$10 Room Makeover

I don't have a picture of what my daughter's room looked like before I surprised her with a room makeover last Monday.  I wish I did, but I was in such a rush to get started when she left for school that I forgot to take a "before" picture!  It was cute but very crowded and messy.  The organizational systems I had tried to set in place were failing.  Her bedskirt was gone because it had gotten ripped to shreds.  Her bedspread was a pink with Disney princesses.

She had been talking about wanting an American Girl room.   And I had been talking about how we had to get rid of some stuff and get organized before Christmas!

So last Monday I cleaned her room from top to bottom and got rid of several bags of old toys and "stuff."  My husband helped me rearrange her furniture.

I had looked for a few quilts but just didn't have the funds, particularly at this time of year.  However, I had an old quilt someone had given us as a wedding present. We had used it as an picnic blanket, but I washed it up and it washed fairly well. There are a few tears in it but that just adds to the authenticity - the American Girl doll characters lived in days when they slept with well worn, cozy quilts!

I called up my mom and asked if she had an extra bedskirt lying around.  Sure enough, she had an old white eyelet one.  I ironed it and put it on the bed with the quilt.

When my mom was young married, she bought an old kitchen table and corner cabinet at a garage sale.  Those two pieces of furniture were in our kitchen growing up, and really until about 5 years ago!  They have been painted and stenciled with various trends (baby blue with geese, hunter green, etc).  My mom was a master at decorating on a dime.  Anyway, the table finally gave out but the corner cabinet, which was currently painted white, was still hanging around.  When we moved I asked if I could have it, with plans to eventually paint it black or barn red and have my husband add nice moldings and new hardware to it.  It's old and probably worthless, but it has sentimental value to me so I wanted to keep it around.

However, that cabinet was still sitting in our garage - painted white - and I decided to put it in Madi's room to showcase and store some of her American Girl dolls and accessories.  I hung an American Girl poster and put some of her other dolls around the room.

I also put up an old mirror with hooks that we received as a gift from our wedding registry years ago, and that had been sitting in a box since we moved.  Eventually it will hold American Girl Doll outfits on hangers - for now I strung Christmas ornaments on it with ribbon.  

And of course, we put up her pink Christmas tree so she could decorate it when she got home!

The only thing I bought was a cute pillow at Steinmart for $10.00 that I thought would be comfy for her to use to sit and read.  I also liked it because of the black - I think it's nice to have something with dark or black tones mixed into lighter palettes.  

This was the result of our $10.00 room makeover.

The look on my daughter's face when she walked in her room after school was priceless!  It was worth all the work (and the $10.00)!  She must have thanked me a dozen times in the next day or two, and kept telling me how much she loves her "new" room and never wants to change it!

Of course I know one day she will.  But I am thrilled to see the joy on her face when she sits or plays in her room, and how comfy she says she is at night when I tuck her under that old quilt.  

We have had fun adding garland and other Christmas decorations to her room.  She did a beautiful job decorating her own tree all by herself....

We even decorated her dollhouse! 

What can I say, we love Christmas around here!  

It's amazing what rearranging what you have, pulling out some old things, and adding one or two new things can do to makeover a room and cause the atmosphere to feel fresh, new and beautiful!  

Use some creativity and resourcefulness to add some fresh beauty to your home this Christmas season!