Going to Paris on a budget..ooh la la

My daughter will soon be 13 and we decided that she needed a room that was a little more grown up.  Over the summer as we were preparing for our move, we were planning what the new room design would be.  She wanted a travel/parisian theme!  Of course I wanted to go pink and black, but she is totally against pink and wanted something red and black.  I was not really into that color scheme, but decided that it would be her choice.  I am so glad I listened to her, because it turned out fabulous!!   I made the curtains (but want to change them up a little--suggestions?) out of fabric that I got at JoAnns for ....6 yards for $11.00!!!  :)  I do know how to sew, but could not find my sewing machine because it had not been unpacked yet.  I ran out and got some iron on hem stuff and went to work.  I am thinking of adding ribbon and making them more of a swoopy kind of valance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It has been sooo much fun going to thrift stores, garage sales, and Goodwill and spotting things that would go perfect in her new room!

 

 

We cannot decide what to do about adding a rug.  We would love to find a rug that does not cost too much and adds some flair to her large space.  I am also on the hunt for a chandelier that I can recycle.  The two throw pillows were on clearance at Hobby Lobby, but forgot how much.  I think maybe $4 each.  The center red pillow was from walmart and I splurged and paid $11 for it.  The red rug was from Big Lots..$6  She wanted a daybed look, but she only has a twin.  We just turned it sideways and added some pillows along the back.  The comforter was $19 at Walmart and the black pillow shams were only  $4 each.

She is learning the piano, so we have a keyboard.  I recently bought a vanity ($25), at a garage sale, with a stool and it is also a jewelry cabinet that will go in this place as soon as I get it painted and fixed up...post about that will be coming soon!  We found these tin plaques at Hobby Lobby for $4 each!

Now...for the Pièce de résistance.... my wonderful Aunt Lela saw the pictures of the room design and I was telling her about a dress picture that I was trying to buy on Ebay and was outbid and could not find another one and she said...."I think I have that same picture in my basement and will send it to you for ....FREEEEE!"  What??  Are you kidding?  I almost peed my pants!  I offered to pay for it, pay shipping, whatever she wanted, but she refused to take my money and sent it anyway.  I was sooooooo excited when it arrived.  It MAKES the room!  Thank you Aunt Lela!

Also while at Hobby Lobby, I found these signs for $4 each on clearance!  I got this shelf at a thrift store for $3....add a little black spray paint (my new best friend) and it is rockin!  So...what to put on the shelf??  I wanted to run with the hat shoppe theme of the pictures and new that I could find something cool at this great antique mall, so off we went to find something fancy!

We found some great hats, but wanted one with a veil.  We found one and paid $5 for it.   The little white stand is actually a doll stand from an old doll that we got at Goodwill and sent back to Goodwill a few years later..but still had the stand...oops!  Glad I kept it.   We also found a pair of gloves for $3 and a beautiful beaded purse for $6.  The little hat picture (which is a 3D wooden hat shadow box) was a Goodwill find for 99 cents!  The stand was from Dollar Tree for ....you guessed it..a dollar!

This is a current eye sore right now... we have to find replacement screws for the dresser hardware...ignore that..lol.  I got some hat boxes for 99 cents each at GW.  The mirror was a Big Lots find for $20.

Got this down-filled pillow at a garage sale for ...$2!  It is an expensive pillow...embossed velvet too!

These were three different GW finds and different stores!!  SCORE!  The candle holders (bought at two different times) were each 99 cents.  The vase was a great find at $2.99.  I love the shape of this and the size of it.  I have not figured out what to put in it yet!  Maybe a candle??

Another garage sale find...$2!!!  Whooo hoo.  I almost bolted out of the car when I saw this.  I almost caved and paid full price for one of these things....glad I had patience!

We wanted to spruce up this lamp shade and saw these cool vintage chandy crystals at an antique store for  50 cents each.  I grabbed them and just poked them through the lamp shade.  They look great with the light shining through.

I repainted the letters that she had in her room before.  I spray painted them black and then added some dots with the end of my paint brush and some acrylic paint from my supply.   The dots on the G are really crooked, but I decided to leave it...oh well.

