I worked on the room for one weekend and got it all organized and decorated. I spend one day cleaning and moving stuff out and the next day rearranging and decorating. All my new decorations and décor I collected at yard sales and thrift stores the previous week. We already owned all the funiture so it came form other rooms in the house. My hope was that with two of my daughters leaving the nest that I could provided a nice room for them to come back to visit and maybe we could have friends come for a weekend.
Well I didn’t get around to posting about this project after it was done and decided that I better do it soon since my daughter Nastasja and her fiancé Michael are making plans to move back in June until they find a place of their own. They currently live in Baltimore, Maryland which is where Michael and his family are from. I can't wait until they move back and I can see her more even though I have seen her every other month since she left. It is never enough when you love someone.
I based everything off the paint color since we had painted it a couple years ago and didn't have the money to do it again. I also like the color blue and needed to make sure I could use some things from around the house and it look good together. I was trying to create a fresh and inviting look that would make my girls (and eventually my boys) feel welcomed and loved when they visited and I hope that I accomplished that goal. It broke my heart when they each moved even though I knew it was time for them to spread their wings and this was my way of trying to make them feel like they are always welcome at home. I also needed to keep future grandchildren in mind as I redid this room since my daughter Brittany and her husband, Richard are having their first baby and is due April 24th.
It has now been a year since Nastasja moved and 6 months since Brittany moved. To be honest I am still heartbroken for my girls and I know most moms go though empty nest but with homeschooling and spending all our time together this mom has had a tough time and I know it has been hard for them too.
Before:
After:
There are chocolates in the blue crock I thought that would add a nice touch instead of leaving them one the pillow like hotels. It took me an hour to do this press on stencil but I love it. It helps that I got it for free so it was an added detail that only required my time. In a couple weeks I plan to move my sewing stuff out of the room and into my office/craft room to prepare for the move back in.
I actually bought a couch at a thrift store for $40 in perfect condition that would match the room better but couldn't get it up the stairs so it is downstairs in the computer room and I moved the computer room couch into the room instead. I paid $20 for the TV/DVD Combo for the guest room and all my kids yelled "What mom we aren't allowed to have a TV in our rooms and now you get one." It told them it was for my guests which now they are so they can use it when they visit. Seriously I thought my adult children might like some privacy every now and then even thought they say they have none becasue they tell us all their business. That is the benefits of being a close family we share our lives. My dear husband found the china cabinet on the side of the road a couple months before the redo and knew I would want it even though at the time we both had no clue what to do with it. He rescued it instead of letting it head to the dump.
Notice my Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine’s that are out of print. I got them for free at the Clothes Closet a couple years ago. The first time my daughter Nastasja and her fiancé Michael came to stay after the room was done he used a page out of my magazine to clean up his new dog’s poo. I found out when I cleaned the room after they left and my husband email and asked him not to do that. It is funny and there are no hard feelings about it. I cherish relationships more than possessions that is my thing everyone knows if you break my things I don’t let it bother me.
This is the view from the door.
I spent less than $100 to redo this room and added a lot of character and detail without it looking cluttered since I want a clean look that was easy to maintain. My husband is always happy with my thriftiness and especially so since I redid a whole room which I had never done before.
I am pleased with the results and it made me feel very creative and accomplished to do it on a small budget and a small amount of time. I was fun trying to find things that would work together as I spend the day at thrift stores and rummage sales with my husband on a nice fall day.
PS: To My Children. You Are Always Welcome At Home! I Love You, Mom
