Ryder's Room: Details

Thank you, guys, for all your awesome comments on Ryder's room. I LOVE that you guys love it:) So this post is kinda a "details" post--so if you're into all the nitty-gritty deets, carry on. But if you don't care that I paid 50 cents for a bookcase, you might not want to proceed and can get a quick recap here in this 3 minute vid. Okay, all you detail-oriented peeps, grab a cup o' joe and let's do this.

The color we chose for the walls is Benjamin Moore Thunder. We had to use it...we had the swatch on the wall in our kitchen (actually it's still there) and whenever someone comes over they give us a weird look when they see the words BM Thunder underneath the swatch. Funny. And yes, gross. Unless you don't have a twisted mind like my friends and I.



First things first, this is what this room looked like prior...well several years ago anyway when Ryder was a baby. You can read more about that here.



What made us decide it was time for a wee makeover was when I saw this metal bed in my neighbor's burn pile one day. (Read more here.) I didn't want to put a new (to us) bed in a periwinkle room. It was time for a change.

I sprayed it a metallic blackish/gray...

using this paint.

The duvet cover I found at a thrift store literally days before the makeover was complete. Earlier in the week I talked with Mitch about asking a friend to make a duvet cover for Ryder's bed. I really didn't think I'd be able to find anything second-handed. But wouldn't ya know, a few days later I walked into a thrift store and found this duvet cover and two pillow shams for $3. It was the exact size I needed and it's from Pottery Barn. Don't ya love how things have a way of working out?

The curtains I found a week or so before at the same thrift store. Again, this was another item that I didn't really want to spend a ton of money on and when I saw these buffalo check curtains for $7, I knew it was a match made in heaven. The quilt at the foot of the bed was a Christmas present from my parents from JCP and the sheets are from Target.

Bookcase holding all of Ry's books (obviously), toys, etc.

This is what that bookcase used to look like before a little love was poured into it. You can read more about that transformation here. Cost of bookcase--$1 (I think).

          

 

All of the toys were purchased at either thrift stores or auctions, or were gifts. The old "Kids at Play" sign was bought years ago at a thrift store for 50 cents. The cute "vintage" radio was a wedding present. It was kept in our 50s kitchen back in the day when I was into all things red and chrome. The vintage Ryder truck was purchased off ebay for Ry's first Christmas. We'll do a separate post on the jelly jar light--we rigged it, so there's more to talk about with that one.

This armoire was a ridiculous find at an auction. Seriously, you must read the story. Cost: $2 (in the video, I said it was $3--yeah, I stand corrected after I reread this post.) You can see/read how I transformed it here.

I found this desk at the same auction for $12--my splurge for the day;)

The dresser was given to us by the same lovely neighbor who gave me the bed (thanks, Marilyn!). They were cleaning out a lady's house and she gave them a bunch of stuff to throw out. Marilyn asked if I wanted to pick through the stuff before they dumped it. Can you believe this was considered trash? I love the casters--they're made of wood.

The Federal style mirror was a Christmas gift from Mitch. The antique Knickerbocker bear I got at an auction years ago for $1. The lamp base is an old fishing pail. I saw the lamp years ago before I was even married and thought it'd be perfect in a little boy's room. The shade is from Target. And the old parking sign we got on our honeymoon.

I love the warm patina the dresser brings to the room. It didn't come with knobs and I was hoping to find some antique ones to put on it. I went to one salvage store and couldn't find enough matching knobs to use for this dresser...I didn't know what to do. I definitely didn't want to spend a ton on hardware, and little knobs like these can certainly add up. On one of my thrift store runs, I spotted some brass hardware for $5 for 14 knobs--made my day. A little spray paint later, and those knobs are lookin' pretty sweet if ya ask me.

The bench, my sister-in-law gave me. I painted it Ben Moore Rockport Gray. The wooden tool box Mitch picked up at an auction for $7. The old wire basket underneath I got at a thrift store for $2. It's the perfect place to stash Bryce's diapers (remember we live in a two-bedroom rancher so some spaces must have dual purposes). The suitcases were from Land of Nod--I got them for Ry's nursery back in the day.

The pinboard I got from the Pottery Barn Outlet for $6.

This is what the tiles looked like before we covered them in linen.

These tiles are currently for sale at Pottery Barn Teen for $25-$35 each. Yikes!! So yeah, we could have spent $210. Instead, we spent about $11 with the fabric we got from Calico Corner Outlet. 

Mitch used the brackets that came with the boards to attach them to each other then I covered the whole thing with fabric. We did a similar project in our kitchen.

As I mentioned in the video, one of the first things to go soon after we moved into this house were the sliding closet doors. Easy solution: hang curtains. These are from the Vintage Modern collection of Thomas O'Brien that I picked up at GW several years ago. They used to hang in our living room.

I don't tell you about all these deals to brag (and I hope I don't come across that way), but to motivate you to try it yourself. Deals are out there, guys! And I've found that if you're just patient and are willing to search, you'll find what you want. So we were able to makeover Ryder's room on a very small budget. Actually the only things we bought new were the ceiling fan and the jelly jar light (more on those in another post). Everything else came from thrift stores, auctions, or were given to us. I love the thrill of finding deals...there's nothing like it!

For details on how we made the pallet ceiling click here.