A Basment Playroom

The playroom is underway and I can really see now that this is going to be a LONG process. While we want this to be one of the three spaces we use for our projects (upstairs - office, basement - craft room, garage - workshop), we don't want to spend tons of money on our playroom/craft area. Honestly, I don't even know what to do with this space yet. I keep hoping that once the walls are up and we finish our DIY sticky tile floor project that I'll have more vision.

So here is where we are now. This is a before pic of the basement. That silver paper stuff was supposed to protect the house or something if there was a fire. I'm glad we never had to test that theory!

Here is the after, We only paid to have the drywall guy come and put up the walls. We say that one day we will paint it ourselves.

In the corner you can see where we started to put down (gasp!) peel and stick tiles. Now I know some people hate this stuff and laugh at it, but it was a mere fraction of any other option and we can change it out in the future if needed. It looks awesome (well the part we have done so far) and we know that we are going to put down a huge shag rug there anyway to make a fun safe place for our little one to play.

Here is where our real issue lies. That cement block is dangerous! Hi! There is my foot!

It sticks out almost two inches away from the wall and I'm terrified our little one is going to bump her head on it. I've considered options from covering it with a border to putting shelves in front of it, but I just haven't had the time/energy/finances to devote to a solution since we haven't started to use the space yet. I'll figure out something though as soon as we finish the floors.

More to come on that marriage testing project soon!

Love,
The Budget Home Blogger

This Chair Right Here

Is my favorite project.

And I know you aren't supposed to have favorites, but I do, and this is one of them ...

It's a papasan that I got a yard sale for FOUR DOLLARS.

That's right kids. Four dollars. Buying one in the store now would set you back at least $250. And while I did spend more than I may have wanted to on getting it back in shape, the investment was well worth it.

This is what it looked like when I purchased it from an older gentleman who just wanted it out of his way.

Yeah, so not my style. I asked my mother for her thoughts on it and she followed the "some things should be left classic" route. It's one of the few times I disagreed with her.

So after some soul searching I decided to go for mint green with a white cushion. I have been so into mint and ice green lately. Not really sure why though.

So for this project I went a different route and decided on the spray primer. This was way above my hand painting skill set. So after a few light coats of primer and Valspar spray paint I ended up with this little beauty.

I have to say I'm kind of in love with how it turned out. I'm going to have to update it with some daylight pictures as I am just not feeling the view right now. 

I need some photography lessons!

I hope you love it as much as I do!

Love,

The Budget Home Blogger

My New Red Desk!

Ok, so this took me WAY too long, but I finally got around to finishing my red desk! I was looking for something to put into our loft to make it look more "finished" and I was having the worst time.

I went to Pinterest and started looking at desks. These are my inspiration. But they were expensive.

So I went to my old faithful. Summer yard sales and started shopping. I started with this great desk:



I found it at a home where I'm still regretting not getting the awesome dressing table I found, but that's for a whole other day.

It took a few months, but I finally found time to work on it as it got a little warmer. By work on it I mean prime it and let it sit on a table in our workshop.

I like to hand paint primer even though I am an avid spay painter. I've done a few pieces with a brush or roller, but as I am sooo not a professional it never comes out right. 

Spray paint works for me once you get a great coat of primer down. I also use a finishing gloss to add shine and protection. 

While I try my best to wait between coats, I usually only give it about an hour or so to dry. With the finishing coats you can do thin ones pretty close together. I say use the manufacture instructions as they know best.

But as the weather got cooler and I lost prime spray painting time I decided to get it moving, and after a couple cans of red paint it was finished!

Here is a look at the finial project:

I have a post coming later about the chair. It's most likely to be called "Don't Spray Paint in the Cold"

I'm so happy with how it turned out, and while it's mostly a show piece I love how functional it looks and the gold and red work really nice together.

Love,
The Budget Home Blogger

Welcome to My World

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved Pinterest, home magazines and color.

She purchased a beautiful new home and tried to decorate it to the hills.

THEN SHE REMEMBERED SHE WAS BROKE.

So she started finding ways to creatively decorate, use lessons from the most fashionable home decorator that I knew (my mom) and reuse great pieces to mix old, crappy, beautiful and new (mostly from Target, don't judge) and find her style along the way.

All on a pretty tight budget...

Follow my budget. I mean my story and I'm sure you'll be amused. And bored as I'm sure no one is reading this. But it's fun and it keeps me on track.