Earlier this month I decided to do a little spring cleaning when I stumbled across an old copy of Elle Decor. This wasn’t just any copy of the magazine it was the Fashion Issue.  It had an inside look at Ralph Lauren’s fabulous Manhattan apartment. Costing about $5 a copy obviously I couldn’t just throw it away, so I opened the magazine and staring directly at me was this quote:

 If you’re happy with your life, your space will reflect that.

–Designer Rafael de Cárdenas

That got me thinking, “does my space reflect a person with a happy life?” As I was pondering the answer to my question, I glanced at a horrific site. There it was, my awful chipped monstrosity of a dresser with mis-matched and missing knobs.

 

I had to turn away the site was disturbing my spirit.

But things didnt get better, on the other side of my room were those God awful teal tween satin curtains that I’ve had since I used to be a Spice Girls superfan.

 

Then just off to the right was the awful multi-toned borderline tacky nightstand I’ve had since birth.

My lovely antique Jenny Lind bed was dressed with this blasé quilt and above the bed was my lame attempted at adding art to my rather bare walls.

This room was not a reflection of someone with a happy life. It was a collection of a bunch mis-matched randomness with no clear objective.

Hmmm sound familiar… Maybe my room was a reflection of my current situation but not anymore.You know how they say you should dress for the job you want to have, well I decided to decorate to the room I dream to live in.

Being that I don’t have the money to create my dream bedroom, I set out on an incredible d.i.y journey to create a fabulous space that was shabby chic yet still contemporary.

In order to achieve this look, I spent days scrapping and sanding paint off the top of my dresser so I could re-stain it a dark walnut color. Then I changed the hardware to some brushed metal knobs with a scalloped edge.

 

To top the dresser, I created a mirror made with dollar store picture frames and Krylon’s Looking Glass Spray paint. First, I painted the frames gold then painted the glass with the mirror spray paint.

I decided to spray paint the multi-toned night with a white semi-glass primer/paint. I left the original hardware.

I needed a desk area, so when I found a wooden tv tray, I knew that would be the perfect space saving work surface. I painted it navy and created a chalkboard with an old frame that I already owned.

Now that I had finished making all of the big items in the room it was time to work on some smaller accessories.

Have you all seen the price of accent pillows? RIDICULOUS!! I just couldn’t see myself spending that much on pillows so I made my own. The project only cost me $8 for two pillows. I also found two small pillows from Ikea for a $1.50 a piece.

When I found jute at Dollar Tree I just knew I had to find a use for it. So I covered a small vase that I got from Ikea.

To finish the room, I added some art that I painted and dressed the bed with a navy bedspread from Ikea.