I REMEMBER ME…

Do you ever look in the mirror and ask yourself what happened to the person you use to be?  With kids, marriage, and work, you can easily forget what made you…well, YOU!  At a recent event I attended, we had to do a project that consisted of us putting together collages that represented different things in our lives.  I originally planned not to attend this event because frankly, I’m burned out when it came to “conferences” and anything that’s similar to one, but I decided to bite the bullet and go plus it was in town so why not!

The three topics we touched on were: things that we were struggling with in our lives, what we would like to achieve, and what would be the outcome.  Here is my collage

The front of my board basically was about what I’m dealing with in my life right now.  Needing help, finding balance, wanting words of encouragement, trying to better my relationship with my husband, wanting peace in my life, needing a makeover and to lose weight, and wanting to smile more…are all of the things I’m struggling with at this very moment.  When you turn the board over, you’ll see

Here you will find me motivating myself to pursue dreams and stop waiting around.  You will also see  how color inspires me. I found phrases that inspire me like “ never let a period take center stage” and “bedtime is not for sleeping”.  The first phrase “never let a period…” made me think of some personal feelings and things that I went through with a few bloggers that literally made me want to walk away from blogging.  It made me realize that I can’t let one “period” in my life dictate what I was going to do the rest of my life.  The second phrase “bedtime is not for sleeping” made me think of Janell and how she works hard after the kids are put to bed and early before they awake in the morning.  Hard work is the key to getting what you want out of life so I can’t spend hours sleeping

 The last image of the designer sitting in the chair…well, that represents me! It represents the day that I ‘arrive’ for lack of a better word! After all the hard work, after all of the ups and down, at the end of the day I will arrive and none of what I’m going through now will matter except but to encourage others with a similar story to let them know that no matter what they are going through, they can arrive too!

It’s hard staying true to who you are and not letting other people and situations bring you down, but if you can just remember who you are or who you were, it is possible to get back there.  Do you remember you?!

A $250 NURSERY….It is possible!

As you know, I started working on a nursery design for my sister a few months ago. What you don’t know is the budget I had to work with for the space. My first meeting with my sister to go over the plan for the room I was told that her budget for the space was $250. Yes, you heard right $250! Now, I must admit that I had my doubts with being able to put the room together. But I was reassured that I COULD in fact pull the design off with some clever thinking.

The inspiration for the room came from a shower curtain found at Target! Because we didn’t know the sex of the baby, I opted for colors that could work for both a boy or a girl. Another reason for using these colors was that I wasn’t allowed to change the wall color. With that said, I brought in color with fabrics and furnishings as much as the budget allowed!

Here are some tips on how I managed to pull the room together on a very tight budget!

Use fabric to bring in color! I used one yard of fabric ($8.98yd) for the two pillows on the sleeper sofa and asked a friend to sew them for me…Thanks Mrs. Chic! She also sewed the euro size floor pillow with the fabric left over from the shower curtain that I used to make the crib skirt seen below.

When decorating a space on a tight budget, opt for what I like to call “big impact” items. These alphabet cards from Land of Nod were less than $30 and filled this large wall behind the sofa. Not to mention that it ties in well with the inspiration for the room---NATURE!

Include siblings! Just in case you’re wondering why I included the floor cushion in the room, the answer is that my ‘new’ nephew has an older brother! And what better way to let an older sibling know that he or she is not being left out than to add something to the room for them! While mommy is feeding Miles on the sofa, Chandler can play with his blocks on his cushion! It’s a win win for everyone!

It’s all in the details….By adding grosgrain ribbon to the curtains, I was able to take these simple and affordable IKEA curtains to the next level.

Use things that aren’t necessarily for nurseries. These storage ottomans are a big hit at Target mainly because they are great for college students. With a sale price of $14 each and many colors to choose from, they work perfect in a nursery. The perfect storage solution for toys, blankets, extra diapers and wipes, or even books! And they are soft so baby won’t get hurt!

Think outside the box when it comes to nursery mobiles. This mobile cost me around $5-$6 to make. The trees, owls, and birds were 29-79 cents each from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. The string is from Walmart and the hoop can be found a dime a dozen at Goodwill or new at Joanne’s!

Use what you have! My sister already owned this changing table. But it was originally white. A few cans of yellow spray paint gave it a new life!

Check out clearance! I wanted to bring in vinyl tree, but we were already to the max with the budget. While at Target, I noticed the vinyl trees that they had for $20. Just recently when looking through their clearance, I noticed that they had been marked down to $4.98! I would have loved to have found two sets, but they only had one and I think Miles will enjoy looking at the little birds and colorful leaves while being changed (above)!

Just ask! You may not have the funds to go out and purchase a lot of new things for a room. But you never know what family or friends may have in their own home that they are not using. Because I wasn’t able to find a side table for the space within our budget, I used one from my own home! I will eventually use it, but for now it works in the space!

Take it personal! This is YOUR babies nursery and what better way to add personality to it than bringing in family photos! Miles is joining 9 other boys in this family! One day, a picture including him with some of his cousins can be added to his room!

And there you have it! My tips to decorating a room on a tight budget! I hope that I have encouraged you to go out and tackle a project that you’ve put off because of an intimidating budget!

If you have any questions about the space, feel free to ask me in the comment section!

I'm linking this to PK's Pattern Linky Party!
And: Metamorphasis Mondays at Between Naps on the Porch!

LET'S BACK UP A MINUTE...

Before I discuss anything else, I must express how important it is to have a plan.

Deciding to design a space is one thing, but not knowing the steps your going to take to carry out the design could pose major problems.

Here are the steps that I plan to take to make sure I stay focus on my Master Bedroom Redesign

• decide on a color scheme
• find furniture that will work in the space (seating, storage, etc)
• Make Headboard (fabric, materials)
• find lighting (bedside lamps, chandelier, floor lamp)
• find bedding (duvet, bed skirt, shams)
• decide on window treatment (blinds, drapes, hardware...)
• find bedding and pillows
• gather accessories (mirrors, vases, clocks, art...)

The biggest thing from this list (in my opinion) is to decide on the color scheme. Use fabrics, art, or a favorite item that you love to pull your color scheme together. Then you can build everything else around that. As far as budget, you're the only one that know how much you can afford and with that, I would advise you to stick as close as possible to your budget. Here is a great post on the importance of budgeting explained by the talented Janell Beals