What really makes the room, in my opinion, are the little details that I made myself (which you will see further down).  The ultimate project I couldn’t wait to finish was a pair of frames turned into chalkboards.  I initially thought I was going to use this huge round mirror I posted about a while ago to paint and turn into a chalkboard while painting the wood it’s on a fun color.  I quickly realized that it was too large to fit anywhere, the mirror was glued on and a pain to remove, and I then decided I wanted a magnetic chalkboard while refusing to use magnetic paint, which meant I had to buy metal to paint with chalkboard paint.

Luckily, I only paid a small amount for that mirror and was given these great frames from my mom over Christmas break to use however I want.  They are 16”x20” and I can paint them down the road if I so choose.

I planned on buying sheet metal at a hardware store and having it cut to size on site, but buying two sheets the size I wanted would have cost me from $35-60, which I could not afford.  My dad told me that a person can usually find sheet metal much cheaper at plumbing stores, but that was after I already solved the problem.  If you’re looking into making a magnetic chalkboard, I’d recommend doing more research on sheet metal to get the best deal possible.

To solve my dilemma, I posted a wanted ad on Craigslist for a piece of sheet metal sturdy enough to stand on its own (so that it would be durable enough to stay flat in a frame) and to be cut into two rectangles the size I needed them.  I offered $10.  I answered a response and went with San to pick up the piece of metal.  When I got there, I saw that it had rust on it, but I was sick of this project and all the dilemmas it was producing, so I bought it and just went with it.

Cutting it was a nightmare because it was very thick, so when my dad was in the area, he brought his metal snips and we painstakingly contorted the metal (in the bitter cold, mind you) until we could get it cut to size.  Moral of that story is to let the person who sold you the metal cut it for you when they offer.  >.<

Anyway, this is what it looked like before priming it:

Pretty bad shape.  It’s a wonder with all the speed bumps this project ran in to that I kept going. I primed it with black Rust-oleum automobile primer that can cover rust and stop it from spreading.  One of the workers at a hardware store recommended this for painting on rusty metal, and let me say that it worked perfectly!  Being limited on space, I had to prime and paint the metal in my apartment.  I couldn’t do it outside because of the cold temperatures.  I opened lots of windows, had a fan blowing, opened the door to the hallway, and turned the stove fan on.  It definitely is not the safest or smartest way to do this, but I’m young and learning as I go.  I sprayed three coats of the primer on within a few minutes of each other and let them dry overnight.

The next day, I painted three coats of Rust-oleum Chalkboard Paint with a small roller.  I waited three days and they were perfect!  I popped them into the frames, decorated them, and then the room was finished (at least for now)!

Let’s take a look!

I keep my books, DVDs, and dumbbells stored on this inexpensive metal shelf.  I decorated it with a pretty pink apron.

The pear is one of my favorite pieces in this room – I dedicated a whole post to it a while back.

If you’d like, you can read more about the photo grouping here and the corkboard-turned-jewelry-display here. 

I can’t get enough of Starry Night.  The poster has been taken down and put back up countless times, but I still love it.

I can’t hide my love for ornately carved frames and dance art it seems.

I made the bed quilt with my grandma for my confirmation years ago.  I love it, even though it is a little youthful.  This room seems to blend the youthful colors with more sophisticated elements – perfect for someone my age!

Can you see them?  There are the chalkboards.  I don’t have them hung on the wall yet because they weigh about seven pounds each and I haven’t got any heavy duty hooks for them yet.

All of the orangey wood furniture came with the room (my bed, the dresser, the middle storage cabinet, and the desk).  It’s definitely not ideal, but I work with it.

A note about finding chalkboard chalk: head to an office supply store and not a store like Target because they usually only have sidewalk chalk which can stain your chalkboards and is very hard to remove.

I love them!  I now have a place to reflect how I am feeling, what’s going on in my mind during any given day, and to house all sorts of inspiration.

Last but not least, my smile banner I made last year that makes me so happy every time I look at it.

So what do you think?  Is it an upgrade to what I started with?

I have to say that my room makes me incredibly happy and calm.  It’s my one place that is just for me, which it reflects.  As much as I love all the designer rooms and rooms of the great bloggers I follow, I have come to terms with the fact that I am not living a life like most of these people right now.  I am a college student.  I barely have even just a few pennies to my name and have no place I actually purchased and can do what I want with.  Yet, I am proud because although my room is far from magazine-worthy, it has “Sarah” written all over it.  I worked very hard to save money and use what little resources I had to make it something inspirational for me.

