backdrop to whatever new theme I decided to give it. As a reminder, this is what it looked like before: 

[It's very....woody, no?]

I ended up scrapping my original idea after I saw this post. I found some of the "reject" paint at Home Depot for $2/quart, and my landlord gave me some leftover primer. I bought this neutral ivory (?) color, and a deep red that matched the fabric I bought for my curtains (which I ended up not using after all).

 [My neighbors were VERY curious as to what I was doing on the porch...]

Originally, I wanted to buy new handles, but after seeing how much the home improvement stores wanted for them, I quickly scrapped that idea and decided to give the original handles some TLC.

[Ewwww]

Then, my mom and I stumbled across some 90% off paint at Menard's. We got several quarts of gold and silver for $3 each, and some other random colors for $2 each. 


[Not so ewwww]


I created a stencil from this plastic paper-stuff I got from Hobby Lobby, then stenciled around it and painted in the gold....which was a huge pain in the butt, but I think all of that work paid off in the end! I'm so pleased with myself, especially considering this is the first real piece of furniture I've made over.

Stash busted: Nothing. Oops.

Bought new: 
  • Dresser: $15
  • Paint: $5 ($2 for the beige, $3 for the gold)
  • Painting supplies: around $15
  • Polyurethane: $15
  • Hobby Lobby stencils: around $2
Total: A little more than $50 for a great custom dresser. I'd call that a success, wouldn't you? 

Now, let me show you all of the things I've got piled on top of the dresser:

[Garage sale globe ($5), auction globe ($20), and vintage suitcase ($2 - I'm still mulling over what I could make out of that one).]

 [Globe bookends from my grandparents' house and my mini travel scrapbooks and travel journals]

[The lamp that started this whole crazy idea: $3 at a garage sale]

Finally, this painting, inspired by yet another Pinterest find: 

[Image from: CozaMia]

Phew! What a long post! Are you guys redecorating (or thinking about it)? What projects do you have lined up?

Friday, September 7, 2012

Plans

Wow, I can't believe summer's over! I also can't believe how little I've posted, though I *have* been hard at work (picture proof to come soon, I promise!). 

When I haven't been working on random (mostly sewing) projects, I've been dreaming up ideas and gathering supplies for my bedroom makeover. It all started with a garage sale find that I almost overlooked:


Mine also came with a stand and chains, all for the low low price of $3! My bedroom was (and still is) in need of a serious makeover, and this inspiration piece was the perfect start to a Moroccan theme. 

I went to another garage sale not long after and picked up a globe and an old suitcase, and voila, Moroccan-themed was transformed into Moroccan/travel-themed!



In my mind, I knew what kind of fabric I wanted for curtains, but was having a really hard time finding anything until I hit up the Hancock Fabrics spot the bolt clearance sale (this is a seriously awesome sale, guys - most fabrics around $2/yard, I've bought soooo much of it lately!). 



I stopped by a different Hancock later and found a (somewhat) complementary fabric,


 which I intend to use for a foot-of-the-bed bench like this one:

[Image via: Sabby in Suburbia]

Then, I bought a dresser at ANOTHER garage sale. It was originally priced at $50, marked down to $25, and then I talked them down to $15! It's solidly made, but needed some TLC. 


When I bought it, I intended to do something like this,
                                                          [Image via: Brooklyn Limestone]
but as I was working on it, I got carried away with a different idea...coming soon, I promise!

I have so many other ideas swimming around in my head, I can't wait to finally share them with you!