The Art of Design on a Budget

Well....I had showed my pictures of our recent Guest Bedroom Redo to my Pretty Romantic Homes Friends (PRH) and they said I need to add this to my BLOG. So here I am...

Over this past 4th of July week my sweet hubby had to take vacation. Sooo...he set aside one day to paint our guest bedroom, just for me. This room was also better known, in my daughter's younger days, as Gramma's Room. We had agreed that it needed a redo badly since we have lived in our home for 14 years and this was a room we really had not done to much to.

Out starting point was 2 cans of $5 "Ooops" Paint. These both were colors I just loved and knew would help create a unique color pallet. We painted one wall a very bright Brick Red, and the other 3 walls a very pretty almost mocha or coffee color. I had seen pictures of a sweet friends home and just loved the quilt on a bed in one of her guest rooms and knew where I wanted to go with bedding. But I also had been thinking toile as well. So...the next Sunday afternoon, after church and lunch we were at our local mall and I asked if we could go shopping for bedding ideas. My sweetie was so obliging. You see, he is a shopper!...Yes a real LIVE man that enjoys shopping. But let me qualify this so you know that when I am in MY zone to shop...I do it alone. LOL

Anyway, we found a pillow that had the quilt pattern with our wall colors but nothing else to match. The next day my hub actually offered to go to a mall nearby where he worked to see what they had, during his lunch hour. Well, they had more of a selection...he wasn't sure which one was close to what we both liked. So he didn't get it...but that evening he and I ran back to that mall and found just exactly what we were looking for...and best of all, we go a $200 heirloom quality quilt for $50. I then found on-line matching shams and bedskirt all on sale, making all the bedding cost just $110. I just could not believe that we could get all of this for such a great price!!!

During this process, I had been corresponding on my ebay group PRH and had asked if anyone knew where to get toile fabric for cheap. Thinking I was going to make some panels for curtains. My friend Rhea of Sweet N Shabby Roses (go see her blog!), offered me some curtain panels she had in a toile...for FREE!!!!! And best of all they were a perfect match. I then paired Rhea's toile curtains with some creamy cherub panels that I had in a drawer. I placed my bed in front of the window knowing that I wanted frame out my bed.

My sister came to visit during this time and helped me shop for treasure and then went around my home and picked out some amber glass that I have been collecting to place in the room. And then slowly, I began to *shop* around my home until I reach the desired affect I wanted. Using furniture that we already had in this room and from others..that cost me $0. My latest purchased were 2 rugs for $14...which made my final total for our Guest Room Redo around $150.

I love the challenge of not having a lot of $, but lots of creativity to use to come up with a whole new design...and a wonderfully comfortable place for guest to rest.