Everyone should be proud of their home no matter what state it is in because they’ve worked to make it the way it is.  I take delight in the little things, so as long as I have some place of my own, even if I do not own it, I will do my best to create something out of it while continuing to dream of the day when I can go all out with a house I own.

Let’s all spend today loving our current situations and homes just the way they are.  I know there many things we all would love to fix or upgrade in our lives and our homes, but until we can do those things it can help to see the best in what we have now.  Here’s to living in the present but keeping hope for the future!

Then I took a wire hanger and some hot glue and went to town.   One tip: Go overboard on the hot glue.  I did not and once I got to the finishing ornaments, others started to pop off which led to some cursing and frustration which left the wreath sitting on the floor for a couple weeks.  It is not easy to put the ornaments back on once they pop off, so use lots of hot glue!  Here is the finished project!  I love it!

And here’s some more Christmas decorating, all with things we had at our parents’ houses or in the apartment.      It’s not much, but it’s all we could do.  It definitely feels more like Christmas!

I made the quilt with my grandma years ago. It’s not my favorite quilt or anything, but it’s bright and happy, which I like. I probably would buy or make something with a larger flower print, but I don’t need to spend any extra money right now. What looks like the tan bed skirt is actually a queen size duvet cover that my mom let me use. I was going to try putting two of the twin beds together, since my roommates all brought their own beds, to make a queen size, but it ended up being too large. I wanted a little more warmth to lay underneath at night and wanted to hide the storage under my bed, so this worked out perfectly. And do you see that huge window?! I have a view of the baseball field, which is awesome, and I face the west so I get to see the pink and purple sunset every night. It’s lovely!

Behind the door I hung some 3M hooks to hang coats, my robe, and my purse. Yes, those are winter coats. Here in Minnesota, we have to be prepared at all times for snow to hit (which I am really not looking forward to)!

Next to that and on the other side of the dresser that holds my TV I have a little book/movie stand. I used the decorative apron I got from one of the weekly exfoliations at Makeunder My Life. I didn’t really have a spot for it, and I thought it was kind of cute there, and it also helps to cover up the books and movies. On top there is my Pretty Pear along with my jewelry box, which I got an amazing deal on last Christmas (half off of $100 with free shipping) and a little bowl for rings which a friend made and gave to me.

Next to my TV on my dresser is this gorgeous picture frame (with fifteen cent art in it that I will post more about later) and the laptop skin that I won from Young House Love. I felt like I was wasting it by putting it on my laptop and cutting it to size, so for now I’m using it as art. I also have an America’s Test Kitchen Cooking For Two cook book on the shelf I mentioned previously that I also won from YHL. Talk about lucky!! The pink picture frame came from TJ Maxx for only $7.99. I bought a white one as well. I’m addicted to those kinds of frames!

My cheap candles are sitting on my TV. I didn’t have a better place for them and I think they make the black blob look a little prettier.

This is my favorite part of the room. There was an empty space at the end of my bed which seemed to suck the life out of the whole room. I thought it would look nice if I stacked some of the bins I used to move and now store extra things in and put some picture frames on them as a little gallery. I also had a leftover sheet from my mom which I draped over the bins and then I added some artwork, my Starry Night poster and a round paper lantern. I got the blue picture frame from the boyfriend, who purchased it at a really cute little store called Patina. There’s a picture of the boyfriend and I in the frame which is hard to see. The white picture frame with the matting was $12.99 at TJ Maxx and the ballet shoe art is from Etsy. I have another piece of artwork from Etsy that I don’t have a place for yet, but I can’t wait to share it! The vases are both garage sale finds. I’ve had the poster and the lantern for years.

I love to dream, obviously, by the name of my blog, and I love this dream piece I’ve had for a few years. What better place to put it than right next to my bed?

Got the night stand at Walmart (don’t kill me any haters) for $24 and the lamp at TJ Maxx for $24. I want to cover the shade with fabric later on down the road.

