diy hanging light

With very little money, I came up with a new light for my daughter’s room.

I went to the dollar store and purchased two wire domes, the type for covering food outdoors, $1.50 each. Then I purchased a hanging light kit from Ikea for $6.00.

I cut out a hole just big enough for the light socket to fit through snuggly.



A quick coat of spray paint and I inserted the socket



Next, I glued the two domes together and added some beads to help disguise the seam



A simple light for $9.00




I thought of other ways to dress it up, adding flowers or butterflies, but that’s not who my daughter is; she likes simple and is not “girly” at all.

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Zebra floorcloth

The best part of this was that it was zero cost!

I started with a piece of vinyl flooring, left over from my bathroom reno. It was then base coated with two coats of white paint.

I nailed it into the wall in my mad science lab, aka as my craft room, turned the projector on and traced the image.

Since it was a nice day, I set up in the garage. Using paint that I got from the recycle center, for free, I did my best to match the blue ocean breeze spray paint that I used on the rest of the room.

Close enough :)

Then it was just a matter of painstakingly painting it in.  It’s dry and has received it’s first coat of poly.

And in my daughters room. 

Some of the detail was lost as I enlarged the image, but you can still tell that it’s a zebra head, right? lol  I would have liked it to be a little larger, but I worked with what I had.

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Tiffany blue, black and white bedroom

When my daughter became 13 last month, I asked her if she would like me to redecorate her bedroom. Sure she said, with a tiny wee bit of enthusiasm; she doesn’t excite easily :)

I will forewarn you that this is a long post with lots of pictures.

I searched for a day bed for a while, then remembered that she had a daybed before and it kind of reminded me of a crib, so nix that idea.  While searching Craigslist I found this king size headboard; hey, that will work. I dashed off to another city to pick it up for $50. I absolutely love the shape. The colour, not so much but I had plans.

 

I had to do some McGyvering to get it to attach to the bed frame so that it didn’t rest on the wall and smoosh (that’s a word, right?) the curtains. The headboard is about 3 inches wider than the length of her single bed, so I attached some 2 x 4’s to the frame legs and drilled into the 2 x 4’s to attach it to the bed frame. Just in case you decide to do this, be forewarned.

Then I priced out damask wall paper and at $40 a roll, that was out of the question. I created a stencil and went to work. It took some time and some patience :)

Next up were the stripes. I measured to have 3 of each colour, coming out at 16” each.

I picked up a small vanity from Kijiji. It will do for now and serves as a night stand.  I’m thinking down the line I would like to get a long and narrow parsons table. MY BF had the little chair already and I sprayed it with silver and covered the seat with a tshirt that I got at the GW.



Rather than have a bazillion pillows/cushions on her bed, that I knew would only end up on the floor, I opted for one large bolster. I bought this table runner at Home Sense. I stuffed it and tied the ends in ribbon.



Let me show you a little piece of her room before



Let me take you on a tour of her newly decorated room



Headboard painted in Tiffany blue. Bolster created out of a table runner.



Matelasse bedspread and pillow shams from the thrift store, picked up over time.


I removed the ugly sliding closet doors and hung up the drapes that I made, using swing arms. Ribbon from the dollar store was added to the edges using iron on tape. The memo board was a couple of dollars from the thrift store and the butterfly art was made for her a while ago.



The mirror has lived in every room of my house in grey, but now it looks pretty in blue. I moved the swing arm lamp from the back wall and added ribbon to the shade.

This little Ikea table also received a quick update by adding ribbon.


 
 

Here is a close up of the damask pattern I stencilled on.


I can’t wait for her to see how the room has come together. The last things to do are paint her book case and return it to her room , paint her chandelier or get a new fixture, and make a floor cloth.


Please weigh in on your thoughts for the floor cloth. I was thinking of doing this zebra pattern.



Black and white may be a little too busy for this space so what do you think of doing it in the Tiffany blue?  Or should I do something totally different?
Cost breakdown:
funky 70’s headboard - $50
Vanity - $25
quart of black paint - $17
Ribbon - $5
Spray paint - $12
tshirt to cover chair - $2.50
Total: $110.50
Everything else I already had.

I just loved doing this room. Growing up, my shared bedroom was quite utilitarian, so it’s nice to make one that is pretty.

Update: Here is the completed floor cloth.  I don’t know why I doubted myself, it turned out wonderfully.  You can read about the process here



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A big thank you goes out to Kate at The Besties for featuring this project. Thanks Kate!

My newest toy

On Monday I was searching Kijiji, as I often do, not for anything in particular, but something made me type in the word projector.  Look at what popped up

This is an Artograph DesignMaster projecter. They retail here for $300 and I picked it up for $50. Swaeeeet!

I intend to make a zebra floor cloth, but I wanted to try it out on something first. I found a cool free vector online, printed it out and traced it on to an old sign that I got from work, for free.  Me and free, we go together like white on rice! :)

I’m not sure why I did it in red, I think it was the only sharpie I had anywhere close to me at the time. I’m also not sure what I’m going to do with this, but it turned out better than I had envisioned.

One hour in…

and two hours later, while watching tv…ta da

I am working on redecorating my daughters bedroom and hope to have the reveal by the end of the weekend.

Have a great weekend.

Inspiration Files – A new feature

In my effort to get outside and do more, I will be posting less of my projects, because well, I’ll be doing less projects :)

But of course I can’t stay away.  So, I would like to start something new here at Junkin’ Junky and feature some of the projects that I’ve found that totally inspire me.  Hopefully they will inspire you too.

The first project that I am featuring is by Jodie at Love, Laughter & Decor. Jodie’s project has all of the elements that appeal to me; frugal, creative and beautiful.  See for yourself and she has been kind enough to show all of us how to make this gorgeous tablescape. Thank you Jodie.

Her blog is relatively new and I can’t wait to see more of her creativity.  Head on over for the full tutorial.

 

Getting ready to get outside

I started working on my vision for my small outdoor space. But first, let me remind you of what it looked like; sad, sad, sad

This weekend I was able to recover the cushions on this set as well as the make new cushions for chairs that go with the table.
I took the outdoor rug from the dining room and brought it outside, naturally :)
I don’t have access to water out here and I am not a fan of hauling containers of water through the house, so I’m looking to get some super fantastic, never needs watering plants. Do they exist?  I’ll come up with something. 
My goal is to make the space usable, inviting and comfortable.  It’s a start.




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One bench, two ways

My BF and I both picked up a long bench/ottoman a few years ago for a song. Mine has lived in every room of my house and has had several slip covers.

Last weekend we tackled my BF’s.

Here is the before, blah…



She had picked up this fab piece of fabric remnant and almost gave it away (to me, which was ok. ha ha), but I talked her into using it on her bench. We had it completed in no time and it looks great.




We used a drop cloth on the bottom portion. Clever huh!?

She had originally started hers with a beautiful fabric but didn’t cut the pieces the correct size for reupholstering. She gave it to me and I pieced it together and made it work.  It’s not perfect, but I love it.

Before


During. I used a drop cloth to cover the bottom.



After