You may have seen my previous posts on our budget-friendly renovations for our kitchen and our bathroom, but today’s renovation is less construction and more design.
I recently decided that I wanted to redo our guest bedroom and change it into more of a guestroom+ study with more open space. While is was a nice room for guests to stay in when visiting, it wasn’t the most practical use of space for us- our condo only has 2 bedrooms, and for us to be dedicating one completely to guests without being able to use it regularly ourselves just wasn’t working. While my husband agreed that it was something that we needed to do, he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of dropping a ton of cash on new furniture, accessories, and other related items. His final verdict was this: I could redo the room, but only if I spent less than $500.Ever ready for a challenge, I accepted the budget, and here are the results:
Above: The old room; Below: The new room
First, I systematically began selling every item we would no longer need currently in the guest bedroom. We sold the furniture, old lamps, old bedding, curtains, accent pieces- we sold every little last item in that room. Mostly we sold the items through the university list-serv, but I also sold a little bit on Ebay. It was getting to the point where classmates and other faculty members were e-mailing me asking if we were selling our home due to the volume of items I was listing through the university, which was actually pretty funny. After selling it all (including the mattress and bedframe) we had made $1535.
Then, I started looking for deals on furniture. I quickly realized that to furnish the room with the new pieces I wanted would take up all of the money I had made selling items, leaving me with nothing to decorate the rest of the room with. Feeling desperate, I turned to Craigslist.
First, we bought a beautiful old antique dresser for $125.It was in pretty rough shape, but the price was right- I decided I would take on the challenge of refinishing it with a little bit of help from Google and the lovely people at Lowes who I bothered with countless questions. Here are before and after shots of the dresser:
Notice Marty, our cat, investigating the new addition to our home
Then, I began looking for a side table. I couldn’t find anything for the right price/style on Craigslist, so I paid a visit to our local Salvation Army. Much to my delight, I found the perfect item to restore- it was only $30, but because it had been there for more than 3 months it was discounted to $15. What a steal! Here are before and after shots of my new favorite piece:
Before and after pictures: $15 side table from Salvation Army
I loved this side table the minute I saw it- I knew it would look spectacular painted white, and let’s be honest: you just can’t beat $15 for a piece of furniture! Here are other views of it (just because I am that obsessed):
Look at the gorgeous details on the legs!
Lastly, we began looking for a daybed. We had gone back and forth with either getting a sleeper sofa or a daybed, but when I saw this daybedfrom West Elm, I knew my search was over. It was love at first sight.
West Elm Window Daybed
It was originally $449.00, but I was able to hold out on buying it until the day the website had a 20% off sale on all bedroom furniture, giving me an almost $100 discount on it. We found the mattress heavily discounted during a sale at Sears, and paid only $120 for it (originally $300!)
After refinishing all of the furniture and repainting the room, I was finally able to start picking up some accent pieces. I bought discounted pillows at Pier 1, lamps from Target, and a gorgeous sunburst mirror from Amazon.com (using the great Amazon.com Living Social deal from a few weeks back!). The remainder of the items came from Homegoods as well as a Groupon that I bought for a local home decor place. Here is a variety of pictures of the finished room:
After the final tally was made, I was happy to tell my husband that I had only spent a net of $209. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile that wide in our 3 years of marriage! He loves saving money as much as I do, so this was like Christmas for him- but better. We use the room all the time now: him for studying, and me for stretching out on the daybed to read a good book.
The process of hunting down furniture and refinishing it is definitely a long process, but I would absolutely say that it is worth it.The amount of money that I saved as well as the ability to find truly unique pieces is worth far more than the work it takes. If you have any questions on the furniture listed above (or any other items you see pictured!) comment below and I will be happy to answer!
[...] is part 2 of a post from Saturday on refinishing furniture for budget home renovations. To further highlight the amazing things you [...]