Design Room Makeovers at Budget Prices

The sudden change in weather that has brought us some wonderfully cool nights got me thinking about painting the interior of my house. Summer is mostly too hot for unneeded makeovers, but spring and fall (or thereabouts) are great times for opening the windows and applying a fresh coat of paint.

With paint comes makeovers, and since we recently created a bright, fun new room for our toddler out of a former guest room, this article is about frugal ways to makeover rooms.

Inspiration
First, you don’t have to be an interior decorator, you can just be a copycat or snoop around area shops for ideas to steal. I googled “girls bedroom design” on google images to get some ideas and eventually found this room, which was the basis for our design. I like the arrangement of the furniture and rug, the use of a non-traditional girls-room color, and the repeating theme of flowers/nature in the room.

One other place to look for unique items at less-than-new prices to help plan your design is a local consignment store, Encore Quality Consignments, 123 Claremont Road in Bernardsville.

Believe it or not, there are sometimes sales at places like  or , both in Basking Ridge, where fabrics for the home, home furnishings or decorating items are discounted.

And, of course, classified ads, including the Basking Ridge Patch classified section, are a good source for finding items around which to plan a room. Recent items for sale even include an upright piano!

Finding and matching your color
Since the easiest way to ensure your paint matches is to start with the bedding, I settled on a white comforter with bright swirls on it, including the orange I was looking for, on Walmart.com. This particular set can be viewed here and it’s $44.96 for a complete set, including sheets and comforter..

Once the comforter arrived, I took it along for the ride to to Home Depot where I found a paint swatch that matched the orange color. The Watchung Home Depot currently has a gallon of Glidden Premium paint on sale for $18.97.

Frugal furniture idea: Creating a desk from a snack tray & storage ottoman
Since the existing furniture didn’t include a desk and I wanted a place for my daughter to color, I found an $8 black wooden folding snack tray at Target. I paired it with an orange storage ottoman (which I keep my diaper stockpile in). Target has these great, functional storage pieces on sale this week for $14 in their Bridgewater store.

Rugs - bright colors & free shipping on ebay
I found my rug on eBay through rugdealz. This one is similiar – a 6x8 rug for $69.95 with free shipping. This dealer has a lot of really nice prints that could easily serve as room inspirations all by themselves.

Thrift store artwork - less money and some unique finds
I found the artwork, including 3D wooden flower containers, with brightly painted flowers from the Salvation Army for $4 each. The art above the tall dresser cost $5 per brightly framed picture. There is one located about 7 miles outside of town at 199 Route 22, in Dunellen.

The owl/tree wall stickers were also found in an unopened tube-originally from Target priced at just $10 (hint: the Salvation Army gets new items donated from Target all the time, including diapers, too!).

Curtains complete the look
The curtains were purchased the the Christmas Tree Shoppe, for just $13 per panel. Since the Christmas Tree Shoppe has the same owners as Bed, Bath and Beyond, they always have a great selection of curtains, but at lower prices, in addition to artwork and other home goods. The nearest one is 365 Route 202/206 in Bridgewater.

As you can see, my room looks quite different than my inspiration room. However, I did carry through the elements I liked — incorporating flowers, an orange color and the same furniture arrangement. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from friends and family and, best of all, my daughter loves it!  The owl tree decals are her favorite.

You can see some pictures of our finished room in the photo gallery.