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Making Your Dream Room a Reality: The Finale

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Well, here we are. We’ve made it to the finale of the Making Your Dream Room a Reality series. By now, you should be well on your way to putting together your dream room in your mind. I know I am (well, three different rooms, if the truth be known).

In case you are just joining the fun now, you have missed the first four parts of the series:

Part One: Identify Your Inspiration
Part Two: Identify Why Your Inspiration Photos are Inspiring
Part Three: Determine What Pieces Won’t Work in Your Household
Part Four: Determine How You Can Work With What You Have

Now, it’s time to pull it all together!

Part Five: Making Your Dream Room Your Own

Once you’ve collected the pieces you already own, it’s time to start putting them in place. Arrange your room with your inspiration photos in mind, but remember that you have to make it work for your space.

After you place everything that you think you can use, take a few days (or a few weeks even) to sit back and figure out what else you really need. Take your time – the Queen of England isn’t coming for a surprise visit tomorrow. Please make sure that you fully think through your wants and needs before rushing off and making new purchases.

If you end up deciding that you really need a new couch or want a new coffee table, be sure to check garage sales, thrift stores, and CraigsList, as I’ve already mentioned. It can take some time to find the right piece when you are looking for something specific on a budget, but the wait will be worth it. If you are Ms. Money Bags, you probably aren’t reading this blog feel free to go ahead and purchase your furniture from a local store, but pay attention for big sales and closeouts. I admit that there are times when you should just spend the money to buy solid, quality items, but please only do it if you have the spare cash to spend. Don’t run a credit card balance just to have a pretty room.

I’m getting ready to rearrange my living room to look more like my dream room.

Won’t my husband be surprised when he gets home from work today? 😉

I definitely have quite a few more pieces to acquire and my color scheme will be slightly different, but I’m really looking forward to the new direction I’m going to take this room. We’ll eventually need a paint color change and add additional curtains. That’s just something that’s going to have to happen over time.

Well, what do you think? Are you ready to make your dream room your own?

Making Your Dream Room a Reality – Part Four

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If you’ve been playing along with my Making Your Dream Room a Reality series, I’m sure you’re ready to move on to the next step of your planning, right?

Though this series, we have:

  1. Identified our decorating inspiration;
  2. Decided why we think each photo is inspiring; and
  3. Determined what won’t work in our households

Now’s it’s finally time to get those creative juices flowing!

Part Four – Determining How You Can Work With What You Have

You hear this mantra a lot in the blogger/decorator world, but you should always try to work with what you have before you spend a single penny. Move furniture around, shop other rooms in your house, think of new uses for unused items.

Even though it’s more fun, this part of the process is actually more difficult than the previous steps. It’s always hard (for me at least) to envision how items I currently have in my home will work in a different space. This is a process that you just have to let go a little bit and trust yourself, which is a hard thing to do.


Hang a mirror on a bookcase to completely change the look – from Pottery Barn.

When working with what you have, it’s perfectly acceptable to change the look of an item or use it for a new purpose. Some things to consider:

  • Can it be painted? You can even paint that cheap laminate bookcase.
  • Can it be restained? Sometimes, all you need to do is repair a few surface scratches and give a piece of furniture a fresh new coat of stain. Kimba says that the gel stains are super easy to use.
  • Can you add fabric? New window treatments and throw pillows can make a huge difference in changing the look of a room. Have you seen the Nester’s 30-minute pillow makeovers?
  • Can it be repurposed? Find new uses for common items. Emily has even used chairs and stools as nighstands!
  • Don’t like your flooring? Cover it with a rug, a much cheaper (and quicker) alternative to hardwoods, tile, and new carpeting.
  • Need new-to-you furniture? If your family’s sofa has seen better days craft a simple slipcover, check CraigsList, garage sales and thrift shops before you hit the furniture store. Be patient and the right piece will almost certainly fall into your lap.
  • Accessories aren’t the right match? Does your current Southwestern style accessories not match your Beach Cottage dream room? No worries! Think about how you can transform them (think spray paint!), and if that doesn’t work, hit the CL, garage sale and thrift shop trifecta again. You could always sell your old accessories to make some cash for new ones, too!

Use a scrap piece of moulding to hang an outdoor bench cushion to create a unique headboard – from Better Homes and Gardens.

So, this week, make a list of the things you already have or can repurpose to fit into your new new dream room. You will be amazed and how close you are to your dream room without even knowing it!

Have questions about how you can reuse or repurpose an something? Email me or leave a question in the comments! I’d be happy to offer you some suggestions.