Our King Size Bedroom
Posted in home by Eron Napier - Mar 15, 2010
With two bed hogs and two dogs, the finance and I set a goal a few months ago of upgrading from a full to king size bed. Along the way, we bought a new desk for me (still waiting to buy the coordinating hutch), plus nightstands and lamps. However, over the last nine months, one or both of us has been unemployed, making improvements to our home a low priority and necessitating savvy use of resources.
The first step was the bed. Pouring over Craig’s List in December, we found a high quality king size mattress (including feather bed – so luxurious!) for only $50 – we paid the seller an extra $30 to deliver, which was totally worth the hassle, at the time. Two weeks later, we found a beautiful Pottery Barn-esque bed frame for $200. This $250 bed was our Christmas present to each other…and it was a great gift! Thanks to my mom, we received two sets of white damask stripe sheets and four king-size pillows for Hanukkah. After Christmas, we took money that our grandparents had sent us to buy a down comforter and duvet.
The next step were new nightstands and lamps. Our nightstands were cheap IKEA end tables, with no drawers or shelves, and our lamps were square paper lamps that were torn and stained from six plus years of abuse. We took $150 of the wedding money we have been sent and bought nightstands and lamps. Together, these two give our bedroom a polished look with flawless functionality! The small drawer in the nightstands are perfect for holding a small notepad, eye mask, lip balm, Advil PM…all the little essentials! Plus, the small shelf at the bottom is perfect for stacking books and magazines (with a box of tissues fitting perfectly atop).
We still have two projects/purchases left for our bedroom. The first being the hutch for my desk. The second is a project taking verses from The Song of Solomon and transferring the text to fabric, decorated with stamps, then secured to a frame and hung on the wall. I’m still trying to figure out how to do the text transfer after a messy experience with transfer paper!
So what can you take away from this project?
- Research! Figure out what you’re looking for, and pour over websites, catalogs, and magazines to pinpoint feature you want (and those you don’t care about).
- Create a budget and stick to it. Most likely, it will take some time to pull all the pieces together, so be patient with yourself and your pocket book.
- Utilize resources like Craig’s List, garage sales, and thrift shops to find deals. Also, ask friends and family if there are any items you can take off their hands! Remember, a good cleaning and a coat of paint can go a long way!
