Thursday, February 02, 2012

Remodeling Project

So, I got the bright idea to remodel a room for my daughter, hoping to have it done in time for her 5th birthday. Which is on Feb. 18th. Wow, time is running out quickly.

I found several cool photos online that I thought were great and that I thought I could make cheap versions of. Cheap as in, little to no budget. So far, most of my budget has gone to paint. The room I chose was a storage/guest room, and she was already using the dresser in that room for her clothes. I swapped out beds for now because I plan on painting all her furniture white. In a later post I'll show some before and after photos. For now, I want to share my design plans.

The bed is a wooden twin size bed, with headboard and footboard. She already has a striped bedspread in pinks with a touch of aqua blue. I plan to paint the bed (and other furniture) white. Over the bed I will hang up a canopy like this one:


I plan to make one using sheer white curtains, a hula hoop, some feather boas, and some rope and hooks.

On the short wall between her door and closet door (a 5 foot space) I plan on painting a small mural. It will be a picket fence similar to this:
Without the ivy. And with some flowers and butterflies like this:

Her walls will be the pale pink, and I have some darker pink and of course the white for the furniture to make this mural. She loves pink, so this should be great for her.

In one corner of the room, I plan to hang a hammock chair similar to this:
But I will make it out of a cheap hammock and a seat cushion. Total price, around $5.

I also want to make an interesting light fixture. I was thinking some sort of chandelier, like this in concept:
But I will make mine using coat hangers, an old stick lamp, and some tinsel. (bought on clearance for 10 cents a package.

I also want to make some yarn lanterns to hang in the corner for a pop of color. Like these:
And I will use the same yarn to make a pom-pom rug in pinks with white like this:

For the door, I will paint the inside white, but the lower half I will paint in the pink mixed into chalkboard paint, as a ready made art easel. She loves to draw on walls, so why not direct it somewhere it won't hurt?
On the doorknob, I'm thinking about crocheting a cute little flower cover, the middle one in this picture:
For the outside of the door, a cute button monogram to designate her room, like this:


Then for the wall, I'm thinking of a few framed pictures, similar to this:
But with maybe a flower or butterfly instead.

Then she'll have a bench for her dolls on one wall, and behind it I want to do something like this:
But will likely make it using christmas white lights and sheer curtains similar to this:

So far, my progress has been slow. I do have the two night tables sanded, and ready to be primed. I need to finish sanding the dresser, and the bed, and the bench, and then put primer on all of them today. I say today because the primer recommends 7 days to dry for best results before painting on top of it. Because I'm doing the lazy way and using bonding primer, and just roughing up the surface of the furniture instead of sanding all the way down to the wood.
Call me lazy if you want, but even lazy sanding is hard work.
So, now I've shared my ideas, and need to get back to sanding.

1 comment:

Heather said...

I hope she had a fabulous birthday! I can't wait to hear all about it! I'm sure she had fun!

How did her bedroom turn out?