Friday, September 25, 2009

A Grown-up Room

Remember when I told you that I was helping one of my daughter's friends do a master bedroom makeover? I teased you with this photo of items that she purchased at the thrift store. Along with the items in the shopping cart, she also bought a headboard and dresser. Then she purchased another inexpensive dresser off of Craigs List.
This is what the master bedroom in their basement apartment looked like when I first saw it.
Like most young couples their furniture consisted of freebies and mismatched finds. The room wasn't a true reflection of this cute couple. They didn't feel good about it''s appearance and as a result it had become a catch-all. And, like most young couples, when they did purchase new furniture it was for the baby's room, not theirs. Fortunately they were at the stage where they were ready for a change, even though the change had to be done on a shoestring budget. I met with them to discuss their vision, gave them some ideas and shared some photos to give them inspiration. Then we went shopping at the thrift store to pick furniture and accessories and to the home improvement store to pick paint. We picked Behr Paint and Primer in Subtle Touch for the walls. It's a light gray with a hint of lilac. The furniture paint is Polar Bear, a soft white.
They spent several late hours, after their baby was asleep, painting walls and furniture. It was long, hard work, but I assured them that it's always good to have a deadline for a project and their hard work would be worth it.
When I next saw their room, they had it emptied out, with all of the painting done. I started my part of the work by distressing the newly painted furniture. It's nice to have a little distressing from the beginning, that way when life gives the furniture an occasional nick or bump it will only add to the character. Then my favorite part began, moving furniture and accessorizing. Oh how I love to accessorize a room! It was so fun to pull together the thrift items along with goodies that I grabbed from other parts of their home, like a beautiful mirror that was in the living room but looked so much better in the bedroom.
This is what the room looked like after.
It no longer looked like a dark basement room. It was now fresh and light. We even managed to give them full length curtains on the tiny window to give the feel of a bigger window. There was no way I could hang a curtain rod with that annoying pipe. So, since they didn't need the privacy, I did the next best thing and used pretty upholstery tacks to do the job. Do you notice how those pretty thrift store finds help to bring in a little sparkle, add the green accent color, as well as give the room a sophisticated, finished look.They are both very talented photographers so I included several empty frames for them to fill with gorgeous black and white photographs that they've taken. One of my favorite accessories was an old camera (on top of the dresser) that they had purchased for a dollar at a flea market.They already had the two nightstands, although they weren't really using them before. They painted them both a beautiful gray to contrast against the light gray walls and white headboard.The lamps were a thrift store find.It was so much fun to give this sweet couple a beautiful room to retreat to at the end of the day, and to do it on a tight budget. I estimated that the total cost for furniture, paint and accessories was about $300. I loved their reaction! They couldn't believe it was their room. They felt like they had gone from a college dorm to a honeymoon suite. They said that they used to hurry to close the door of their room when they had guests over. Now they were so excited to have guests come stay in the room. And all it took was some creative shopping, and a lot of paint and hard work.

40 comments:

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

What a great transformation, Joy! Love the outcome.

Melissa said...

Oh joy for Joy....what would we ever have done without you!?!? Thank you so much for you inspiration, your vision, your ideas, and your ability to pull it all together with all the amazing final touches. We are still basking in delight over the changes, and we hope others will be inspired too when they see how a transformation is totally possible. What a breath of fresh air––exactly what we needed. You are SO talented and skilled at what you do. You have the touch! Thanks so much again and again!

Amanda@Imperfectly Beautiful said...

What a beautiful transformation! And even better that it was done on such a tight budget. i LOVE that! Anyone can have the room of their dreams with a bit of creativity and some elbow grease, right? Great job... you are so talented, Joy.

~Amanda

Ruby Red Slippers said...

So beautiful-

Darlene said...

WOW just beautiful!! It IS a grown up room now!

Sanford and Michelle said...

Amazing! I LOVE it. Your decorating ideas are inspiring.

The Dragonfly said...

This is a great change! What a kind act of service you rendered to this couple! Their room is now peaceful and spa like. Way to go Joy . . . you've done it again!

Stephanie said...

That looks so good, nice and clean and fresh! I love it! I'm trying to do the same in my room, I just got a new duvet cover, mine was burgundy, and I got a new white one to brighten things up and accent with pillows.. wish you were closer to come "makeover" my room!

Kristin said...

Beautiful transformation!!

Janalee Hubbard said...

Love it! It's so fun to see the "before" and "after" pictures. What a difference!

Kim said...

