Thrifty Thursday: Better Homes and Gardens lamp and gallery wall progress

I'm always up for a steal. Most of my good deals come from thrift stores or side of the road finds, but this I couldn't pass up! I was at Wal-Mart the other day grabbing a few craft supplies, and I wandered past the lamp aisle. I'd been on the lookout for a new lamp to go on my blue painted spindle table. (A little side note: This lamp is actually one I stole off the nightstands in our master so I had to find a replacement and put it back!)

I couldn't believe the Better Homes and Gardens line available at Wal-Mart. What I love most about these lamps is that you can mix and match shades and lamp bases. The possibilities are endless! 

I picked up this cute burlap shade and clear bottom ball base. Together they cost around $15. YES! Both of them! Together.  The base was $9.99 and the shade was $4.99.  The best part about this is that the lamp is actually plastic. So if it gets knocked over by little man, it can't break! (Funny how my decorating has changed now that there's a new baby to think about!) 

You might also notice some paper taped to the wall behind the lamp. No, that's not my new art piece. I'm working on a gallery wall behind the chairs. You can never have too many gallery walls right?!?!

My trick to gallery walls is simple. Gather everything you want to use on your wall and trace and outline on paper or newspaper. 

After I traced them, I used painters tape to tape them to the wall. Every hour or so, I'd walk by and change the arrangement until I came up with something I liked. 

To hang them, I didn't use any measuring tools. I simply eyeballed it! I prefer it that way :) 

I'm not finished with this project yet, so bear with me. I still haven't decided what to put in all the smaller frames. Hopefully I'll have more to share this week. 

It's hard to believe the progress we've made in this room in just a few short months! It's gone from a college furniture catch all room to a room we actually want to spend time in! 

To read more about our master bedroom makeover and sitting room progress, see posts below. 

IKEA tab curtains turned back tab curtains 
DIY pillows 
Sitting room spindle table makeover and rug update
Painted nightstands in master bedroom 
DIY stencil photo frames
Pure Bond Built in Cabinets 

Pure Bond cabinets in master sitting room: Part 4. FINALLY DONE!

I think we can FINALLY say that these cabinets are done. Yes D.O.N.E with a capital D! I swear we've been working on these forever, but I guess that happens when you have a baby on the way and a zillion other projects going on! 

Other than some styling, the actual construction of these are done. You can read all about the other phases of these project here. 
Part 1:Design and a plan for cabinets 
Part 2: framing out 
Part 3: Doors 

But today we're going to focus on trim work and painting, and of course the fun part....styling! 

After a zillion few more coats of paint, we were ready to install the trim. To give in a real built in look, we simple cut shoe molding and used the nail gun to install it all around the cabinet. This is the same molding that runs along the base of our hardwood floors. 

Now, a good blogger would have gone back and filled in all the nail holes, but like I said, I'm pregnant. Crawling on the floor right now isn't a priority. So someday this project will ACTUALLY be 100% finished. 

For the doors, I didn't want any hardware. To open and close the doors, hubbs installed a magnetic push clasp.

These can be purchased at any big box home improvement store and will run about $2 each. 

image source Home Depot 

Now all the stuff that was in my craft room is now neatly stored away in hidden cabinets. 

I used some cheap Ikea bins to store all the small things. I love the label on the outside so I know exactly what is in where. 

The eventual plan is to get a TV and put it on here. Hubbs already cut the holes to get the to the cable and power. 

Do you like my makeshift TV?!?!

Hubbs wants it to be more like this though.....

No joke....he would love a TV this big. I'm still even debating even allowing a TV in the bedroom. That concept is foreign to me so we'll see and start out small. I'm just soooo glad this project is finally done!  
I'll have more updates on this room later this week! 

Reading Nook with re-purposed items

I've been on a roll with the nursery here. I'm determined to finish before I have to go back to school in August! 

Being a teacher, reading is very important to me, so naturally I had to have a spot in my little man's room to hold books. 

 When we moved rooms around and built the cabinets in our bedroom, I was essentially giving up my craft room where I had these paper storage containers on the wall. They were actually rescued from a church and they used to hold their bulletins and hymnal books! 

I'd been saving them for a nursery project, but once we found out we were having a boy, I knew they couldn't stay hot pink! 

I shopped in my spray paint stash and found these Navy Blue cans leftover from another project. 

Perfect! I also happen to love that they're from Krylon. They are my go to paint and I always make sure to keep my stash stocked! This specific Krylon spray paint dries in 8 minutes or less and can be used on any surface like wood, metal, plastic, etc. Being pregnant, I made sure to ask my Dr. before I painted anything! I used a ventilated mask and made sure I spray painted outside. 

After a few light coats, the book holders were finished. 

I was so proud of myself and actually hung these all on my own! I used wall anchors to secure these to the wall. Don't worry, little man could swing from these like a monkey and they won't go anywhere! 

The H was a clearance find at Michael's. I only paid $2 for it! 

I simply spray painted it with some green spray paint I had on hand and it completes the little corner! 

I am so excited for him to have a spot for his favorite books!

 His chair comes this week and that will complete our reading nook! The total cost of this project....a whopping $2.22 for the H letter. I love projects like that!