Thrifty Bedroom Remodeling Ideas

I have little to no experience with art or decorating. I just put what fits into my home. Sometimes my sons bring home furniture. The most memorable is the zebra desk chair.

After being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer I decided that I needed to remodel my bedroom. My friend, Kari, began a rearrangement business several years ago, I saved her card and the $100 discount flier. She is a very good friend with a great laugh. Oh how she laughed when I told her I had $1,000 to put into redesigning my bedroom. Make a mental note, anyone who offers $100 off her services is costly. When you have cancer you do what you have control over. I think the more you have control over the more likely you are to return to health. She completely agreed and set about making my remodel possible with the money at hand. Creativity is key when you are shy on money.

Be flexible when remodeling. It doesn't matter whether you are doing it yourself or you have contractors. The mess will drive you crazy. There is always mess involved in change

Knowing how much I had to spend and being a thrifty innovative person Kari decided we should have a remodeling party. How could I possibly ask anyone to do that.for me? The idea of spending hours in my boring bedroom convinced me to have a redesign party. I gave Kari email addresses and phone numbers of several of my talented friends. She sent out invitations and made phone calls.

As with all DIY projects the bedroom redesign that turned into a bed and bath remodel. Which involved more friends. You can't just have a big party and expect everything to get done so we developed a plan.

The original plan was to buy new bedding with super soft sheets for days I felt crummy. Then pick out the paint colors based on the bedding. So far so good. Right? When we got that done we realized that the paint scheme needed to be taken into the adjacent bathroom. No big deal paint away. Then the cabinets needed to be refaced, and the light fixture was rusting from shower steam. The bedroom remodel became the bed and bathroom remodel. We added more to the plan. One more attempt was made to add to the plan. The bathroom floor needed to be replaced, but the husband who knew what it would take just said, "No". We cover the floor with throw rugs.

One way to eliminate stress is to use high grade washable flat paint on the walls. A flat finish is a bit more elegant than semi-gloss. High quality paint tends to cover better with fewer coats. In the long run you can actually save money using good paint. Cheaper paints may require more just for basic coverage. I am partial to Sherwin Williams. Their paint is excellent and there is seldom any wait for service.

Once paint colors and bedding were in place we came up with an elaborate scheduling plan.There was a time for emptying the room,a time for washing the walls, removing the face plates, baseboards and doors, taping, then painting the ceiling, painting the first coat, then painting the second coat, The plan didn't quite work. Everyone had different schedules. Everyone was really efficient, Still paint drys at its own rate and the weather wasn't warm. So paint didn't dry as anticipated. For a DIY project it wasn't bad. Once the work started it took about 2 weeks to complete.

The furniture was moved, but never completely moved out of the room. One night we had a wall washing party. Three friends and I washed walls. Then the walls needed to dry four hours before painting. The next night three friends not the same ones from the night before started painting. Kari announced that a mystery painter would be coming over. . Mystery painter was my friend with whom I had taught preschool. Oh the fun we had. These were people who really loved to paint. As the painting was proceeding another friend took measurements and started building new cabinet doors. When the painting was nearly finished more friends came to replace the base boards in the bedroom and bathroom. They also built a frame around the bathroom mirror. Once the baseboard was installed another friend came over to paint trim. As the work progressed I was getting weaker from chemo. I watched and encouraged. It was good we hadn't taken all the furniture out since I lay on the bed to encourage. The depth of our conversation as my friend painted trim that Sunday afternoon was immeasurable. My husband was out of town on business as was hers. I felt crummy, but my life was enriched by this conversation and act of kindness. This kind of conversation repeated several times with our wonderful friends. Everyone has a story. Because you don't feel well doesn't ,mean you can't listen and encourage.

As I said earlier creativity makes the most out of your budget. Most of the furniture I had was reused. Still there were some items we purchased. For head and foot boards we scoured stores online. Finding nothing my husband and I could agree on we hit consignment stores and garage sales. The headboard was located at a garage sale. When you are looking at garage sales and consignment stores make sure you have measurements with you so you can act without regrets. Other stores we visited were Cost Plus and Pier One Imports.

When using more than one color wait until one wall is dry before you start an adjacent wall with a different color. The ease of fixing a goof and taping more than makes up for the inconvenience.

This remodel was more than I expected. We went over the budget. Expect to go over budget and add 10% to what you really think it will cost. It was the changes to the plan that were costly.

What I didn't expect was, that I was worthy of the graciousness of my friends. I never imagined exactly how wonderful my friends were who helped by giving their time and talents. My plan was to help myself feel better and cope with cancer. What I found was lots of good people want to help. They just need to know what needs to be done. I can't help but be thankful for the good people in my life. When the remodeling party is done, make sure you throw a real party so everybody can see the finished results. I can never repay my people for all they have done for me, but I am certainly going to spend my time and talents helping others now that I feel better.