This is the youngest client I have. Her name is Bel. She is almost 4 years old, loves watching cartoons on the telly, looks forward to every Friday of the week and still wears diapers at night. She’s into singing, dancing to Hi-5 and right now, like most kids, yo-yo-ing every minute she’s free. As it turned out, she’s the easiest client to work with and even helped out with the mini makeover of her room! Of course I don’t get paid for this job. The girl has not got a career yet.

This is Bel’s room. It used to be the guests’ room. Now that she can sleep on her own (almost), I thought this will be the perfect time to re-make her room (so that she spends more time here than in the kitchen or the study). If you had read the previous blog, I am supposed to paint this room a light blue because Bel likes blue. But something happened to the blue paint. I realised there was only less than half a can left and it smelled awful. Fortunately, there was a can of pink paint, still full and good to go. I was not thrilled but got no choice.

I call this room “Bohemian Princess Room”! Or BPR! Hehe! I actually liked how it turned out! Even my husband likes it. Anyway, there are a few areas in this room. There’s the study/ reading/ craft area, vanity area, sleep area and of course, a wall of fame. All furniture were pushed to the walls so that Bel can have a big play area.

I thought that the snooze corner must look inviting enough to make Bel want to sleep here alone (it didn’t really work though!).

The frame above the bed was an old noticeboard of mine. It was a picture frame covered in fabric. I had a styrofoam board as the back panel so notices could be pinned onto it. But now it acts as a wall art! The ‘glamorous’ and shiny pillow and bolster cover are Bel’s and my husband’s favourite items in the room (?!). I painstakingly sewed the pillow/ bolster cover by hand because the sewing machine couldn’t take on the fabric. It broke the needle twice!The rest of the stuffs were gifts.

I thought of hanging a canopy above the bed and then found the beads curtain in the storeroom. Since this works too, I thought why not? The beads curtain makes Bel happy. It is like hanging a wind chime in the room. When it moves, it’s like a soothing music for her to sleep to. I bought it at the Thieves’ Market years ago when I was decorating my shared bedroom with my sister. It was a steal at $20. But I had to bring it with me when I moved. Sorry Yum!

This table lamp was a d.i.y project for me.

It was a housewarming present from a friend. The years had taken it’s toll on it. I was left with the bare frame! It still worked so I had to revive it!

The stuff you need- primer, penknife, any colour serrated plastic board, spray paint and a long metal ruler.

Remove wire. Prime surface. Please note primer is a toxic substance. Let it dry.

After a few hours, spray paint a couple of times and let it dry again.

In the meantime, measure the sides of the lamp. Cut the board to size. Insert the board and attach the lampholder.

Ta-daa!

This is Bel’s vanity area. The wooden alphabets were spray painted. Bel chose those colours. The small rack with dividers was a cutlery tray. I spray painted it white and used it to display my mini perfume bottles, last time. Now it serves as an open storage for Bel’s beauty products. The rack below it was an encyclopedia rack in it’s last life. It was a present from a dear friend. But Bel doesn’t need a book rack. She needs a place to hang and store her beauty accessories. Upon further scrutinisation, I realised, the rack, when turned upside down, and fixed with some hooks…it can be a great- rack with hooks!

Those letters were better painted with real paint instead of spray paints, I think. But at that time spray paints were the only ones I’ve got.

These are a few pictures taken when the rack was re-invented. After painting the whole surface, let it dry thoroughly. Make tiny markings on the the area you want to fix the hooks on. Drill halfway through on the markings. Position the hooks and screw them in.

I bought those hooks from Ikea (where else?). But you can find more varieties at any D.I.Y shops. If you are not hanging heavy items, you can always get those with sticky tape instead.

I like this rack to look slightly used. So after painting it, I sanded some parts.

I bought this hanging tealight holder from a mall in Johor Bahru. Never really put a tealight in it. So it became a place for Bel to keep her hairbands.

More beauty accessories for the princess! I can’t remember where I got that container from…but it sure sits pretty on the rack.

What’s a princess without her tiara?

