I am so excited to reveal my Little Man's Room to you! It has been a long time coming. I would like to say that I was waiting for someone else to finish his/her project, but this one is on me, life just kind of got in the way. This week C's headboard arrived, and I was able to pull the whole room together.
Do you remember the BEFORE?
What a difference! It all started with my curtain fabric. I start here on most rooms for three reasons:
1. It typically requires the most yardage
2. Therefore it is the biggest expense.
3. It is the largest pattern in the room.
Do you remember my budget for this room? I don't! How sad it that! I think it was somewhere between $1000-$1200 for the entire room. I had the mattress, and a few accessories, but everything else was new. As I said above, when I am working on a really tight budget, I start with my curtain fabric. It is not unusual to spend over $1000 on 4 panels. There goes the entire budget.
This designer fabric was a close out, so I bought 18 yards for $18! I found lining at JoAnn fabric for 50% off, so I have a total of $81 into all four curtain panels.
Don't be afraid to mix patterns. After I find my lead fabric, I pull colors from it and find coordinating fabrics. If you look closely at the above picture you will see that I have 4 different fabrics in a small space, and they all work together. (If you count the stuffed animals, I have 6 fabrics!) I typically like to have anywhere between 6-10 fabrics working in a space. I don't stay locked into a specific fabric line with it coordinating fabrics. Because I am almost always on a budget, I look for coordinating fabrics in any store that sells fabric. I did not spend more than $3.50 per yard for any fabric in this room.
Did you catch a glimpse of my second big purchase? Once I started to pull the room together, the floor needed a little something. It was feeling to white...so I bought a Dash and Albert rug. It was just the right thing to ground the entire room. I bought a 6x9 foot rug, and it cost around $200. I love this rug!
Sorry about the IPhone pictures. (I still need a wide angle lens for my camera).
After I made my major fabric choices, I picked my paint color. I had the walls painted Behr Wheat Bread. Normally I would paint myself, but I was so busy with a curtain project for a client, I hired this one out. For a little more impact, I painted the headboard wall with an Owl Stencil. At the end of this post there is a link to a Stenciling Tutorial.
I wanted this room to be a mixture of Mid century meets Southern Traditional. Several of the large peices in this room are mid century/ midcentury inspired. I love to buy older pieces because they just seem to be better quality than anything I can buy today. I picked up the desk at a local estate store for $10, I painted the legs black. My neighbor gave me the chair (much older than 1950's) I bought the Walter Van Nessen lamps because they are just amazing. $100 for the pair.
C enjoying his new desk.
My biggest expense was my custom upholstered headboard. My inspiration was the new Restoration Hardware Headboards. They are gorgeous! I love the look, but not the price. So here is my trick...if you are afraid to make one yourself (sorry Kandi!) Go to your upholstery shop! I was able to bring in pictures of the headboard I wanted, but I changed the dimensions (I wanted mine taller). I had a custom leather headboard made...you are probably asking yourself LEATHER? It linen! Yes LEATHER, but I also had a linen slipcover made, pictured above. I did not have a linen headboard made, because kids can be messy! If the headboard is linen, and an "ACCIDENT" occurs, then your biggest investment is headed to the landfill! Leather can be wiped down, and a slipcover can be washed. The headboard cost me $400 including the leather and the slipcover. A fraction of the cost one can expect to pay for a prefab linen headboard.
I think C likes his new bed.
Vintage Suitcases act as a side table.
An old fishing creel is used to hold our nightly books. Did you notice the books under the lamp? I used two different tables, (or a table and 3 suitcases)on either side of the bed; therefore the lamps are not the same height. To accommodate I place a couple of books under the lamp.
When working with a neutral color palette, I don't forget texture. As you look around this room, you will see I have used baskets, old suitcases, metal feed toughs, and vintage toys to give the room some personality.
I love monograms! They are so Southern! I should because I just bought a really expensive sewing machine so I can monogram all day long! Before I bought my machine I went to my local embroidery shop, and for $20 I had them monogram two pieces of fabric with C's monogram. I sewed them into working roman shades. This might be one of my favorite things in his room. Below is a picture of C's reading chair before I had it reupholstered. Allen was not thrilled about this decision. As I had reupholstered the chair only 6 months earlier in a red fabric. I have to say, I am thrilled I spent another $200 on this fabric upgrade! We all make mistakes!
And here it is after...what do you think?
I love this chair in gray! It now sits in
An old feed trough holds a collection of books.
Lastly a new dresser completes the room. I still need to hang the mirror, and change out the hardware. I was planning on painting this orange, but it looks terrible with the brown leather headboard, so for now, it is going to stay blond. I have learned overtime somethings just don't look good together. I was going to go ahead and paint the dresser, but I decided to wait until the headboard arrived. I am so glad I did. One look at the brown leather and his long orange pillow and I was so happy I had not painted the dresser!
Vintage Letters, and Toys complete the dresser's look.
This project took me so much longer than I had thought it would, but it was all worth it to see my Little Man in his new space.
Here is the breakdown to my budget.
Headboard $400
Dash & Albert Rug $200
Curtains $81
Rods $50
Chair $200
Various Fabric $50
Dresser $100
Accessories $150
Painter + Materials $200
Lights $180
Grand Total= $1611
Thank you for joining me today. I hope you were inspired to recreate a little corner of your home. I would love to know the steps you take for a room makeover.
I have posted on several of the projects that helped make this room...here are a few links
Owl Friend Tutorial
If you have any questions about my methods or if you would like me to write a tutorial about any projects, please leave me a comment.
<3 Rebekah
I linked up at some of these parties...
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