Master Bedroom Makeover: Frugal Finishing Touches

After completing the biggies in the Frugal House master bedroom makeover: painting the walls, refinishing the gold mirrored closet doors, and refinishing my poor old jewelry chest, there were a few small, very inexpensive DIY projects that really polished off the room. These are what I call high impact, low budget projects–they make a huge difference in the overall appearance of the room, but they’re just not that expensive.

First: a new light fixture. The existing fixture was a sorry case of the ’80s: round, gold, patterned glass–the works. In a word, atrocious. I found the new light on sale from Pottery Barn, which is usually way overpriced, but had a good sale going! I believe this was originally intended as an outdoor light, but, it works. The only danger is that it’s a bit low-hanging and Frugal Husband is a tall, tall man. We’ve only had a few incidents.

Second: window treatments. The room had plastic slat blinds, which really had to go. I found old curtains I’d saved from a previous house and was able to hem to perfection! Now lest you think I’m a sewing wizard (I’m not) I used iron-on hem tape, which costs $2.50 and is AMAZING. I used tension curtain rods ($14 each) and then measured, cut, and ironed-on the hem tape.

Third: a dog corner! Our sweet little Frugal Hound sleeps on her dog bed on the floor of our bedroom and she had developed a penchant for licking and chewing on the wall… not my favorite thing. She was also scratching the wall with her claws when she stretched and leaning her head against the wall. In short, it was becoming a very doggy corner. To save the wall, I took an old cloth shower curtain, ironed it into folds, and used tiny nails to tack it up. Now, Frugal Hound has a soft spot for her head and her claws aren’t ruining our new paint.