Bedroom Breakdown

I'm so happy to still have some readers here!  Thanks, guys!

So...the bedroom.  I actually have some "befores"...

before

What is with these cats???  Such camera hogs.  The "before"...eek.  Stark walls, leftover wall decor from when we had red bedding (not that it all has to match, but...).  ONE lamp, and not on my side, which was a pain.  Full-size bed...and I'm told that I kick.  No curtains. 

 After:
- I never realized that gray could warm up a room!  That is the Benjamin Moore color "Coventry Gray" - but I took the paint chip to Home Depot and got it mixed there in the Behr Premium Plus Ultra.  The kind with the primer in it. Looking back, I'd skip the Ultra and save a few bucks.  We still had to use two coats, and I wasn't blown away by the quality - I mean it's very nice paint, but I was expecting a miracle in a can.  I've used just the regular Premium Plus before, and thought that the Ultra didn't seem any different.  Not to mention, you really don't need primer on white walls.  Duh. 

- The bed: we got a queen-size bed and mattress set.  And there was much rejoicing.  Before we went shopping, I was under the delusion that we could probably get a good mattress set for about $300-$400.  But I was wrong, so wrong.  :(  And in an uncharacteristically UN-frugal moment, we bit the bullet, went to a furniture store, and bought the bed and dresser.  Even though we did not spend nearly what I know other people spend on furniture, I almost threw up as I paid the girl at the counter.

- The bedding!  I am in LOVE with the bedding.  Homegoods.  :)  And it came with the pillows - that's just one less thing for me to do!

Here's another before...

 
We were trying to cram too much furniture into the room.  The room measures 10'3" x 11'.  No joke.  So we got rid of that dresser and now instead, I'm using my closet for all my clothes.  I got a Rubbermaid closet system and there are lots of shelves in there now.  It's a ridiculous mess right now, or I'd post a picture.  It works pretty well, but I'm still getting used to it.  It's worth having the extra openness in the room.

curses upon you, radiator!

Now there's just a mirror, which I love.  It was $80-something at the Home Depot - Martha Stewart brand.  Not exactly frugal, but have you priced these mirrors elsewhere?  Most start at $200.  I might have to take it back, though, because it makes my hips look big.  It's faulty.

Another before/after...

before...not great.

after...well actually, still not great, but better.  Please ignore the bag hanging from the door and the hamper sitting there.  I didn't mean to have those in the picture...

Low budget item #1: the curtains.  They're actually sheets.  Twin size flat sheets from Walmart, $5 each.  That's $10 a window.  Not too shabby!

that's my daughter's head in the picture.  I tried to crop it out, but there were technical difficulties. 

Low Budget item #2: the lamps.  $7 each at a yard sale.  I didn't have to do a thing to them!  The lady would NOT bargain, though, and had no sense of humor at all, which made me almost put them down and walk away, but DH was there and he talked sense into me.  You can't get lamps anywhere for $7 apiece. 

Low Budget item #3: the side tables!  I wish, I wish, I wish I had a before picture.  You would not believe how crappy these things looked.  They're just cheap-o MDF, and they were brown, and falling apart.  They were originally $5 each, but I bargained and got them for....ready...$5 for the pair!  I sturdied them up by replacing the original dinky little screws with bigger ones...and then a little primer, paint, & polyurethane...and wow.  They could not BE more perfect.

So the last thing to do is to replace the light fixture on the ceiling.  I have NEVER liked it.

I'm going back and forth between spending $99 at Lowe's for a showstopper...

Or just getting a $10 basic, unnoticeable, sad, boring flush-mount one.  I'm actually leaning more towards the "who cares" one, just for the sake of not blowing any more cash.  I don't know, though.  But I do know this: the old one has to go.  The Addams Family called; they want it back.

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