My Strategy

Continued from "A DIY Intervention"..

My Competitors

Susie: She accepted the challenge willingly; she's creative and competitive (I knew she would be a tough competitor).

Laurie: She was also getting revved up and was pinning like crazy on Pinterest, so I knew I was going to have to come up with some really great ideas.

The first step was to decide which room I wanted.

All the rooms were approximately the same size. Two rooms had one window, and one room had two corner windows. So, I chose the bedroom with two corner windows.

I then had to think about the bed size. I knew Laurie had grand kids, so I figured that I would create a room that both adults and kids could use. So I chose twin beds!

Strategy #1 - The Beds

I felt that by picking twin beds I would have the winning strategy. My design idea was to create moving bed frames, twin size use, as well as king!

I made my frames out of two pallets, white washed them, and attached "killer" metal casters (2 on the bottom ends that lock after you move them).

Pallets = $0

Paint = $0 (I already had)

Casters = $50 per bed.

Total = $100 for frames!

Strategy #2 - Table

I then used a portion of a pallet to make a desk/makeup table.

As I told you earlier, my husband is in the farm equipment and manufacturing business. I took a portion of a pallet to my husband's manufacturing plant, and asked them to use a piece of scrap steel and wrap 3 sides. They put 4 legs on it out of scrap pvc piping. I tore out pages of an old book and glued them around the pvc to cover the pipe. Then I sprayed the legs with an acrylic sealer. I found 2 baskets at Hobby Lobby that fit the two openings on the front perfectly!

I had 2 a counter-height chairs in my garage that I donated.

Pallets = $0

Scrap Metal and PVC = $0

Old Book = $0.00

Acrylic Spray = $5.29

2 baskets = $8.00 each

Total = $21.29

Strategy #3 - Wall Decor

Laurie's family lives in Texas, Oregon, and Washington State. I wanted to have something displayed that depicted all areas. I bought a map and cut out the above mentioned states. I then took it to Office Max and got them to blow the size of each state up 5x. I bought 3 burlap canvases at Hobby Lobby. I glued the states on to the canvases and sprayed them with an acrylic clear coat.

3 Canvases with Map = $7.99 each

Total = $23.97

Strategy #4 - Bedding

I looked online for inexpensive cute bedding (FYI, those two adjectives are very hard to put together and find in the bedding world). I got an email saying Kohl's was having a "buy one get 1/2 off Sale," so I headed to Kohl's. When I chose twin beds, I was thinking, "This sure better not double my bedding expense!" But I did find some cute orange and white 'bed in a bag' sets. It was also helpful at checkout when I was given the opportunity to save an additional 10% if I signed up for a Kohl's card - so I did!

Total = $148.50

Strategy #5 - Window Treatments

I measured the two windows in my room (again 2x more cost than the other rooms). When I was shopping for the acrylic clear coat, I noticed some nice looking drop cloths...so I went back and looked at the measurements of the windows, and VOILA! I found some the exact size of my windows! I got 2 (ugh) curtain rods and curtain clips. Then I bought a pretty stencil. I stenciled the drop cloths in a silver metallic paint (already had it in my paint stock). Then to tie in the silver with the bedding, I stenciled on the pillow shams.

2 Drop cloths = $7.89 each

2 Curtain rods = $3.97 each

2 Curtain clips = $8.97 each

Stencil = $6.98 at Hobby Lobby

Total = $48.64

Strategy #6 - Accessories

Starting with my favorite retail stores, I shopped at Ross Dress for Less, and found a rug, table, and paint dipped basket. TJ Maxx had a lamp that was an exact match to the bedding. At Home Goods I found what I figured was an 'icing on the cake win' - a multi-colored Longhorn to hang on the wall between the twin beds! It was so cute, and Laurie is a Texas Longhorn fan! I also bought a mirror there for the desk/makeup table. At Benbrooke Antique Mall I found some old dress patterns, an old green wire basket, wooden wall coat rack, and checkered pith helmet (my favorite piece)! Then picked up a few little odds and ends at Dollar General.

$183.80

Putting it all together

With money running low, Suzy requested Laurie buy pillows, and Laurie agreed!! So she gave me 4, plus Laurie had some extra " burlap gunny" sacks left over, so she gave me two. So I stenciled those as well. Then I bought 4 large decorative wooden buttons and sewed them on the burlap sacks to make fun pillow cases. My friend, Paula, contributed a carafe to place on the table between the beds. The room was finished, and might I add, PRECIOUS!!

Fun Pillow Cases = $11.96

Total = $11.96

Finished Total: $538.16

A bit over budget, but so worth it!

next time..."The Judging Day"

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