Because we started with lovely issues like this:
and this:
and a lot of this:
It took a long time for us to get around to making our house feel like a home. Call me crazy, but I figured we should get rid of the holes in the ceilings, replace the buckled and water-damaged floors, and clear out the mold before we worried about things like paint colors and curtains and such.
(If you haven't been around these parts since we moved in 2009, long of the short is that we bought a foreclosure that had been TRASHED by the previous owners and which had significant plumbing problems. We're talking about the kind of significant plumbing problems that lead to your appraiser needing an umbrella and waders to stand in the family room. We took a huge risk in buying the place, but came out ahead when most of the repairs were within our DIY abilities.)
It took about a year and a half to get all the Reasons We Got This House Cheap fixed. That means I've had the last eight months to FINALLY do fun stuff. FINALLY. Cue the angels singing and the sun shining and unicorns farting glitter!
A lot has actually gotten done in those eight or so months, but high on the AWWWW, YEAH, I DID THAT! list is the guest bedroom. I'm not sure why I love that room so much, but I do. I love it so much that I'm making you look at it. DEAL WITH IT. (Or click away. Whatever.)
So, ta-dah!
The bed we've had for years and years. It was one of those things that I really, really wanted, but then hated the second we got it home. I wasn't smart enough to fess up so I could return it, so I am learning to work with it. I still don't like it, though. (Don't ask me to explain why I don't like it. I haven't figure that part out. I JUST DON'T.)
The bedding we've also had for a few years. I think it came from Walmart. I KNOW. It's unfathomable that I go there willingly. I'm game for doing it when I can get cute bedding cheap, though.
If I'm not mistaken, that bedding cost less than the purple and green throw pillows (from Stein Mart) did.
The curtains are from Overstock. I believe I had to sell a kidney to buy them, but they were cheaper (and FASTER) than making some myself. I offset some of their cost with that chair in the corner, which I found at TJMaxx for $20. It had a broken leg, but it was the sort of broken that was easily fixed with some glue and a screw or two.
All of the frames are from IKEA, the postcards in the frames are from Amazon, and pretty much every other accessory in the room came from TJMaxx.
In other words, it's absolutely an I Found It Cheap Room. Because I'm on track with putting that room together for under $300 (not counting the stuff we already had before we moved), I refuse to spend too much for the lamps I still need, the ceiling light fixture that HAS to be replaced, and the artwork that is still missing. REFUSE. I'll find what I want for a price I'm willing to pay eventually.
Oh, and the wall color is a soft purple from Behr (I think it's called Brioche). I picked it because it flowed well from the rest of the house, but wasn't too deep or bold. And possibly because I came across an "Oops Can" of it for $5 and figured it was good enough. That definitely might have been a factor. Or the entire reason. Whichever.
Anyway, that's the guest room and every time I walk past it, I feel like someone should hand me a trophy and a Certificate of Completion because WOOOO! It's (mostly) done!
And this is where you tell me it looks purdy, unless it doesn't, in which case you just don't say anything because my ego can't handle that sort of thing. Heh.
Psst. . . I'm still working on this room. Here's the latest update. You should enter to win on both of those posts. :-)