The bohemian princess hard at work. She was given a task- to paint the small alcove which was going to be the study/ craft/ play corner. She was all smiles when her job, finally, was completed!

Those are the encyclopedias I was talking about before. These Ikea (again!) CD shelves were about to be thrown away from my old office. I asked if I could buy them instead. They were so cheap (because no one else would buy them) I grabbed 6 pieces altogether! They make great storage for Bel’s books, storage boxes and mini luggages! You will not believe what tots keep nowadays! So having everything kept under closure makes everyone sane. I bought the pretty, pink round boxes from Daiso.

Having Bel’s colour pencils in a jar (it’s a Goober Grape jar) is a life saver! It saves time in cleaning up after her!

I had to buy a table small enough to fit under the alcove and fits Bel. I will do something to the table when I’m free. It’s looking too white at the moment. Or maybe I should just let Bel scribble on it!

Having just bamboo blinds on the windows was not pretty enough. Girl’s, I mean, princess’s rooms should have soft window treatment for privacy (who can see Bel when she’s shorter than the windows?). Anyway, to make things look more interesting (honestly? I’m budgeting), I stripped a bamboo pole, sanded it a bit and hung it on brackets.

Memorable pictures of Bel. Got to display it. I screwed eye hooks at the bottom of the picture rack and tied cotton yarn to them. Bel can then hang all her paper crafts using those mini, cute clothes pegs.

Most toys, big and small, were kept in these milk crates. Don’t ask where I got them. Sshhh… Bel is surprisingly quite strong to lift each and every one of them. The best thing about these crates is that they are stackable.

So here’s the breakdown of costs:

• Study table- $19
• Curtain- $15
• Picture rack- $9×2 = $18
• Picture frames- about $10
• Wooden alphabets- $3.50×3 = $10.50
• Pink, cylindrical boxes- $2×3 = $6
• Brackets (for bamboo pole)- $2
• D.I.Y stuffs- about $10 (paint is free, remember?)

Total costs… $90.50!

Very affordable for a bohemian princess. I hope this room will last for at least 4 years! By then, this princess will be able to spell her own name and hopefully, count her savings! She will pay me for the next revamp!

This is my home. We bought the house 6 years ago and I took my time to decorate it. 6 years after it still looked the same! I thought the space needs some zest so orange became the accent colour in the room. I even have an orange Klippan sofa cover and an orange table runner to match but that colour has to change!

Coincidentally I custom-made the sofa cover in blue. I liked the fabric design so much when I saw it in Ikea that I had to do something about it! So blue will be the new colour for the house! I have a budget of $200. Not that much but I shall try…

A simple change in the sofa cover sets off as a starting point for this mini makeover. I grabbed the blue rug from the guest’s room and bought a metre of fabric for the table. The square cushions were a must-buy to replace the old big ones. Bought covers for them too. No one really use those square cushions anymore so finding nice covers was quite hard. The wall clock was at another wall before this and was looking really ‘vintage’ so I sprayed it white!

The brown curtains have been around eversince we moved in but they were not enough to cover the big windows. So I bought and made the other set of curtains to cover the whole width of that  window. Really like the effect it has when the sunlight pours in. I also like to have a wall of pictures and the blank wall, which used to have the clock on it, was perfect. I didn’t want to drill multiple holes so I bought 3 picture racks to hold all of my photo frames. The photo frames were a mix of old and new. I spray painted some of them to match the new ones. The footstools were bought when we moved in  and they serve as side tables when guests come. I realised I had quite a collection of fabrics at home so when I found the softwhite, ‘wooly’ fabric I was thrilled. Made them into cushion covers without hesitation!

Costs :

• Square cushions: $15×4 = $60
• Cushion cover (for the square cushions) : $3×4 = $12
• Tablecloth: $10
• Picture rack: $9×3 = $27
• Photo frames: about $10
• Fabric for curtains: $10x6mtr = $60
• Small cushions: $5×3 = $15
• Blue cushion cover (on the sofa) : $8

So…total costs- $202. I think, not bad, although I would have done much more with a little bit more cash!

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