Room Fit For A Princess

I had to show off my daughter’s princess room. It transitioned easily from a baby room to a little girl’s room. Once again my super talented brother-in-law painted the beautiful mural.


My mom made the bedspread. We picked fabric with multiple colors to give us more colors to work with. I don’t suggest jumping into a licensed theme (like I did with the Harry Potter room) unless you either got major components of the room for dirt cheap or you really can’t achieve the look without using a licensed character, but bear in mind that you’ll pay more for everything and have less choices along the way. My daughter wanted Disney Princesses, but I achieved a comparable princess look without the price tag.

The bedspread was made so that it was fitted at the foot of the bed. This was shear genius on my mother’s part. It makes the bed look tidy and a child can easily make the bed without the bedding being lopsided or hanging off the side unevenly. Wish every bedspread was fitted.

First of all, let me explain that I am the Garage Sale Genie. I’ve never had any sort of super-powers before but, when it comes to finding what I want at a bargain I’m amazing—seriously. If I want something, give me six months and I will find it—generally at 80-90% off retail. So, when I set out to do a princess room I made my wish list and garage-sale/thrift store/craigslist shopped my way to it.

The curtains were new in the package for $7. I bought them off the lawn of a lady who had made a regrettable purchase and was now willing to unload it for a bargain. The color would only have worked in a juvenile room, but they came with the panels, the valence and the tie backs. I added pink sheers that I already owned and we had a fairy tale window.

I wanted pink heart-shaped pillows for the bed and I almost bought furry ones at Walmart during Valentine’s Day, but then I found them at a garage sale. Again they were brand-new and had the cutest rosettes all over them. I liked them way better than the furry pillows I had considered. People sell a ridiculous amount of brand new stuff.

The Barbie dressing table was another used purchase that works so well in the room. My husband made the table and chairs. The glass shelving unit came out of a commercial store. Commercial displays are a surprising furniture pieces in the right room.

I think we really pulled off the princess-look for the room. Best of all, when she gets older she can use the glass shelves for a Barbie condo—I always wanted one when I was a kid.

Harry Potter Haunted Bedroom

In honor of Halloween, I'm showing off the Harry Potter bedroom that has recently been dismantled to make room for the sports room (pictures on that later).  This was a great theme we did on an amazing budget.  I picked up the bedding and throw pillows at a garage sale, then kept my eyes peeled for accessories that worked with the theme.  It's amazing what you can find once you have an idea in place.
The lamps were also a garage sale find.  Wrought iron curled like a spell had been placed on them.  We found the stack of books (really a clever treasure box) at another yard sale.  And the chilly accessories you see on the magic shelves came straight from an upscale home decor store, but I picked them up on the 75% off after-Halloween sale.  The curtains were purchased as separate sets of panels in the famed Griffindor colors that I paired together.
Finally, the headboards were my husband's brilliant brainchild.  He found plastic gates at the Habitat for Humanity store (where new and used items are donated) and welded brackets so that they would attach to the bedframes.  He also hung the Hedwig--which is really just a throw pillow--from the ceiling using chain from a hardware store.

The overall effect is a happily haunted hideout with a price tag of just under $200.

Teen Surf Room

My son wanted a fun room that was also grown up.  He settled on a surf-shack theme with the stipulation that we didn't go the the darkside with a Honolulu cheesy tourist theme.  Thankfully we're surrounded by incredibly talented men.  My husband cut surfboards out of plywood, and my brother-in-law painted them.  He also painted the palm tree that hovers over the bed.  Thanks to a fabulous deal on a bed-in-a-bag at Walmart.com, the theme felt complete.

We included a book nook using a boat shaped bookcase that I picked up at a garage sale.  The boat was painted hunter green and better suited to a cabin theme, but a couple of coats of turquoise spray paint and it looks ready to paddle across the North Shore.  And we added a few vintage berometers that I also picked up at garage sales.

Take a look--let me know what you think!

Theater Room

When we purchased our home it definitely had "character." I personally liked this about the home, but it also meant that there were some strange things about the design.  One of the oddest was a large bedroom directly off the garage.  The only way into the room was to walk through the two-car garage.  This was extremely difficult to do once we had actual cars in the garage.

It took us quite a while to figure out what to do with the room.  It started as an office that no one wanted to work in because it was dark and isolated.  Then it was used as a workshop, but it was dark and too small.  Then we tried using it as a workout room, but no one used it because it was dark and isolated and we don't really like working out all that much.  I think you can see a pattern here.  So then we started brainstorming ideas on what kinds of rooms work well with dismal lighting and being far away from the heart of the home.  Bingo!  A Theater Room.

There were several problems with the idea.  Firstly, no one wanted to walk through the garage--even to watch a movie on a big screen.  We also weren't sure what to do with the window.  We tackled the first problem by giving up enough of our garage to build a hallway to the room.

We solved the second problem by constructing faux columns along the walls and placing padded fabric panels in between the columns.  That way we could leave the window, but the fabric panels hid it and did a fabulous job blocking out all light.

We always construct on an extreme budget, so opted to put in a projector (much cheaper than a large plasma) and construct a screen on the wall.  We built the back of the room up by one step so we could put in a mini-snack bar since we didn't want food everywhere.

The room was too narrow and our budget too small to accommodate theater room seats, so we put a comfy couch with big ottomans below the snack bar.  Eventually we found a great overhead microwave at a garage sale to install over the fridge for popping popcorn.

We wired for surround sound, and made sure to insulate every step, column, ceiling and wall--otherwise the sound will crash around your room.  The total cost for the entire project came in at just under $5000, but took many weeks and lots of elbow grease.

One regret--we put the audio-visual components behind the snack bar, so the remote controls won't work when you're sitting on the couch.  If you're tackling this type of project, make sure you can run all your gadgets from the seating area.

Kitchen Pantry

My kitchen pantry was a closet with a laminate door.  After buying the house I installed wire shelving and have re-organized it more times than I care to count.  When I used it as a food pantry, food would fall off the shelves and spill in the back where I would have to spend hours removing foodstuffs in order to clean it out.  Then I tried putting my kitchen appliances inside, but the shelves couldn't handle the weight.  I tried storing my cleaning supplies and my paper goods.  It didn't matter how I tried to utilize the closet, it never worked.
When we decided to remodel the kitchen in order to make it more user friendly and to give it a more custom look, I was more than happy to sacrifice my frustrating pantry to the cause.  My husband pulled out the shelves and removed the door and door jamb to the studs and sheetrock.  Then he widened the opening to match the depth of the closet.  He added a plywood arch and rock-tile and had a light wired into the ceiling of the closet.

This isn't exactly complete.  The final stages including backsplash and hiding the electrical wires will take place as we finish the kitchen remodel.  This is just one of the steps.