A New Room For Seventy-eight Dollars . . .

{The chair pre-peacock paint with a marbleized pleather cover.}

Here’s are the key steps that allowed me to make Hannie B. a new room for very little moolah:

1. Decide to use the coral colored drapes.  Showed them to my girl and asked her if she liked them.  She replied that she wanted a room with turquoise and brown.  I countered that she could have all three colors in one room.  She died and went to heaven. Then I took $40 – the biggest cost in the room – and bought curtain rods at Home Depot.  The Hubby lovingly hung them with me as his boss.

{Getting ready to paint.}

2.  Paint existing furniture.  Lots and lots of it. The bed used to be mahogany and resided in our guest room for many years.  It got primed and two coats of Duron’s Shell White.  The desk – one of the big financial splurges – was $20 at a garage sale.  It was periwinkle blue, which wasn’t too offensive, but didn’t work for the room.  Primed it and gave it two coats of Shell White also. The desk chair, mirror above the dresser and small frame on the shelf all soaked in their new peacock color at $2.94 from Home Depot. The chair also got new fabric on the seat, which cost $4 with a coupon at JoAnns Crafts.

3.  Find one amazing pillow in the PERFECT COLOR. Believe me, this one was a steal!  I have combed the stores for anything in this coral color and it is not very popular right now.  So when I happened upon the pillow at TJ Maxx for $10, I snatched it up!  Hannie took one look at the ample ruffles and just sighed with contentment.

{Pictures I had just lying around . . . seriously.}

4. Shop the house. The rest of the room was pulled together with items I had lying around already.  The mini chandie used to hang pink in Hannie’s old room.  It got two coats of hammered bronze spray paint to spiff it up.  The gorgeous turquoise/coral bowl was an Anthropologie gift from my friend Jennie.  It’s perfect for this room. The bird print was in the basement bath, but loves its new home. Lamps, bedding and decorating doo-dads from around the house fill in empty spaces. A few sheets of tissue paper whipped into those flower pom poms I can’t seem to get enough of and done!

5.  Check with client to see if project meets expectations.  Hannie B. loves her new room.  It is sophisticated, something she can grow into, and it makes her feel like a big girl.  She’s being extra clean and tidy, taking care of all the new surfaces and spaces. She loves to be in her room, which is a new thing.

6. Plan for the rest of the project. There are still a few finishing touches left.  The upholstered chair will get a linen slipcover.  I’m framing a picture of my girl and me taken by Sue Richardson.  Hannie wants some kind of memo/cork board for the one blank wall you don’t see in any of the pictures. I feel the need for some peacock feathers in there somewhere. And the bed is lacking some kind of statement covering.  Patience.  Many of those thing WILL cost money, so I’ve got to work on them one at a time.

Lessons learned:  There will be hiccups, like a broken figurine and chair.  Fix what can be fixed or move past them.  Also, it doesn’t take a lot of money to make-over a room.  Minus the curtain rods this room was only thirty-five smackaroos.  I’m happy.  My girl’s happy.  The end.