Designer Mama

There were many things waiting on the back burner while I worked full time, and the guest/junk room was one of those projects. The "designer" bug has hit since I've been visiting many blogs about crafts and DIY projects that are high on design and low on dollars. I've been itching to do something with this room for a while and I can now say that I am proud for guests to use this room.

Let me just show you some before and after pics.

Before:



After:

Now, my whole goal was to spend next to nothing since money is a rare commodity around here these days. So I was determined to use what I had. The bedspread was a steal of a purchase about two years ago, one of those bed-in-a-bag sets from Linens N Things that was on clearance AND I had a coupon. I used my fleur-de-lis throw that was in the den. The cross on the wall (also decked with fleur-de-lis) was from my office. I gave is a coat of brown spray paint and presto! The orange pillows were my only splurge, though they were half off at Hobby Lobby.

Now, many of you know that I can't sew a button, that's why I am SO proud of these curtains. I bought plain brown panels at Wal-Mart. Then I "stitch-witched" some fabric onto the bottom. I must say it looks fab and you'd never know I didn't sew it. I know my mother is in total shock and awe over this accomplishment! Gotta love 'ole stitch witch.

I've been tired of this mis-matched lamp for a while. It matched great when this room was Gabe's law school study, but it's just an eye-sore now. I cut the beads off and used the magic stitch witchery to cover it with fabric and ribbon. Cute!

Lamp before:

Lamp after:

And those four brown things didn't show up well in the picture. But they are tin tiles that I purchased in the 90 percent off isle at the Hob Lob. They ended up being $1.20 each. They were off-white with weird black script writing on them and a bell-shaped thing that sticks out to give a 3-D affect. Again, brown spray paint did wonders! Nothing traffic-stopping, but hey, for the price they work great!

And the picture frames on the dresser (which have been in hiding in the closet for years) have pictures of flowers from a magazine.

And I didn't even tell about my best idea/accomplishment of the room, the art work above the bed. (Scroll up to get another look.) I bought a yard of some awesome fabric (orange is my absolute favorite color, and I am a sucker for damask). A friend had a great idea to buy cheap, lightweight wood at Home Depot and cover it with the fabric. But that, my friends, would cost more money. So I challenged myself to find SOMETHING in the house to use. I finally rummaged up...GIFT BOXES! I taped four of those suckers together, and used my aerosol glue and glue gun to create this masterpiece. I L-O-V-E it and I'm so proud of my ingenuous and successful (yea!) idea.

And the grand total for this update? About $60 dollars!!! Now, what next? Hmmm... I think it will be painting the kitchen cabinets to help cover the sea of white in my kitchen. I'll keep you posted.

Candice Olsen...watch out!