Frugal NESTing: MJ's Bedroom Makeover

My beautiful BFF. And talented, too!

We have a special guest post today. My bestie, MJ, recently decided to paint her room, and I was blown away by her creativity on a very tight budget. When I saw the pictures and was blown away by the transformation, I begged her to write a post because we're so into frugal DIY projects here on the NEST. Without further ado, here's...

MJ'S BEDROOM MAKEOVER

BEFORE: ugly, ugly weird colour.

I live in beautiful part of Toronto, filled with huge trees and a big park right beside the townhouse where I rent a room.  There are so many trees that on the sunniest of days I can always find plenty of shade to cool off in.  This is a wonderous and amazing thing.  However, my room was painted a dark, dusty rose kind of colour which a) could maybe be a nice accent colour but not nice for four full walls and b) between the colour and the glorious tree canopy meant that I needed a lamp on by 3pm and if it’s a rainy day then all lights must be on.  With the days getting shorter the time to paint was now!

BEFORE: such a dark space.

The only thing slowing me down was finances.  I took my Darth Vader piggy bank and shook out all the quarters and loonies that I’d been saving for the past two months and combined that with the last $20 in the bank.  Armed with a $50 budget I headed off to Home Depot.  I went straight to the mis-tints hoping to score a usable colour that no one else had liked and found a gallon of a decent leafy green for $9!  A nice green but again, not four full wall nice.  I knew covering the dark rose colour would be challenging and I would need a lot of paint to cover it up.  Hooray!! An 8L pail of white primer on sale for $25!  I grabbed a combo pack of rollers, a tray and edging brush on my way to the cash and the total cost was $50.79.  Score one for the savvy shopper!

AFTER! Bright, cheery, and matchy with the bedding!

I got home, put half my furniture onto my balcony and cramming everything else into my closets and began the transformation.  Remember how I was a super savvy shopper and was a mere 79 cents over budget?  Do you know what happens to the savvy shoppers who save by not buying a drop sheet?  They flip a tray of white paint off the top of their entertainment unit onto the dark blue rug.  I tried using harsh language to clean it up but weirdly that didn’t work.  I scooped up as much as I could and threw a towel over the rest and kept on going.  I couldn’t unflip the tray, it was what it was and momentum could not be lost!

Two coats of primer covered the white well enough to suit me until I find a colour I really like and can afford to buy it (and a drop sheet) and I used the green for the base-boards and trim on the closets. Well, I will do the trim on the closets. I saved  money by not buying tape either and after one experimental square it’s clear that without it the transformation will resemble a first grade art project.

My room is %100 brighter and homier now and I even managed to create more space when rearranging the furniture after.  I hung up my guitar and a bit of art and now it feels like my own happy, cozy space. Extra bonus in life is that my landlord is not even a bit mad about the carpet and is changing it soon anyway. Yessssss!

You can follow MJ on Twitter, though she doesn't say much, but when she does it's pretty profound. Kinda like Silent Bob. Find her at @tinypiesrtarts.