The desk and cabinet pictured here were included with the room, as well as the bed frame, the mattress, and the dresser shown before. The white picture frame was bought with the pink one at TJ Maxx. Recognize that picture? I hope so. More about that later. I have the blue storage container and an old recipe box my mom gave me on top of that. I got a great deal on this bulletin board at Target. I wanted a large bulletin board to use as a place to display all the things that inspire me (right now Edgar Allan Poe, working out, fall leaves, daffodils, lucky charms, old beauty, and Christ). I thought about making my own board but I found that that would be more expensive than making one. I decided if I found a large frame for a reasonable price I would buy it and then maybe paint it or add fabric to it later on. I spotted this one and couldn’t believe the price – only $15.99! When I got to the checkout line and paid for everything, I was surprised that it all came to a pretty low price. I looked at the receipt, thinking the cashier forgot to scan the bulletin board, but saw that it was only $8!! What a deal! I was so happy. It’s perfect for me. I also am obsessed with pigs and almost always receive a pig calendar for Christmas, so that is where I got this one. I have a bunch of black and white pig prints from calendars that I want to use in a little girl’s nursery one day. Too cute!

Here is my closet! How lucky am I? I have a great place considering I am in college and cannot wait to share more decorating advice and ideas as the year goes on of how to do all of this on a budget. What do you think?

I wish I had pictures of what this room looked like before. We moved into this house (which my dad built) in 2007, right after I graduated from high school. First we (and when I say we I mean my dad) painted the room yellow, but it was basically as bright as the sun (whoops), so we went with a pale green which went well with my pink and green quilt my grandma and I made for my confirmation years ago (you will see this quilt later when I post about my room at college). I lived with that for a year, but then last summer I fell in love with a chocolate brown, ivory, and minty blue comforter and my mom eventually got sick of me obsessing over it and decided to buy it for me (thanks, Mom)! Of course, it did not go at all with the colors of my room at that time, so we had to paint it (I picked a light brown). I also decided the furniture I had was too mismatched and did not go either, so I pained all of that as well. I picked a deep mocha color for the furniture (which closely matched the comforter color) and then picked a few shades lighter for the wall colors.

I don’t play guitar, but I wish I could play that one that I got for a birthday one year. My hands ended up being too small for it (I have extremely small hands and fingers, which is not usually a good thing). I am not a huge fan of the bookcase because my books are all very vibrant and I also want to display things my boyfriend has given/made for me (on the shelf with the I love you picture), but I do not like how it looks. It’s just something I think I have to live with, which isn’t so bad.

The nightstands had been green and white from my kiddie days, so I definitely had to paint those and add new hardware. My vanity was a creamy yellow color with hand painted flowers (definitely not my style, but I love my vanity). The bookshelf was a light honey color. I painted all of that and I think it looks a million times better that way. Sure, it would look great with brand new furniture, but that is unrealistic, especially considering I only live there three-four months out of the year. My mom bought me the lamps from JcPenny. I got the rug and the artwork for Christmas (I really am very lucky).

The headboard was made by my parents and I. My boyfriend actually spotted the fabric when we went scouting for the perfect headboard fabric, and it is absolutely perfect. My dad made a frame to fit over the existing headboard, then we covered it with batting, foam, and then stapled the fabric to the back. It’s very comfy to sit against and looks like something you’d find in a luxury hotel, in my opinion. I like how it reflects the light from the lamps. I might add some nailheading details or do some tufting, but I can’t decide yet, because I really like the simple lines of it, and the fabric is gorgeous by itself.

I am so lucky to have this huge window alcove in my room. It brings in so much light and makes me wake to the happy sun every morning. I came home from school this past spring and my mom had taken the desk that was in the alcove and replaced it with this table and these two chairs. I have loved the chair on the right ever since my mom bought it at a garage sale for $10. Wow. Still can’t believe it. I think it goes well in my room because of the color and it’s full of gorgeous details. I like it juxtaposed with the more streamline chair on the left in an opposite color, as well. I need to buy or make a table cloth for the table, but for now this works. I don’t have a lot of accessories for this room, so what is in here was either bought cheaply (besides the lamps and rug), was found somewhere else in the house, or was given to me. It’s not ideal, but I like it because all of the things in here have meaning to me.

I really love coming home and staying in this room. It’s a great change from school where my bed is not nearly as comfortable and I can’t paint or really hang anything on the walls. Plus, I have a small walk-in closet and an attached bathroom at home, also. What do you think of my diy room makeover? What would you add? What would you change?