Again...I almost died when I saw these two plates lying on a shelf at GW.  99 cents each!!  I had the plate hangers.  These are my favorite and one of the first finds for this room!

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I got this at GW and have not figured out what to do with it yet.  It was $1.99.  It is very heavy metal base.  I was thinking of making some kind of canvas sign to hang from it.  Any suggestions would be great?!!

Found these candle holders at Big Lots for $7.00 for two.  Battery operated candles are perfect for the ambiance.  They flicker and are real wax that smells like vanilla.  You can pick them up at Walmart for around $3 each! 

A GW find....this vintage mirror.  I decided to leave it "as is" because I loved the vintage brass feel.  I also picked up this ring holder for 99 cents.

 

 

I also wanted to gripe to tell you about the paint and furniture.   My daughter picked out the paint from Lowes.  It is called "Posh Red".  This paint looks great on the walls, but was such a pain to paint with.  It looks like blood and gets everywhere!  We had red paint on us, all over the drop cloth, on lots of damp cloths that we cleaned up our messes with..ugh!   It took about 3 coats and that was WITH primer before.  I will never paint with red again.  We also added a chair rail and was going to put up bead board, but it was not in our budget.  My solution was to just paint it white until we had the funds to add it.  This worked out well.  We still have to paint and fill the chair rail.   

Also, the dressers were a garage sale find from many years ago ($40 for all three pieces) and was painted antique white.  It seriously needs to be repainted, but that is for another day.  

Thanks for stopping by and please leave me comments and suggestions!

Home Theater

We decided that we wanted to go a little retro with our new basement home theater.  I found a gumball machine on Craigslist that fell through and have been searching for another one.  My husband has a friend that owns a barber shop and he bought a few gumball machines on pedestals and asked if we wanted one.  My husband paid $30 for it and brought it home.  I was super excited and forgot to take a picture of the "before" but it was green.  We got some red spray paint, took it all apart, cleaned it, sprayed it red and put it all back together.  It is an awesome addition at the end of the stairway to the basement.  I love how the colors pop!

I found these jars at a thrift store and knew they would look great in the theater.  I, again, forgot to take a before picture, but they were plain brown wood.  I grabbed my can of black lacquer spray paint and gave them a few coats.  I spray painted the lids with chalkboard paint so we could write on them.  I have not found chalk yet to write on these and need some suggestions on what I should write....the names of the food, numbers, a cute message??

I think they turned out pretty good!

I also decided that I wanted to change an apple chalkboard that I had and was going to get rid of.  I searched the internet for a cool retro movie theater picture, printed it, and then decopaged it onto the board!  I love the little popcorn, hotdog, and soda guys!

Remember this table redo?  It is for the basement.  We now have somewhere to keep the remotes and sit our snacks and drinks on!

We wanted to keep the retro feel and decided some cool retro movie posters would be great!  I LOVEEEE these!!!   I love the vintage colors and how the yellow really stands out. 

I have to say that this is what sold the house..lol.  We LOVE this room.  It was originally themed for a certain college sports team, but my husband really is not into that team.  We were going to paint over the red, but decided to work with it (only because we painted soooo much upstairs that by the time we got to the basement we were pooped!)  I really love the bead board on the walls and that they painted the ceiling black.  The hardwood is also lovely!  We also negotiated the black couches that are recliners and the bar stools which are leather!!  Yay!

This bar is sooo cool.  We do not drink, so we use it more as a "snack bar" area.  Don't look at the dishes and cups under the bar...I have added black curtains to hide all that, but that was after this picture was taken. :)  The bar was made by the previous owners and they did a FABulous job.  You cannot see it in the picture, but the whole bar is glittery.  I love how it sparkles (input a certain vampire in my thoughts..lol Yes..I am one of those grown women who love Twilight..hee hee). 

Here is my daughter hanging out.  This is a perfect place for my  soon-to-be teens!  I also love that they used the corrugated metal on the bar! 

We spend alot of time hanging out down in our theater/family room!  I would love any suggestions on how to make it even cooler.  I really can't wait for the birthday parties that I will be throwing in this room!!

Leave me a comment and tell me what ya think!