After planning the space & painting the room, we hung the vintage map that I have been hoarding in my closet for two years! My son wanted to keep it on this map of the US, but he can also flip to a world map or a map of Alaska & Hawaii.
Since I am only using my monthly spending allowance (plus money I earned through selling things on Craigslist) I had to save up before I could buy a couple of Rast dressers from Ikea. I absolutely LOVE that these are so inexpensive, can be painted/stained to look great, & are a small size, with quite a bit of storage.
Before assembling them, I stained the outside pieces (Early American by Minwax) & painted the drawer fronts white. I used the knobs that came with them for a while so I could save up to buy some ring knobs.
Then, one day I remembered this post from Sarah M. Dorsey Designs showing how she made her own ring knobs. (I also found this post helpful.) Around the same time I had this recollection, I also remembered that I had two bags of Ikea curtain rings. After assembling a cotter pin around the ring & inserting the cotter pin into a beveled washer, I spray painted them gold & followed up with a couple coats of clear acrylic sealer. Then, my husband pushed the cotter pin through the holes in the drawers & spread them apart with the help of pliers & a hammer (kind of like how you use brass fasteners for kid crafts). (The cotter pins were pretty tough stuff, so my husband had to do all the assembling & putting them in the drawers.) I would say I only spent about $8 for all twelve knobs! (Ignore the wonky one on the middle drawer, I should have straightened it out before taking the picture!)
Next, I stained & polyurethaned two shelves, cut from an $8 board at Home Depot. We used some “L” brackets for easy shelf installation, which cost another $6 (total). Originally, I wanted three shelves, but it didn't end up working out, since we are planning on building a pull-down desk under the bottom shelf.
My son is a collector, so this gives him a nice place to display some of his rocks, shells, weathered glass, & buckeyes. I’m not sure what I’ll do when these collections grow, since we’re already running out of space!
So far the biggest expense for this makeover has been the bedding. Since we just upgraded Zeke to a full-sized bed, we needed new sheets, dust ruffle, comforter, & pillows.
I wanted to upgrade Zeke’s director’s chair to a more comfortable chair he could read or hang out in. I was able to get this one on Craigslist for $75. It is in great condition & is very comfortable.
Here is a look at most of the things that we still have to do in the room. Oh, shoot… forgot to add headboard in there… We have to do that too!
We also need to build a pull-out desk & bench below the bookshelves, but PicMonkey was giving me a hard time, so I’m not going to bother labeling another picture!
So, slowly, but surely we are getting things accomplished in this room. I’m hoping that we can work on a few things this weekend. I would love to have this room finished in the next couple of weeks so I can get started on my daughter’s. (I'm picking up something for her space tomorrow, which has me excited about her room makeover!)
