Christmas Master Bedroom With A $30 Tree

Last month when so many bloggers started sharing their beautiful rooms all decorated for Christmas. 
I was still in the planning stages and had no idea how I was going to decorate and with what colors.
Last year was easy with  a Mad About Plaid theme. 
So easy...just get lots and lots of plaid ribbon, runners, pillows and placemats. 

Easy Peasy.

Repainting The Master Bedroom

Now that the new mulch is spread in the garden, it was time to start one of the many projects inside the house.

Today we started on the Master Bedroom repainting. At least, Mr DIY did. 

My fatigue has been pretty bad the past couple of days, so I'm not much help. 

It's a big project because everything needs to be painted...

the ceiling, 

the walls

doors, 

and all the molding.

A New Chair For The Master Bedroom

You know when you're in the middle of several projects and you just can't seem to finish one of them? 

That's where we're at right now. 

We've always had a running project list, but  I'm not talking about that.
We're trying to get our house ready to put on the market by summertime, which involves painting the master bedroom, the master bath and the office/bonus room, spreading 350 bags of hardwood mulch, fixing any little things that need fixing, staging  important rooms and giving the house a thorough cleaning. 
If it would ever stop raining when Mr. DIY is here, we could get the mulch spread. I was able to help a little bit by making the mulch look pretty, but this week I came down with a really bad cold and have been in bed since Wednesday. 
A few weeks ago, we/Mr. DIY painted the office, but we still need to put a few final touches on the room. 
Meanwhile, I've been looking for a few furniture items and accessories to dress up the house and thought I'd share a recent find.

Decorating A Master Bedroom On A Budget

I don't know about you, but I don't have enough money lying around to decorate an entire Master Bedroom all at once. Furniture, bedding, linens, pillows, window treatments and lamps can really add up.  It has taken a lot of time to get our bedroom to where it  is today.  It's good to have an idea of how you want your room to function and how you want it to look before you start purchasing items. 

It has taken us many years to get to where we are, but the search for needed items is fun, especially when you find a great item at an awesome price!

Here's how our Master Bedroom looked a few years ago. I couldn't find a photo of it before I made the curtains, the (Craiglist find) chair and the mirrored nightstands (TJ Maxx).

Our bedroom now looks like this, but it's taken time and a few change ups to get this way.

The blue pillows in the before photo were taken off  and I found some "Mad Hatter" lamps at HomeGoods.

Here, a little rug was added because I  didn't want the carpet to wear out and the beige matelasse cover was replaced with a white one. The gold pillows and the heavy comforter were removed, as well.

A little more change with the bedskirt changed to a white one, a new, larger rug and a small ottoman was added. I think I found the cotton bedskirt online.

Finally, we get to where it is today with new Lenda curtains from Ikea. Did you notice that the curtain rods were raised?

Even after all this time blogging, Mr. Fanatic questioned the height of the rod being so high above the window. Really?

The only reason the curtains were so low before was because I  shorted myself on fabric when I purchased it. I made the curtains as long as I could with the amount of fabric I had.

 LOL. Love the paper shredder next to the nightstand.

As you can see, I still need to hem the curtains. They come overlocked and  you hem them to the length you need. For all of you who don't sew, they also give include hem tape in the package. I'm not even going to take the curtains down when I sew them. Will just bring my sewing machine downstairs and put it on a little table and sew away. 

 Speaking of changing needs...The little ottoman is great, however, I plan to take it apart and make it so things can  be stored it. Mr. Fanatic has a little habit of making a nest in that corner with all his cords and magazines,(even though there's a basket beside the chair). I might as well make a washable slipcover for the chair while I'm at it.

Here's the breakdown of where I found everything in my Master Bedroom. I hope I don't offend anyone listing the  price. The only expensive things in the room are the dresser and armoire, which were purchased at 40% off. These were bought before we had kids and had a lot more disposable income!

Mirrored nightstands: TJ Maxx (apx $139 each)

Floor Lamp: HomeGoods ($59)

Chair: Craigslist($100)

Ottoman: Pier 1($30)

Sea Grass Rug: HomeGoods ($29)

Mad Hatter Lamps: Marshall's ($29 each)

Bedskirt: Online ($39?)

Artwork over the bed: Steinmart 

Large mirror over dresser: Bombay ($?)

Lenda Curtain Panels: Ikea ($19.99 for 2 panels) I used 3 panels(2 sets)

Armoire & Dresser: Drexel Heritage (purchased many years ago, 40% off)

Matelasse cover, rectangular pillow, sheets: HomeGoods

Inner Down Pillows: Ikea (6.99 each)

Square pillow covers: Etsy ($15 each)

Misc. accessories: TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods

Antique chest: wedding present from my uncle to my parents

Little bookcase to the left of the chair: Mr. Fanatic made it

Paint is Warm Earth (satin finish) by Behr

It all adds up, doesn't it?

How do you decorate on a budget?

Pam

My Haul From Ikea

Last Tuesday my daughter and I, her boyfriend and his mom, went to Ikea to get a few things. We spent much of the day browsing and shopping. This was our guests first visit to Ikea. 

All of you who've been there know exactly how they felt seeing all the choices Ikea has to offer. They were able to find a couple of bookcases, a desk and a whole bunch of other little items. My haul looked like this:

Ikea has so many inexpensive gadgets. I picked up a couple of these laptop supports for $3.99 each. Mr. Fanatic's laptop gets really hot on his lap and this solves the problem.

 

I picked up a couple of white bath sheets. Don't know about you, but when I get out of the shower, I definitely don't want a little towel, especially in the winter. Ikea towels have this ingenious loop on one side just for hanging them up on a hook. No more finding towels on the floor because they slipped off the hook.

Went to Ikea about a month ago and picked up some other white curtains for my Master Bedroom, but they were too sheer. Found these tab topped Lenda curtains instead and love them a whole lot more. This photo was taken a few days ago before Mr. Fanatic raised up the curtain rod closer to the ceiling.

Here's a before shot of our Master....

Now, while I can't show you the whole room, I can show you how the 20" Fjadrar inner pillows look with some pillow covers I purchased awhile back. Ikea has the most unpronounceable names for their products. I bet the Swedes don't think so! 

The inner pillows are down filled and were only $6.99 each. I  also bought a 24" square down filled pillow for my daughter.

I purchased a few more items and will show you where I put them another time. Will also have to take some photos of the whole Master Bedroom, as well.

If you've been to Ikea, what was your favorite find and what department do you like best?

Pam

p.s. I have not been compensated in any way by Ikea.