How sweet you are to undertake such a task. Oh, but I bet it was so rewarding to see their faces, their reaction to the finished product! What are your tips for distressing??? I'd love to know! Thanks! Kim

Missy said...

looks great! all that for $300! impressive.

Jill said...

Wow, that is an unbelievable transformation!!

Cottagecheap said...

Love it LOVE IT!

I wonder if they can paint that pipe?

Summer Rae said...

Absolutely beautiful!

Wendy @ Ramblings from the Sunshine State said...

It looks great! I love that green chair.

the undomesticated wife said...

I can see why they are so happy...it's so much brighter and fresher in there!

Gayle said...

Joy - I think you need to have your own TV show! And the title of your blog would be a perfect title for the show too! WooHoo!

Dawn said...

Oh, where were you when we were poor, married college students???

If anyone deserves a nice retreat like that, it's young parents. I'm sure your talents were a huge blessing to them!

Jon Smith said...

The photos don't do justice to our new space. It's amazing, we LOVE it! From your creative ability to establish an overall vision down to the way you organize each book on the shelf. We keep our bedroom door wide open now :) Another thing that's very impressive is your ability to think not only visually but functionally, what should stay and what should go and why. We could not have done this without you! THANK YOU!

{krista} said...

This is a beautiful transformation! Makes me want to redo my room - again.

Just Us said...

Joy what a change! As always I am so impressed and can't wait to see what you will dream up next. The dresser and headboard are my favorite part (and the curtains as well. Such a creative way to work around the problems of hanging them!)

Emily said...

They must love you! What a difference! The before reminded me of those poor college days. Glad those are over and theirs are too!

Unknown said...

I wish I had vision like that!!!! I need a whole house makeover like this!!!

Team Skousen said...

This looks so great!!! I love how bright it feels. Great idea with the upholstery tacks...I never thought of that! I thought of push pins, but that looks a tad tacky :)

Awesome job!

Heather at Happy Chippy Junk said...

Looks amazing!!! Amazing what a good thrift store can do for a room!!!

slinkycat said...

Oh wow, the transformation is amazing! Love it :)

Anonymous said...

You did a great job! The room looks amazing & goes to show that you can do so much with a lot of style & a little bit of money :)
Kim
www.vintagepretties.typepad.com

Angela said...

Oh wow, what a transformation!

Tiff Hunt said...

A-MAZE-ING!! I love what you do with things! It looks FAB!!

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

What a great blog header...and I love the post....Just had a few hours to blog hop tonight.....enjoyed yours...hope you will stop by my Christmas blog...there is a great giveaway that I will draw for on Oct 1.

http://grammyababychangeseverything.blogspot.com
http://teresa-grammygirlfriend.blogspot.com/

Ashlee said...

Joy, I just found your blog the other day and I have spent every free moment looking at every post. I finally made it all the way back to the beginning. Thank you for such a wonderful blog. You have given me so many ideas. I love everything you've done!
I can't wait for more. And thank you again.

~Ashlee

Chubby Chieque said...

HI,
I ended up in here in your very inspirational blogsite while browsing the bloglandia, as am home recovering from my fall flu.

Thanks a mill of sharing your thoughts and those smart tips of how to do the DIY.

Greeting from Stockholm/Sweden

Becky said...

This re-do brings tears to my eyes... what a talent you have, not just in your decorating, but, to bring such life and hope to this young couple. Truly this is only a spring board for them.They will never be the same. How I have longed for a friend like you;
and now there you are, sharing, showing, giving over the miles and airwaves. Thank you!!!!!

Heather DeDona REALTOR/Broker 336-451-4498 said...

I love the way you modified hanging the curtains-that is brilliant!

Ashley said...

Great job!!! I bet they were just blown away!! Beautiful!

Gina @ MoneywiseMoms said...

What a lovely room! This is a true testament to how a little elbow grease and creativity can overcome a tight budget. What a wonderful lesson you have taught them that they can now reproduce as they grow their home and family. Fabulous job, Joy!

Unknown said...

Looks amazing! Can you come to my house next?;)

Natalie said...

oooh this turned out so cute! love the idea with the curtains. so smart! i love seeing another lds momma on here too that loves design! and i love that headboard (although i kinda liked that crazy mustard color) the aqua is really fun... and i'm like you- better go start spray painting before this weather gets any colder! keep up the good work, love your stuff

-natalie
www.centsiblychicsisters.blogspot.com

Allison and Noah Riley said...

Love it! And I adore the couple - so happy they have a beautiful space of their own :).

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