Wandering around online

I've spent a lot of time lately looking at little girl rooms to get an idea of what Natalie's big girl room will look like. I didn't spend a lot on her baby stuff on purpose, because I knew it wouldn't be used forever and I'd get the best value out of it by selling it later on.

Check out this room from Pottery Barn Kids

This room is over 2K. What? really? yikes lol And the only furniture you get is a little night stand and the headboard. This does not include paint, trim or the mattress.

I think it is really a cute idea but lets break it down Kim (read cheap) style.

First I think the key ingrediants to this super cute room is the bedding. You have to find a good knock off. Pieces that don't match but sort of all go together to give it that cool Pottery Barn look. The secret to saving big bucks is buying extra fabric. Just get an extra sheet set or two, there is a ton of stuff you can do with all those extra pieces. Go to TJ Maxx and look through their stuff, they have a lot of cute things. It doesn't have to be hot pink to look great!

This is the base of the bed with a boring cover on it. It's time to wash and measure out your extra sheets. You can make this headboard with a piece of plywood and cotton batting (just wrap it around..you've seen this on trading spaces right?). You'll need to cover it with your extra sheets. Can't sew? Use hot glue. No, really, you can use hot glue. Just don't use too much. You are basically making a huge pillow case to slip over the padded plywood. It's not rocket science. Just don't glue your fingers together.

Don't put away the glue yet. Cut strips from your sheet, the length of the drop on your bed plus a couple of inches. Use stitch witch and put a nice clean line on the edge. Then glue that sucker to an old dustruffle, something that won't show through (or just glue it to your box spring. No one will know and I won't tell).

See that black curtain rod? I bought one just like it at Ross for $11.99 instead of $59.99.

See those curtains? Now things start to get tricky because they have circle doo-hickies on them. How many sheets do you have left over? Hello stitch witch (and ideally you can sew...or con someone into sewing for you. But I have been unsewing like this for years, it really works!). If you are willing to not have circle doo-hickies then curtain panels are sooo easy! If you need circles..tooooo bad!

See the monkey prints on the wall? Cute huh? So easy to duplicate. Find a poster you like. Find frames you like. Arrange the frames in a pattern you like. Cut up your poster. Hang pictures. Frames are very cheap at walmart. If they aren't the right color then spray paint them. For $3 they can be any color you want. This works especially well with frames from yard sales. Dull brown color? You are just seconds from a gleaming red or a pretty pink.

I love how the bed is set up. Primarily white sheets with the pink and yellow. The get gradually darker with the duvet and go WOW with the quilt. Hey - did you know a duvet is just two sheets sewn together and put over your old quilt? No really, it is. (how many sheets are we up to anyway?)

Accessories can really add up but don't let them. Decide how many doo-hickes you want on the bed and create a budget. Don't forget yard sales and consignment stores. But don't go over your budget. There is always a less expensive option out there, just look (and hey - don't you still have a few extra pillow cases to create with?).

Check out the cute lamp on the table. Both pieces are $64.98...puuuleeze. Get thy rear end to kirklands and buy a cute lamp for $15.

The nightstand? I am not sure what to tell you there. Any furniture store can beat PBs $400 price. Not to say their isn't good quality but you can do better. Painting a second hand night stand gives your room a put together look because you can match it all up to your bedding.

Ok that is enough for tonight. If you can't tell, this room is one of my favorite little girl rooms because of the colors and the monkeys. So I am going to try my best to duplicate it without spending a ton of moola. Wish me luck!