Nifty Thrifty Girl

A little paint and some inexpensive fabric can go a long way. My daughter is growing up and decided that her girly pink room had to go. Boo hoo. Unfortunately, I never snapped pictures of the ‘pink’ room in all it’s glory but you can get the idea from the few photos I will share with you.

When changing a room over I like to grab several paint swatches, tape them to the wall and ‘live’ with the colors for a bit before I make my decision. Well, my daughter had her own ideas and immediately fell in love with a lovely shade of blue from one of the swatches, so we went with it.

BEFORE - the PINK room

The pink gingham roman shades were removed from the windows, as well as the shutters to make way for new window treatments.

DURING - PINK to BLUE room

AFTER - the BLUE room

While shopping for paint I happened to pass by the fabric clearance rack and spotted this funky fabric that I knew my daughter would love. I grabbed all of it for $8.00, sewed two panels…and now…new window treatments:

We scoured the stores for a bedding ensemble that would match the walls. It didn’t take long for my daughter to spot this set…and it looks perfect:

So, for approximately $70 (the majority of the money was spent on the bedding) I completely changed a room - in one weekend.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Some windows just don’t need fancy window treatments. I tend to use very simple window treatments such as roman shades or light, airy lace panels. When I have a miss-matched window (one that doesn’t match any of the others in the room) or a single window in a room that I would prefer to let as much light through as possible, I use one of my favorite window treatment tricks – a salvaged stained glass window.

Vintage stained glass windows come in all shapes, sizes and varying colors. My very first stained glass window was purchased at a flea market for only $15. I pulled another window out of my neighbor’s trash! In a few easy steps you can have a fabulous piece of stained glass hanging in one of your windows.

Once you choose a stained glass window all you have to do is bring it home and give it a good cleaning. I like to use Ecover Multi-purpose cleaner - it’s environmentally friendly and has a light, lemon scent. Murphy’s Oil soap also works well. I chose to leave my stained glass windows untouched - just like I found them. If you prefer a cleaner, more polished look you can sand the wood frame, and use a wood stain or paint.

Project Skill: Beginner

You will need:

• Drill

• 2 sets of screw eyes and c hook screws

• Pencil

To hang the stained glass window:

• Drill two holes in the top of the stained glass window frame approximately 3 inches from either edge.

• Insert the eye screws into top of window frame.

• Have someone hold the window so you can mark the appropriate spots to drill for the c-hooks in your window frame.

• Drill holes and insert c hook screws.

• Mount stained glass window on c hooks.

Another creative and inexpensive way to make your home cozy!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.