Twin Tweens
I’m sharing my budget “tween” shared twin room makeover because tweens are a tricky demographic. They want to be grown up, but they don’t bring in their own income! They want all their toys, but they also want their room to look sophisticated. Don’t forget to check out Budget Tween Room Makeover In Progress (Part 1) & Budget Tween Room Makeover Part 2 if you missed them!
Things are shaping up nicely over here. Although we totally had a DIY-fail this week involving a vintage lamp and spray paint, we found some adorable accessories that we are excited to add to the room. As we planned, we sold our Ikea Kura (we will miss it, such a fun versatile piece; but our other Kura is still serving us well in my son’s room) and took a family trip to Ikea for a more grown-up alternative, finally settling on this:
I was considering a metal bunk bed (we love the clean lines of this one by Walker Edison), but my husband felt like a wood version would be more sturdy. He was able to put the Mydal together in about two hours with tons of family interruptions. I’m happy to report I didn’t hear any angry outbursts or loud crashes so I think the experience was relatively painless for him. If you ask him, assembling furniture could be his least favorite task in the world. Hopefully the girls realize what a labor of love this was for him to work so much on their room during his “vacation” week.
He also installed two picture ledges/shelves for the girls from Ikea. These appear to be the perfect solution for a few bedtime essentials (clock, book, water bottle) without the clutter of a bedside table (or the challenge of height for the top bed). We also bought a couple of these for under-bed storage, which we promptly filled with out of season clothing. (Nine year old identical twin girls sharing a closet is no joke, folks).
Our next quest was for new bedding that would match the new dorm room vibe. I started googling “bunk bed bedding” and here is the resulting shopping rabbit hole I ended up heading down. I will update soon with the bedding that we ended up choosing, but the girls are thrilled with the results.
Pinterest Fail: Spray Painting a Floor Lamp
Next I had this “brilliant” idea to re-paint my old lamp from college that for some reason was still stashed in the attic. We used Krylon Shimmer Metallic Black Spray Paint and I love the color. It’s nothing close to glittery, just black with a little extra “something”. It was a little tricky covering the base because it’s so narrow and I did end up with some paint drips, but keep in mind that I am also fairly careless with craft projects (just being honest, ya’ll). I plan to cover it with a clear protective spray to keep the finish nice. Sadly, my brilliant plan started to deteriorate when I realized spray painting the translucent shade wasn’t quite possible. The resulting splotchy light was pretty gloomy and depressing. On to Plan B…
The blogger who never gives up
As most folks know, I tend to cling to a project idea until it is pretty much pried from my lifeless, paint-stained hands, so I refused to give up on the lamp (which is really illogical since I know for a fact I paid only $8 for it at Walmart in the year 2000). I tried purchasing a new shade at Lowe’s only to realize I was the semi-confused owner of two half-circle wall sconces. (Thank you Lowe’s for easy returns).
Finally, I went to Michael’s absolutely determined to solve the lamp problem. I came home with some gorgeous gold washi tape and proceeded to tape and tape and tape. Washi tape lampshades are all over pinterest so I was confident this idea would be a success. (Misplaced confidence is also part of my DIY-er profile).
Sticky to the Bitter End
This was my first experience with Washi Tape and it turns out that it’s not as tape-y as duct tape. Soon I realized that the stick alone was not going to hold this project together. So I whipped out my Mod Podge (this $8 sixteen-year-old lamp was racking up a tab of upwards of $50 but good thing I made nearly $1.40 yesterday on Amazon Affiliates. Blogging my way to the top, ya’ll)
So I started haphazardly slapping sticky Mod Podge all over the lamp and tucking the ends over the edge (forgetting that not everyone is short like me and the inside would be visible to the naked eye). A couple coats later and ta-da! My eighteen hour, four shopping trips later, simple DIY project was complete! And the results are:
Ok? Not bad? Better than dumping the lamp in a landfill? Semi-functional? Good enough for now?
Alphabet Train Line at Michael’s 70% off
Our fun find of the week was these two large letters with the ampersand for my “S” girls. The total for all three was about $7 thanks to major markdowns! We plan to hang them on the wall once we figure out the perfect spot. There are tons of different letters in all colors and sizes for 70% right now at Michael’s from the Alphabet Train line, so check it out in your local store!
I would love to thank Brooklyn & Bailey (teen youtube stars & identical twin girls) for their fun and cute videos about their shared room. I could tell my girls were really impressed to see cool older girls who enjoy sharing a room and can make it look so awesome at the same time. I really appreciate their positive sibling dynamic and great example!
Less than I week after I started exploring this idea, I was flipping through the racks at my favorite thrift store and what did I find? Two size 10 girls navy school jumpers. For $1.20 a piece. It was a homeschool bargain miracle. Clearly, the uniform experiment was being set into motion despite any reservations on the part of my children. Fortunately for me, they pretty much roll with the punches when it comes to my brilliant ideas for life improvement. So let our experiment commence!