I’m so excited to share my ‘She-Space’ with you guys today! I’ve been working on it for the past few weeks – gathering items online, building and altering to make it all come together into one cohesive, soothing, eye-appealing space. The purpose of this space – to get better pictures for you guys, of course!
I’d been trying to figure out where I could carve out a corner for this space and finally settled on taking over an end of the kids’ game room. This bonus space has transitioned over the years from a toy room when they were younger to a media/gaming area as they have gotten older. The far end of the room housed a table and four leather chairs for the rare occasion that they would want to play cards or a board game. Much to Chase’s dismay (my child that despises change) I decided it would get more use this way.
I love to design and decorate spaces. In another life I bet I was an interior designer (ha, I wish!). I have thought about starting a house staging business. Although it would be something I know I would enjoy we don’t live in a heavily enough populated area for this to be a wise business plan. I’ve also tried to convince my husband to let me flip houses. Again, our rural location would make this extremely difficult.
I’ll admit that although I was extremely excited to put this space together and I sneak upstairs just to appreciate it now and then there was part of me that felt guilty spending money on this space that wasn’t really necessary. With that I tried to be frugal in my search of furnishings.
The first item I went on the hunt for was the rug. I felt like I needed that anchor piece to build around and coordinate with. I LOVE this rug. It is so pretty and so soft and adds just the right amount of texture to the space. And the good news? It’s on sale, 45% off right now for Mother’s Day! Reviews did mention that it sheds quite a lot so if you were thinking about having it in a high traffic area that may be something to keep in mind.
Next, I went after a garment rack. I was hoping for something white. After quite a bit of searching I was really happy to land on this garment rack. The weathered wood shelves match the weathered wood picture frames and the creamy off-white of the frame matches the rug perfectly. Having the shelves to be able to display some accessories was a bonus that I wasn’t searching for but am really happy I found.
The console table. I envisioned a gold framed console table with a marble/faux marble top. Well, those run about $600. I was being frugal, remember? $600 was not going to work. I kept searching and came across this $105 model that has a glass top. I decided that for a $500 savings I could settle. When it arrived though I was disappointed to find that the frame technically was gold, but it was antiqued. Basically, it looked like they had run a rag with some dark stain over it. It was honestly kind of nasty looking. I was contemplating sending it back when my good friend Logan suggested I spray paint it. #Genius, right? Why hadn’t I thought of that? Spray paint it, I did! And I have to say that I am quite happy with how it turned out.
I found some beautiful ottomans that I was totally swooning over. However, like the marble console table, they were running about $600. There were those feelings of guilt again… I kept searching until I came across this $95 model. I wasn’t sure about the way that it canted in slightly at the base or the slightly peachy tint it has, but once it was in and the room came together around it I decided that it works just fine and I am happy to have saved the $500.
The desk was a piece I already owned and resided in the bonus space as an art desk for the kids. A few years back we added a kid’s study off our main office and this desk has not seen any love since then. It fits the space well and may get a little use now!
IKEA Desk // Floor Lamp // Lumbar Pillow // Desk Chair
The desk chair and the clock were purchased during Wayfair’s 40% off ‘better-than-Black-Friday’ sale a couple weeks ago. I had been searching for a chair and again kept coming across the issue of all of them that I liked were in the $400 range. I ended up with this one at $150. I wish I could have spent less on this, but I knew it was a good price after all of the searching I had done.
Blue Vase // Picture Frames // Fiddle Leaf Fig
Target was my go-to store for décor items for the space. I purchased this 3-tier side table, matching tray, floor lamp, picture frames, the blue striped vase, the pink velvet pillow and the throw blankets (oh, and the armadillo – isn’t he cute!) all from Target. The art in the frames was found on Etsy.
And lastly, the mirror. This is where I really got frugal. After hours of scouring the internet in search of the perfect mirror I gave up. A lot of mirrors are too narrow for this use. And the few that were not too narrow were too expensive. I’m talking $400-$600. Couldn’t do it. So what did I do? I made my own. Yep, that’s right, I made my own. For $125. And I love it.
MDF Casing used to build mirror frame
I went to Lowe’s and purchased a sheet of 3/8” plywood, two tubes of Liquid Nails that is safe to use on mirrors, three pieces of MDF door casing and a tube of white caulk. Then I called my local glass shop and had them cut me a mirror at 28” wide by 60” tall. I cut the plywood to 34×66, Liquid Nailed the mirror to the plywood, then measured and cut the casing to frame the mirror and Liquid Nailed the casing to the 3” wide section of plywood that surrounded the mirror. I shot a couple finish nails into the outside corners of the casing to help strengthen the corners, then filled any gaps in those joints with the white caulk. And whallah, it was done.
Now if you are a perfectionist like my dad you would not be okay with the gaps that got filled with caulk or the little bit of splitting that occurred where the finish nails were shot in. But can you see either of those things? Even standing right in front of it you can’t see these things without looking specifically for them and considering the approximate $400 savings building my own provided as opposed to buying one, well I can accept those flaws.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I really enjoyed sharing with you!
If you like décor-style posts you may enjoy my Master Bedroom Refresh or my Spring Home Tour.
