Better Home Challenge: January Reveal!

Previous Posts on January's Project:
Week One Progress Report
Grandpa's Cradle
Week Two Progress Report
Pillows!

My January Better Home Challenge project is done! I'm so excited to have this room, formerly a dumping ground, transformed into a useful and cozy guest room. I have some pictures to share, though the colors may seem a bit different from my "in progress" shots. My daughter is taking a digital photography class and her instructor discourages the use of flash -- so I gave it a try. It does produce a much softer look, though it took a lot more tries to get a sharp image. At any rate, all of my "after" pics are flash-free. What do you think?

Here's the view as you walk into the room:

And around the corner, the bookshelf holds (almost) all the children's books my kids have outgrown. My mother painted the butterfly painting years ago. The colors are perfect for this room!

The closet corner:

That yellow wall unit is part of my childhood bedroom furniture. You may have noticed the top part in the "before" pictures. I had to steal the base back from my daughter so I could put it to good use. (We installed shelves in her closet where she had this stashed, so she didn't lose her storage space.) I was excited to finally have a place to display my husband's grandma's bell collection behind glass. They've been stored in a box for years...

Finally, here's the view of the bed wall. The nightstand is an antique sewing cabinet. The bottom "drawer" is actually a lazy suzan that swings out and holds spools of thread. (It also fits perfectly behind the door in this tiny room, which is how it ended up as a nightstand.) The picture above the bed was one of my first purchases after my husband and I were married. I couldn't wait to have a whole house full of kids -- and dogs -- and horses! LoL

And because I love "before" and "after" pictures, I just have to include these. You can see the difference the flash makes, too. The "befores" are all with flash:

What a difference!

I've been saving all of my notes, samples and receipts in a notebook and just tallied the cost of this project. Yikes! It's amazing how much you can spend, just a few dollars at a time.

Project cost:

Paint - $15.00
Purchased bedding - $51.00
Materials purchased for quilt - $34.00
Materials purchased for cradle bedding - $17.00
Curtain rod and lining - $4.00
Pillow forms - $9.00
Light fixture - $4.00
Clock radio - $10.00
Wastebasket (used for storage in closet) $4.00

Total spent - $148.00

This doesn't show the cost of all the fabric I had already on hand, most of which was given to me and saved me a ton (thank you, thank you!). And the bed itself was a "freebie." As you can see, I scrimped on everything as much as possible, and I still spent more on this room than I thought I would. I had hoped to keep it under $100. All I can do is think what I would have spent if I'd bought everything new!

Almost forgot, the easiest and cheapest improvement of all -- a light fixture. (I have no idea what happened to the original!)

Now I'm anxious to see what next month's project will be. I'll be drawing a new number on February 1st, so until then, I'll be trying to make up for ignoring the rest of the house these past few weeks. bleh.