Phase 1 - Guest Bedroom

Well, I didn't get the guest bedroom finished this weekend. I secretly had hoped I would, but knew that it would be near impossible to be 100%. So that is why this is phase 1 and not the final reveal. But before I show the pics, let me remind you of what the space looked like Friday:

The plan was to make over the room as thriftily as possible and keep the design simple. The paneling was primed and then painted Warm Buff and the trim was painted Snow Dust - both Valspar colors. Painting the room took an entire day, even with the help of my sweet mom. Bare paneling is not easy to paint, but we succeeded.

Next up was addressing furniture arrangement. All of the furniture in the room stayed - the bed, two side tables, and a tall dresser. I thought a better arrangement would be to turn the bed onto the far wall, which is exactly what we did. And there is plenty of room for a table on each side. The dresser was moved to the wall opposite the foot of the bed. Much better. However, the headboard on the bed is not tall enough or beefy enough for my taste. So what is a thrifty girl to do? Drape the entire wall behind the bed in sheet-curtains. Ta da, instant glamour and a focal point for the bed. I used dowel rods and cup hooks to hang the sheet-curtains to save money instead of curtain rods.

The duvet is just laid on the bed. And that bulge is a bag of decor items.

And then we replaced the light fixture with a ceiling fan. Not we, actually my dad installed it with help from us. But the fan motor was womper-jawed when we got it installed and so the fan wobbled when turned on. Boo! The fan will have to be taken down and exchanged, another day. Here is the old fixture, straight out of 1970:

I snapped the pictures with my phone on the way out the door, so I'm sorry about the poor quality. But hopefully this will give you an idea of what we accomplished. I still need to hang some art, make the bed, and stage the room. And then I will have the final, final pictures.

Me Woman, You Man Cave - Part 2, Curtains

Okay, I have a confession to make....I semi-lied to y'all. So sorry. In the numero uno post I stated that Wal-Mart does not make me think of remodeling. Well, it doesn't. But it is a semi-lie because I found a kick-awesome comforter set which I had to snag for the guest bedroom, and I used sheets from Wal-Mart for curtains and pillow covers in the Man Cave.

Which brings me around to this post - curtains for the Man Cave. I had planned to use sheets all along as curtains in the Man Cave. (Got that bright idea from my crafty momma whose house sports sheet-curtains in two rooms.) I was just going to hang white sheets for an airy feeling. Then I thought I would paint stripes on the sheets for more of a graphic / Man Cave feeling, and it would go along with the artwork I made. But that plan changed when I went to get the white sheets. I found the perfect color striped sheets...no painting (or sewing) required.

Let the no-sew sheet-to-curtain project begin. Supplies needed: two twin flat sheets, steam-a-seam, scissors and an iron.

I said two flat sheets and guess what I did...I came home with a fitted sheet. Grrr! I got so excited about the sheets I didn't double-check to make sure they were both flat. Back to Wal-Mart. (And I didn't exchange the fitted sheet, I'm going to use it to make floor pillows.)

Step 1 - position the sheet so the top end is towards you, and the sheet is face down

Step 2 - Add steam-a-seam along the seam that is already in the curtain. Fold the top part of the sheet over and iron (as seen in the above picture). Ta da, instant curtain rod hole.

Step 3 - Hang on curtain rod. Here's a trick for curtain rod height - since these are twin sheets and I have 8' ceilings, place a level along the top of the wall flush with the ceiling. Then place the curtain rod mounts flush to the level and mark the holes to drill. This will leave a little space at the top of the curtains and they will fall almost to the floor. If you want the curtains to puddle, move the curtain rod down from the ceiling.

I really like the horizontal stipe in the sheet-curtain. That was an added bonus!

One hung, one to go.

Project cost breakdown:

Two twin flat sheets       $8 for the pair

Steam-a-seam               $0, already owned

Total                             $8

$8 for a pair of curtains, can't beat that deal! And they were so easy to make too! I also have pillow cases to make some pillows for the couch using my tried-and-true no-sew pillow method. And don't forget about the fitted sheet mistake which will soon be floor pillows for that empty corner in the picture above.

Have y'all made any curtains lately? Ever made curtains from sheets? Or taken an idea from the parents' casa and tried it in yours?