Happy Friday: Frugal Kid’s Bedroom Makeover
Sent from reader, Wendi:
This summer, I promised my son his own room. He had shared for the first 6 years of his life and was due. But with a budget of only $100, I knew I would need to be creative in order to give him a room he would love. I shopped sales, reused and repurposed, and salvaged (AKA rescued someone else’s garbage) to save where I could!
I began by faux painting the walls to look like salvaged wood. Most of the paint colors I already had on hand or was able to wrangle up from left-over stockpiles. I did buy the primary wall color from Sherwin Williams while it was 40% off, and I purchased a handy little wood graining tool at Lowe’s that is my new best friend! Bedding cost about $39.99 at TJMaxx and the throw pillow was deeply discounted to $8.50 because the zipper was broken, but we just stitched it up and it works great! A new area rug wasn’t in the budget, so I simply folded an old one so that it was the right size. The triptych photograph of our home town was done by my dad. My mom donated one of her frames, and to save on matting costs, I simply flipped the commercial insert over and used double-sided tape to mount the photos to it.
I found the desk chair at a thrift store during their sidewalk sale. It was a dollar and just needed a little spray paint, which I had at home. The ladder was salvaged. The letters of my son’s name were originally part of his nursery, but I recovered them with an old pair of jeans destined for our yardsale. The weathered fence boards that make up the clock were salvaged. I did some quick work with a jigsaw and attached hands from a make- it-yourself clock kit I happened to have on hand, and wa-la!
The smaller skateboard I purchased from a yard sale for $3. The larger was salvaged. I purchased the L-shaped brackets from Home Depot for under a dollar each. My son chose the picture frame from TJ Maxx for $9.99. (I kinda gulped after spending 10% of the budget on a frame, but it was the only thing he requested so how could I say “no”?).
We used one leg of the leftover jeans used to recover the letters of his name to make one of the throw pillows. Everything else in the room I already had. A lot of elbow grease compensated for the lack of spending. It feels really good to finally be done, but my daughter’s room is pending!!
HAPPY FRIDAY! 😀
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Wow…everything looks awesome! Great job.
Super creative and thoughtful. What a good mama!
you should be an interior decorator, you are very talented
Love it!! so awesome! you did a great job and I love the rugged industrial look, so perfect for little boys…. ahem, young men.
Great job! All ur hard work looks amazing!
Great ideas, love the skateboards
You’re so talented and resourceful! Great job!
What a great job! I think it’s really touching that he chose that particular frame as the one thing he asked for. So sweet.
Agree!
I know. My heart melted a little… er, a lot, when he chose it!
Love this!
Awesome job, and it looks like a million bucks! I can only imagine how your son must feel to walk into a room of his own that looks as good as this. (Loving touches from grandparents are a sweet bonus, too.)
It’s amazing how valuable resourcefulness and ingenuity can be–you definitely accomplished more with these qualities than you would have without them, regardless of any budget.
Kudos to you! Thanks for taking the time to share your creativity with us. 🙂
Very awesome!
Wendi the faux painted wall looks great. I have been wanting to do this in my bedroom. Want to come paint?
Oh man. Once I was done, I swore I would never do it again! A TON of work, but the wood graining tool was awesome! They recommend you use it with a “glaze”, but I just watered down regular wall paint. It was messy. Have a rag to wipe away drips, but the wiped drips actually add layers of color and dimension and add to the overall effect!
Great job. Voila there it is!! (That is a french word)
Wow. That is amazing. I wish i was that creative. Off topic i have 2 shutterfly codes if anyone wants them. A 5×7 notepad KE96-BE5R-JGFY-PYFXBF And a code for a free mousepad expires on 8/19 4FXR-152T-9J6T-ZBY7DR Please comment if you use them. Thanks☺
Thank you, used the notepad
I can use the notepad, thank you Ashley!!!!!
Betsy i have a notepad code you can have. Just email and ask for code angelito121610@gmail.com.
The room looks amazing and I bet he loves it! Great work!!
