Design on a Dime

I love redecorating, and sick as it sounds, I love the challenge of doing it on a very tight budget!

Over the weekend Caleb complained that his room wasn't what he liked. And, he was right, it was decorated according to the sports border that was up when we moved in. He asked for race cars-- specifically anything Disney/Pixar Cars 2. Ok-- Mommy can work with that! And -- I'm leaving the really nice sports border up while doing it!

#1. Colors! Luckily the colorscheme in the room could stay the same and shift to a cars theme - no new paint job required!

#2. A new bedspread goes a long way toward changing the room. I popped online to check my options and then planned to check Goodwill and clearance sections. I got VERY lucky and found an awesome new Cars2 quilted bedspread at Walmart on the clearance rack for $15-- that's half the price of a new one! COST: $15

#3. When Caleb was a baby I decorated his room with children's books. I found a variety of books and -- don't die -- cut off the front covers and framed them in cheap wooden frames that I repainted to match his room. This made shifting to a different theme super easy! I pulled down the frames -- chastised myself for not dusting them more often -- cleaned them up and took out the book covers. I went online and found some awesome Cars 2 photos, asked Caleb which characters he wanted in his room and 30 minutes later he had five brand new, framed Cars2 photos on his wall. COST: a little bit of ink jet ink that dries up if you don't use it anyway!

#4. While I thought the room looked great, Caleb noticed that he couldn't see any of this cool new stuff once he was tucked in at night. Ok -- I can fix that. I found a terrific Cars2 poster (portrait angle) and positioned it on the wall to the side of his bed. The poster was $5. I considered buying a frame but it was $10 and I thought I could do better. I found 3M Command Strips for $2.50 Poster COST: $7.50

#5. Caleb wanted to new curtains. He didn't want a valance, like he had, but curtains that come down on both sides. Since his new bedspread includes a variety of shades of blue, I decided to shop for a solid color set of curtains, rather than spend more on the character curtains. I also figure, down the road when he changes his mind again, we might still be able to keep the curtains. I got very lucky on this one! I found solid blue tab curtains in like-new condition for $4. For curtain pulls I recovered the red ribbon that the quilt was wrapped in and added some additional Cars2 ribbon I bought at Walmart for $2.50. I sewed button holes and used industrial sized screws as pull holds, going along with the car-mechanic sort of element and available for free in my tool box. I feel certain I can find a suitable curtain rod for about $10. Total curtain, sash & rod COST: $16.50

#6. The light switch plate. Some time ago we had put a Thomas the Tank Engine light switch plate in Caleb's room. It never really matched anything and it has been ages since Thomas was his favorite toy. I bought a plain white switch plate for $0.37 and a package of Cars2 stickers for $1. I placed the stickers in an overlapping arrangement completely covering the light switch plate and decopaged the top. After installing it on the wall, I added two more stickers to cover the screws. Custom made Cars2 light switch plate COST: $1.50 (inc. tax)

#7. A pillow sham to match the bedspread. While at Goodwill I found a dark navy blue pillow sham that matches the darkest blue in the bedspread. I also found a Cars Disney t-shirt with a large image of Lighting McQueen (main character in the Cars movies). The image was bright and clear and in perfect condition. Each item was $1.99. I cut out the character and hand stitched it onto the pillow sham. Cars2 Pillow Sham COST: $4.00

Total cost to make over Caleb's room in two days : $44.50

Cost of Caleb saying Thank You and enjoying the look of his room - Priceless!