Bedroom Overhaul for a Tight Budget

My husband and I moved into our house 3 years ago.  We bought some dressers and some of the cheapest nightstands you've ever seen ($15 from Lowe's) and that's about all I did.  I didn't really hang anything on the wall (didn't have much since our previous residence was all cinder block) and I just used our same comforter, curtains, etc.  It was ok but honestly I was really wanting to spruce it up.  Unfortunately we didn't have any extra cash lying around so I dreamed about it for a while and when my birthday rolled around I was lucky enough to get some cash from parents and grandparents so I decided to use $100 to redecorate.  To give you an idea, this is what I started with:

 Nothing on the walls, cheap nightstand, solid curtains, dated bedding that was looking pretty worn.

 Another angle with the only picture I had hung on an existing nail...but a cute little wondering why I'm not pointing the camera at her.

 Plain white cabinets that were pretty dirty and although I tried to clean it didn't really work.  Oh, and maddie photo bombing again.  She was trying to run in every picture.

So I decided from the beginning that I really didn't want to paint the walls.  They are a decent color and I don't mind it but I wanted to go with a gray/orange color scheme.  I decided I would find bedding first and work around that.  Bedding is soooo expensive and I didn't find anything I loved so I decided to buy fabric and recover our existing comforter and pillow shams.  I also knew I wanted to paint the vanity cabinet gray, dye curtains, do something with nightstands and hang pictures.  This is what I ended up with:

WHAT I DID

Bedding

So I couldn't find a single piece of fabric to cover the whole Queen comforter and didn't want it to look obviously pieced so I chose 2 fabrics - a fun print with tan, grays, orange, black and an orange and white Chevron (zigzag) pattern.  I also used a dark gray and light gray chevron to line the pillows and the edge of the bed.  I got the print fabric 50% off at Joann Fabrics (reg. $10.99/yd), the chevrons were on sale too so they were $2.99/yd. 
Total for fabric = $58.91 (includes tax)

You might be thinking - that's a lot!  It is but I think it made a HUGE difference in the room.  Also, you will see that I used it other places too.  It was so nice to have matching fabric to tie in other things! I bought almost 6 yds. of leaf print, 3 yd Gray Chevron, just over 4 yd of Orange Chevron.  So for 13 yds of fabric that's a smokin' deal!

Wall Art

After my fabric purchase you can see that my decorating was going to have to be really frugal.  I saw an easy fun wall art idea on pinterest (Budget decorator's BFF!) I found a 3 pack of canvases for $10.99 and just bought 3 bottles of the cheapest brand acrylic paint ($0.67 ea.).  I used 40% off on canvases, if you time it right the paint goes on sale for 30% off sometimes making for an even sweeter deal, I didn't luck out.   
Total for Wall Art = $8.60 + tax.

Nightstands

I looked EVERYWHERE for cheap nightstands and just didn't luck out.  I tried thrift stores, garage sales, every store in stillwater, amazon and other on-line retailers and found NOTHING in my budget.  We were going to build some but decided to make do for now and save up for some nicer ones.  But for the mean time, I decided to paint them gray and nail some scrapbook paper over cardboard onto the back so the yellow walls and cords didn't show through.  It's not the best but it works.  The paint will peel off pretty easy with any normal wear but like I said, we plan to upgrade and when you see the cost it's worth a shot!  I used leftover gray paint (I will include its cost in the next item) and 4 pieces of scrapbook paper from hobby lobby.  I then used a couple of the cardboard boxes I hoard and cut them up so that items would poke through the paper.  I got this idea from those cheap bookshelves you can buy and it worked like a dream!  So the cost of the paper was $0.59 each and 50% off.
Total for Nightstands = $1.18 + tax   

 Vanity Area
As I said earlier the cabinets were pretty grimey and needed to be painted.  Since gray is a trendy color right now I was sure I could find a mistint at my local paint store.  If you have never used mistints, this is a GREAT way to paint for super cheap.  If an employee or customer mixes the wrong tint they sell it for cheap.  Lowe's (where I got this) has a small shelf by the paint counter but some places (like Sherwin Williams) you may have to ask and they will take you in the back area.  I really lucked out because it was a small can of primer/paint in one AND a no need to sand paint!!!  I used this on the cabinets, nightstands and still have 1/2 can left!
Paint Total = $5 + tax. 

I wanted to add something to the plain wall too so I took that random picture frame I had previously hanging and added new pictures.  It fits much better here anyway.
Picture Total = $0.45 + tax

 Curtains
Our curtains were pretty basic and were ok, just need some updating and some pizazz.  I bleached them and bought some black dye.  I let them soak for less time to get a gray instead of black.  Then I added stripes of my leftover orange chevron fabric to the top.  I can't remember the exact amount, it was around $2.24 I think for the dye but lost the receipt :(
 Curtain Total = less than $3.00 (including tax).

 Photos/Wall Art
I might be budget cheating a little here but the middle print is a 11x14 Canvas print that Cayton got me for my birthday.  We got it from Walgreens and used a coupon and paid $29.99 + tax for it.  I am not including it in my total cost though because it was a gift :)  The other 4 pictures I bought 2 value packs of 8x10  
canvases from Hobby Lobby were $7.98 + tax.  I got the idea from ???? you guessed it, PINTEREST!!!  Use Mod Podge to cover the canvas with fabric (which I conveniently had leftover) and then add photo corners so you can easily replace the pictures if you want.  I had to buy photo corners which were  $2.39 + tax (after 40% off coupon) and pictures were $0.60 + tax.   
Total = $10.97 + tax

Random Additions
I wanted to add something over in this area and thought that something to hang up wet clothes or clothes we may wear again would be easy, pretty and practical.  I found this at Hobby Lobby and they were $14.99 and conveniently all metal decor was on sale for 50% off so I got this lovely addition for a  
Total = $7.50 + tax. 

Another addition was the clothes hamper*.  We had a basic white plastic one but Maddie kept pulling dirty clothes out so we needed a new one with a lid.  I found this beauty at Ross in Ardmore for  
Total = $19.99 + tax. 
I had looked around for cheaper ones but couldn't find any.  This did send me over my budget a little but I had some personal money saved up to use on it.

This was my Bedroom Overhaul on what I would consider a normal budget for a family.

Grand Total = $115.60 + a tax for non-fabric items
*Without the hamper it would have been about $95.61 + tax for non-fabric items which I think would have been right at about $100...so I am going to call it a victory!

I could have saved a little more if I had lined up some of my Hobby Lobby sales better but I chose convenience and wanted to get it done quick (so that it got done!).  I also could have probably got better prices for pictures but again, it was one of my last things and I was ready to have it complete!

Wondering how long this took?  About 3 weeks total.  The first week I worked long and hard on bedding, it was the most time consuming.  The other 2 weeks I did some work here and there while maddie napped and when she went to bed.  After the bedding was done, everything else went pretty fast!