Wow – what a difference getting organized can make (not to mention some new bed linens and a little spray paint!). If you saw the last post, you know our room was in pretty bad shape. Honestly it was one of those projects that was just hard to start, but once we got going, it was actually (mostly) fun and the results are SO worth it!
Here are the before and after pictures – I’ll give the shopping details below:
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From the doorway:
And now…
And the next angle (notice the color of the standing mirror and the bookshelf):
And now:
We removed the red chair (oh no, where will I pile things?!?) and will repurpose that somewhere else. We finally hung all of our artwork that has been sitting around. The mirror got a fresh coat of black paint to tie it in with the bedroom set. And, the plain little Target bookshelf that we’ve had for at LEAST 10 years, got a snappy coat of green paint to make it pop. I love it! The Husband did a great job handling the painting!
A closer look at the mirror:
And the bookshelf before and after:
Needless to say, there is a whole lot of HAPPY going on in my head right now. It’s hard to explain the feeling of accomplishment and just plain relief at having this space organized and livable, and I’ll bet you’ve experienced it before too. The lighter bedding just makes it so much more airy and fresh. And, while I mentioned in my previous post that I just can’t stand the tile floor (and that’s still pretty much true), it’s a little more bearable now.
So here are the stores I hit and the items I found to bring our bedroom makeover together. After looking at countless blog posts and articles about bedrooms over the last few days (ok, months!), I set out on a mission with $250 dollars in hand to find some inspiration!
Stop #1 – Hobby Lobby: You have to hit the sales here. All candle holders happened to be 50% off so I snagged two of these at $10 each just in case.
I figured I could return them if I couldn’t use them in the room and, once everything started coming together, I thought they might actually work over the bedside tables. But when we went to hang them it just didn’t feel right. Too small or something. The Husband (who patiently holds things up against walls while I agonize over the placement) simply moved it a few feet to the left , just turning the corner (see 1st reveal photo above) and bingo! Perfect, and yet another point for The Hubs!
Next…
Stop #2 – Big Lots:
Big Lots is in the same plaza as Hobby Lobby - it’s always hit or miss, but their prices are pretty good when you do find something. When I initially set out, I had it in my mind that if I could just find a new comforter I liked, then I could really tie everything else in.
So, at Big Lots I looked at comforters. Bleh. Then I looked at rugs. Nothing. And then I wandered through the Home Decor aisle and that’s where I found this little gem. They were $25 but the sign read that Home Decor was 50% off. I still wasn’t convinced I wanted it for $12.50 so I had the Manager do a price check…. turns out they were marked down to $2.50. $2.50!!! What?? I’ll take two please. They are now over our bed:
Two connected pieces of 5 plates each. The initial reveal photo might make it look like these are hung a little too high, but the ceiling actually vaults on an angle towards the left so they are evenly spaced between the headboard and the ceiling line and also positioned at an ever-so-slight upwards angle which really helped with the flow of the room. I will most likely mute out the gold tone in the one plate(s) at some point and bring in a whitewash or a bright green like the bookshelf. Or not. I don’t know. Here’s an example of what inspired me in the first place and why I knew they would work when I saw them on the shelf. And another example here.
Plate arrangements are just cool and they are always different, and for $5.00, this works in our room for now!
Stops #3 & 4 – Pier One & Ross:
Pier One is great for ideas but unless you hit a GREAT sale on something that works just perfectly, it can be really pricey. I saw a rug here I adored. $599. Ok, no. Ross is another store that is hit or miss. No comforters or rugs that I liked there either.
Stop #5 – Marshalls (I’m still in the same plaza, mind you!):
Once again I didn’t see a comforter I liked and no rugs or pillows, either. But… when I went through housewares I found two matching (shock!) lamps that caught my eye. Just so you know, in all of these years we have never had matching bedside lamps. And that really hasn’t ever bothered me - I am ok with things not being too matchy-match, but for some reason these just “grabbed me”. Since I knew I would be playing with some greens and blues (walls are mint green) I was hoping they would work. I was definitely a little concerned about the price at first – $35 each. Then I remembered the prices at Pier One so I went ahead and snagged them.
I guess the initial picture above shows them off the best – I struggled with lighting (ironic) to get a good picture of the lamp but here’s one:
Stop #6 – TJ Maxx (I’ve now changed shopping plazas!):
I am glad they only had one of these precious little pillows. I am not sure why – maybe because I hadn’t had any coffee yet – but it just made my day. Six stops into the morning and still no new bedding. And of course the pillow wasn’t tagged so I had to wait for a price check, but the Manager just made it $12. Perfect.
Stop #7 – Super Target:
My nemesis. I absolutely LOVE Target. I think they have great buyers, the store is always clean and the employees are always super friendly. I know many of you out there may prefer Wal Mart (and of course, it may be closest to you and that makes sense!) but I just can’t do it. I’ve tried. Not only is my Target closer, but the closest Wal Mart is always dirty and… well, that’s a whole separate post. So back to Target. Ahhhhh…… AND I had an electronic coupon on my phone for a free Pumpkin Spice Latte from their Starbucks Cafe so everything was looking better now. I spent quite a bit of time looking at window panels and bedding and I found an all white comforter with some fun detail – the fabric is gathered in a diamond pattern. While I thought I MIGHT find an actual colorful pattern I liked, I realized white had been on my brain all morning.
I was slightly concerned about the $99 price tag for a King comforter and two matching pillow shams (can’t a girl get sheets included too??) but returns are easy so I grabbed this and two blue window panels for $15 each. I am am now up to $236. I stopped at the hardware store (Stop #8) and got the black and green spray paint for another $15 ($251 total) and headed home.
While The Husband started sanding and painting the bookshelf and standing mirror, I cleared out the clutter and changed out the curtains on the sliding patio doors. The blue really is tying in nicely and I am SO happy to get rid of the darker comforter and floral curtains.
We re-purposed a green swag that was in the closet from two houses back. Once again, it wasn’t easy to get a great picture of the curtains. Here’s the “Before” and two “After” pics:
And… much better:
So, while those are the after pics, I still hadn’t actually taken the Target comforter out of the box at this point in the story. I wanted to check one more place… just to be sure. With the painting well in hand, I headed on over to Bed, Bath & Beyond just in case there was something better to be found.
Stop #9 - Bed, Bath & Beyond:
Can I just tell you that I am completely shocked at the cost of bedding?? This is the “bedding SUPERstore” and I did not find one single King comforter I really liked AND… the basic white comforter I found was $199 – what?? And apparently this is normal pricing now but since we’ve had our old comforter for 8+ years I guess I was just surprised.
What I DID find were two “Nicole Miller” standard pillow shams with a green geometric pattern. These were on “clearance” for $20 each and I am considering these my splurge for the day, putting me $41 over budget, but I am actually SO happy to have found them. After re-purposing throw pillows from other rooms (and closets) I REALLY wanted something to tie into it all that wasn’t flowery or too feminine. And I actually did find another pair that I also liked and then found out that they were $69.
Apiece.
So I bought these:
End of day and all said and done, I think it was a hugely successful project.
Most importantly… I now actually want to BE in our bedroom.
And, from what I’ve seen today, so does everyone else. 
I would love to hear your thoughts on our project and to see your own bedroom renovation/re-do pictures and stories!
Sweet Dreams!!
~ Claire
