I moved into my tiny flat in May 2011.  Built in 1972 it was in ‘original condition’ and in a state decor wise which is best described as ‘tired’.

In the intervening four and a half years I have done what I can to make my home a place that works for me. It is all looking pretty good – except for one room.  The small back bedroom, which at the end of moving in day 2011 looked like this

and a week or so later looked like this

This room was intended as my art space, but after a few weeks of trying to squeeze my supplies and tables and me in, I decided to turn my big bedroom over to my art and squeeze my bed into this room instead.

This is a montage of my art room – just in case you have never seen where I create….. It’s not as tidy as this usually………..

There is, as you may have noticed, the most wonderful 70’s yellow floral wallpaper firmly adhered to the wall of the aforementioned tiny bedroom.  It wasn’t going to budge and investigations into removing or painting over required either more than my miniscule budget could afford or the use of chemical sealers that would likely kill us all in our sleep.

The yellow flowers had to stay for the time being.  I did my best:

But it really wasn’t good enough!  Time passed by, I went into the room only to dress or sleep, often never turning the light on.  It was a necessary room, but not an inviting one.

Recently I became very aware of the need to change and improve my evening ritual – I wasn’t sleeping that well and my reading time was also curtailed.  My room needed to be a place I wanted to spend time in.  I wanted to spend time winding down in a pleasant manner – taking a shower, putting on my pj’s making a cup of herbal tea and tucking into bed with that soothing drink and a good book and spending a bit of quiet time before sleep.

I needed my room to become a welcoming haven.

But how do you turn a tiny room into a welcoming haven spending as little money as possible?  You inveigle invite Youngest Daughter/Official Photographer to help and set to work and do a makeover in three days.

The plan: to remove the layers of curtains from the windows and streamline the area as much as possible while retaining privacy – the window looks straight onto an ugly old brick house next door and is also on the shared pathway between my flat and the back flat.  Take off the wardrobe door and replace with curtains.  Paint out the ugly wallpaper and rearrange the furniture.

Day one, clear everything out.  In a tiny house the issue becomes where to put everything.  Rain doesn’t help!  So, haul the bed into the lounge, shut the front door and don’t let anyone else inside.   Stop breathing and paint the walls with sealer.  Purchase a dozen onions, cut them up and put them in the room.  Close the door and don’t go back until Day Two.

Finding ourselves still alive on the morning of Day Two, the Official Photographer and I painted, in the palest hue of green you will ever see, three coats onto the walls. [It looks white in the photos but is in reality a soft green that glows beside the cyan blues that are used in the furnishings.]  Endless rain doesn’t help with the quality of my photos either …………..

In between coats the windows were covered with a faux stain glass effect privacy film

And also in between coats, a headboard was constructed from two large [100 x 80 cm] canvases that hold paintings I don’t currently want up, but don’t want to throw away.  An old blanket was used for the wadding and an unused piece of stretch fabric from the stash was the perfect size to cover the canvases.  It was all stapled together.

It has to be duly explained here that all this is the brainchild of Youngest Daughter/Official Photographer who also doubles as our ‘Engineer Brains’ when I have a good idea but don’t know how to make it a reality.  Isn’t that a great headboard!

Did you notice above the lace curtains that were retrieved from storage and cover the wardrobe instead of a door?

On the wall opposite the bed my favourite ‘soul’ picture, painted almost a year ago

A new duvet cover was purchased in a sale and the 1500 thread count sheets [sigh, slurp!] were a Christmas gift.  And of course, there is no show without Punch Siddy

Total cost of makeover

Sealer and paint  [on sale, saving 30%]     $97.00

Bedding [on sale, saving 60%]   $35.00

Headboard $0.00

Two girls, three days medium labour.

I can’t tell you how very happy I am with my room!  It may be tiny but it has everything I require and I find myself wanting to head off to bed at 8 pm now!

What do you think?

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!