It’s a beautiful room. Love the idea of painting a wood plank wall – less permanent and your looks great.
Sweet that your son wanted that “family” picture frame. He knows what a good mama he has! :
Wow…. that was an amazing makeover! I need you at my house! 😜
What a great room! You did an awesome job. Most importantly you taught your son the importance of repurposing.
Thank You Ashley. I used the code for the shutterfly mouse pad.
Amazing job, thanks for sharing your creative and thrifty ideas!
You are an amazing mom. Kudos to your creativity and spirit!!
Love it!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your creativity with us!
This looks so good! You are a rock star mama!
That faux plank wall is amazing! You are very very talented!
Great job!
Very creative work!
You did an amazing job. He wont want to leave his room. : )
Wow is all I can say…..that is one seriously gorgeous room! And all for $100?! You are extremely talented!!! Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures with us:)
Shutterfly free reuseable shopping bag: ctd77ucb6u759n2sea
This is so sweet! I feel like crying, so thoughtful. Even though you don’t have a lot of money, you still put your kids first!!
What a wonderful room you made for your son!
The hardest part for me is sticking to a budget with a room do-over…I always seem to cheat and spend more. Great job sticking to your budget, too! 🙂
Wow! That is amazing! You could have easily spent that much just on paint alone at full price. It looks great, and it’s definitely a room that he will love for years to come as apposed to a superhero theme or something that he would probably be wanting to change again when he hits the teenage years. I’m so impressed… and jealous!
Wow!! Amazing job!!! Everything looks terrific – I especially LOVE the clock! I would purchase one! You should think about a side job selling your creations on etsy 😉
Great room!
Thank you Maria for the code!
How do I make the awesome clock??
I used old fence boards and kept them in place edge-to-edge using a thin piece of wood cut to the length of the clock’s diameter, which I screwed to the back. I also attached a picture hanger on back. You can order the clock hands online probably! I would just google “make your own clock kit”. Mine is battery-operated is just hung by a screw!
Hobby lobby has clock kits. I don’t know prices, but the 40% coupon always helps!
Wow! Love your style and your creativity! Especially your frugality!! We don’t have kids yet but I hope I will be able to do things as cool as this for our kids 😀
Knocked it out of the park! Great job. I love the skateboards on the wall, I would never think to do that.
A friend suggested using the wheels to hang coats/backpacks from!! I loved the dual function idea!
Wow, great job! Very resourceful, thrifty and great mom. Oh yeah, I LOVE THAT CLOCK!:)
So cool!! You are very talented! Do you happen to have a link to the tool you used to make the painted wood effect? Would love to try this in my boys’ room!!
Wish I could post a pic!! It was “Warner” brand from Lowes. Item #293308. Does that help? Buy a cheap “chip brush” too! Use a level to draw your lines in the wall first. Good luck!!
Great! Thanks so much 🙂
You’re welcome!
OMG this looks amazing! Kudos to you! I especially love the wood effect!
Love that you were able to give him a great room without going over budget.
Wow, I’m with everyone else, you’re truly talented!
This is fantastic. A lot of love and style are apparent.
OT
I have $10 vs code exp tonight i want $5 gc
Email at
Sjack143@gmail.com
That’s so creative! I love it all!
I LOVE it!!!! What is a wood training tool, by the way?
It’s a wood “graining” tool and I bought mine at Lowe’s in the paint department. It looks a little like a curved rubber stamp with a handle on it. There are a lot of youtube videos that show how to use it! That’s where I learned about it!
Oops! Spell check :/ Thanks!! I’ll check it out! I just love creativity!!
Off topic but i have 2 $25 virtual dollars for The Limited, expire tonight. If u are interested in them, please leave your email and I will send to you. Happy Friday!😎
Alley do you still have the limited virtual dollars?
Alley, if you still have the virtual dollars I’d love them! skittlebees @ gmail . com (no spaces). Thanks! If there’s anything you want for trade let me know & I’ll c what I have.
Oh Wendi. What a great read to end my day. Wonderful job!
Bob says he likes this.
Wow, so creative.