It’s finished! And just in the nick of time…my due date for our second daughter is only a few days away now, but we’re finally ready for her. Olivia loves her new room, and is making the transition to her “big girl” bed fairly easily which is also a huge relief.
Here’s a guided tour:


Here’s the play area…toys, a mini-kitchen, and a puppet theater are all accessible. We found the puppet theater at IKEA. I just set it on top of a library bookstand that was already in the room and put her puppets inside. The shelf below holds Olivia’s favorite nighttime stories.

So, as promised, here’s the budget breakdown of what I spent on re-purposing the guest room into our little girl’s room.
- Scrapbook Paper and Wooden Letters ($23.60)
- Puppet Theater ($4.00)
- Paint for Shelves ($6.67)
- Lampshades/Ribbon/Buttons ($11.00)
- Sheets for Duvet Cover ($25.00)
- Scrapbook Paper/Clip Frames ($6.33)
- Wooden Dowel Rod and Brackets ($12.00)
- Casters for Drawers ($16.00)
- Tension Rod for Closet ($5.00)
- 3 Storage Cubes ($22.28)
TOTAL $131.88
Obviously, if you start with a completely bare room, you won’t be able to get away with spending this little, but if you want to try an exercise in re-purposing what you already have, you’ll find you can save a TON! I should add that a couple of area rugs would certainly have pushed my budget to its maximum of $250, but my mom had a huge, bound piece of carpet she wasn’t using anymore and it just happened to be green. Happy coincidences are often part of the process when you open your mind up to creating a unique space filled with “use what you own” pieces and accessories.
Finally, all of this was accomplished with a toddler in the house! You’ll see the projects’ nap ratings on the linked pages above…they are all totally do-able! That’s the Home Made Modern way…

Leave a Reply