A ROOM FOR EVERY YEAR

My daughter Jo & I have an annual tradition; every time she leaves for camp (2weeks) I redesign her room. Expensive? No. Does she have any say? Yes & No, she would tell me what colors she wants & one inspiration. JUST ONE!  With that in hand I would run with it & write her snail mail with off the wall hints. She loved the element of surprise.

Hopefully I can spark some ideas with what I show you today. Like I stated before, it takes just one item for me to draw inspiration & I become this mad introvert; hunting for items, redecorating & trying to work with my tight timeline. But Mel, how can this be inexpensive? Well I will try to show you how to revamp what you have, utilize color & phase in certain items while phasing out others.  

THE HISTORY OF JO’S ROOM (feel free to go to the next topic, I will never know)

Jo (short for Jordan) goes to camp around July. In May I will start asking her what she wants. You can do this with any room. If you know in that you want to eventually change a room, start getting some ideas. Even though you might not be re-doing it at this time, do know that this is the best way to look for bargains that will work with what you want. Find a spot in your closet, garage, shed to keep items stored until you need it. HINT: (take a picture of what you stored so you know what you already have). Sadly I do not have any pictures of her first rooms that I redesigned; first year was white & little girl pinks & flowers. Then she went through her non girly phase and we stuck with just bold colors squares, her funky spirit started coming out & we did bohemian. Her favorite color is purple & we finally redid her floor & her purple room.  Her reincarnated 50’s -60’s girl came out & we went into a classic mode (some pics) & then eventually she realized that she was in love with everything classic even came to me & said she is bringing the 80’s back. I’m still waiting on that.

THE DETAILS.

SHOP AROUND for OOPS PAINT – big budget saver. Work with the colors you are looking for. By no means do you have to compromise on what you want, however if you carry your color samples with you & you may find something within range & save big.  

LIST~ NEEDS; Storage, Desk, Seating, Sleeping etc. etc. 

          WANTS; Color, Reading area, TV area, Music Area etc. etc.

PAINT HINT~ if you feel that you are going to change your room/area within a year, try changing one wall color & décor. Get a color for remaining walls to be lighter & somewhat neutral so you can change & match up the accent wall so it can be easier for you.  

LOOK~ at magazines, window shop & you may get an inspiration to kick start your project.

DE-CLUTTER~ this is the time to figure out what you want, what you don’t need, get rid of clothes, outgrown furniture. Place it all on craigslist & facebook - they have virtual yard sales for most areas.  

BLANK CANVAS~ it works best when you are trying to paint re-do.

 

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF.

I will link how-to’s on the projects (stay tuned) 

We started with a stark white room, little lighting & carpet. We stuck with the carpet for the first few years & then eventually ripped it up (save the carpet- details later)
Here are a few pics for some inspiration of what you want, dont want & this may not all be in order.

This is a room we did for my friends son. If you dont think you can paint a mural, I will say YES YOU CAN!!!! It may not be as detailed as a master artist, but you can paint basic simple things that will wow people. The blue & green are oops paint. I had the mom paint the whole wall blue, as she lives an hour away & we only had one day.  I came in to do details & the grass. Using white paint as my pencil, I can play with placement & thickness before laying down the real color.

 i love my overalls.

the crazy kid "JO"

Now back to the kiddo's room -

 I call my brother & he helps me with the flooring. I chose laminate click lock wood flooring. It is inexpensive & easy to care for especially with a kid who jumps around alot & practices her rifle (color guard).  The wooden letters were purchased at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. the floral decals were purchased at the dollar store. Oops paint qt. $2

I painted one on each side of the door, implying that the door is the trunk (also white)

Don't be scared of making tree limbs. your lines do not have to be straight. Draw a line where you want your limb to be, lenghten it out to your desired placement & go back and widen it out. The bird with the musical note was over the side where all my daughters music gear is. She plays the cello & the piano. The other side is where the door opens to & I just placed hooks to hang backpacks & jackets.  You can print out a sillhouette of whatever you want & trace it. You don't have to be a professional to do this. I believe that given the right instructions anyone can do it.

IT'S AS EASY AS DOING SHAPES

see the stems on the flower?  not so straight, not perfect, neither is my circles or my petals. It has more charachter. I painted random flowers around the room. I did only one butterfly & the leaves are decals from the Dollar store peel & stick. 

 

I wish I had more pictures of the other room, we went into classic mode and from purple we transitioned to blue, black and white. See the light purple paint above? I didn't prime it. I painted a gray over this. ( DISCLAIMER: IT WORKED FOR ME, MY COLORS DIDN'T NEED TO BE PRIMED. SOME COLORS YOU DO NEED TO)

 

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE FROM MY CRAIGSLIST AD.

 I sold the items that I used for her classic room

See the chandelier? I purchased this at walmart on clearance. $8 It was hot pink & I used it for her bohemian room. I then spray painted it black for her  classic room look. This was her little reading area. I added a on/off  switch so she can turn off by her chair side. The curtain was purchased at ross for $7.  I sold the chandelier for $20 & the Curtain for $10 making me a profit. If you take a picture of your items already displayed, you sell your items faster. People are less hesitant to 2nd guess if it will work for them. People are visual. Remember that when you trying to sell items.

 I had purchased these at target for storage space- of course clearanced. You can find great deals on after college sales. I used this & her larger trunk for her bohemian room, purple room & classic room. I got enough use out of them & it was time to move on.

Clearance chair - from target for her reading area.

 

NOW FOR THE MOST CURRENT - IM GOING TO BE A SENIOR PROJECT!!

PICTURE #1

I wanted a more grown up feel for the kid. She wanted green & that was it. She loves Marilyn, Audrey, Beatles.... So I ran with that. Target at the time had blue & green in thier dollar spot & I  added touches of the blue to keep cost a lower as this was the color of her last room. 

 

So let me show you what I kept & redid

I kept the kids name, i moved the letters  to the corner. The bookshelf  before was a large double book shelf. I took the top part off & made it smaller. I replaced the old spray painted chandelier & added a chandelier from IKEA- (I turned it into a plug in with a light switch) I kept the gray walls from the classic blue room along with the gray drums under the tv. I revamped the dresser & added texture. I made the desk and almost lost an eye.

This is the desk I made with plywood. had home depot cut to size. I didn't paint it. I just added a gloss sheen to it. I made a memo board with the wall & within,added a dry erase board. The stencil I made from a cardboard box, FREE! All the green & black accessories along with the blue came from Target dollar spot priced at $1 -$2.50 ea.

 

I made a headboard from the pink foam insulation sold at home depot & her old ikea comforter. To many stains to reuse. I added gray pillow cases in different colors & added the blue. I kept the white down as is because I didn't find anything that would really work with the look.

I made her a Jewelry Box & placed it behind the entry door.

 

 

So you see it doesn't take a lot to change a room or its decor. You don't have to have deep pockets, just a little imagination & paint. I will start linking up how-to's soon. Stay tuned.

~Mel

DISLAIMERS & STUFF: It is a known fact, that I am a mad DIY'er. The ideas from the rooms above are from my crazed mind & potentially spun off from an idea that I saw somewhere or dreamt up. Not responsible for your new found addiction of rearranging, repainting or RE-anything.