In January I shared some pictures of my first Nesting project, which was my office makeover. And although I'm not finished yet with my office, that didn't stop me from starting a whole new project on the spare bedroom, which resulted in the following Before & After pictures:When thinking about what I wanted to change in the room, I knew immediately that the curtain rod had to go! The wrought iron (okay--so maybe it is black plastic resembling wrought iron...) rod with the scrolling finials had served it's design purpose long enough. I was going for a more modern look, and scrolls just don't cut it.
So I did what everyone does--I shopped around for a new rod. And I found tons of them at fairly reasonable prices. I also found a lot of other things that I wanted too, and my budget was getting too fat. So I ditched the new rod and contemplated plan B: new finials. And that was when it occurred to me that corks really are under-appreciated design friends, and wouldn't they make perfectly nice, functional and free finials?
Indeed they do. It took me all of two seconds to twist on a couple leftover corks from my favorite New Mexican sparkling wine and my curtain rod troubles were fixed.
Next was the headboard. Formerly the bed rested anchor-less on the wall, much to my chagrin. I knew I needed something substantial behind the pillows to complete the room. So I did some research. My options included 1) purchasing a new headboard at the furniture store, which would have run me $100-$300; 2) create one with paint on the wall, which is a great option, but one I wasn't interested in; 3) create one with mirrors--another great, affordable option, but a little too glitzy for me, or 4) find a thrift store headboard and refinish it.
Those of you who read Monday's post know which option I chose: #4. I was lucky to find a headboard with style that was still in good shape (even my husband was impressed, and he Hates my thrift store finds). The headboard cost $10, so in addition to refinishing supplies, I only spent about $50 total, which is not bad for furniture.
So after sanding and staining, I am thrilled with the way it turned out. And as predicted, it completed the bed perfectly.
I share all of this with you because a) I love design, and can't help but writing about it. And b) I think that creating beauty in our homes (and the world) is a worthy pursuit, especially if you can do it with some money-and-resource-friendly (aka cheap and recycled) savvy.
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