When I recently
got the opportunity to get involved with the MoneySupermarket.com Room For Improvement challenge I was excited at the prospect of getting creative and hopefully
improving a room or space in our home.
MoneySupermarket are aiming to highlight that home improvements do not have
to cost the earth and that a room can be transformed even with an affordable
budget.
To prove
that you can transform the look and feel of a room or space, making a big
difference, with a small budget a Room for Improvement challenge has been
created. MoneySupermarket have
challenged bloggers to improve a room or space within their home with a budget
of £50.
Bug still
loves the colourful bedroom daddy created for him when he was hibernating in my
womb and we all love the vibrant under the sea bathroom daddy painted so both
those rooms we off limits for this challenge.
Even though I was tempted to attempt to outside a new lease of life and
extend our garden with the limited time I had for this challenge I decided it
was too big of a challenge with the wild undergrowth a huge problem I would
have to tackle first before even thinking about making the garden a more
pleasant space.
After much
deliberation on what room/area to attempt to improve I decided on re-vamping a
space in our bedroom. In our bedroom
there are built-in wardrobes with a dressing table built-in between two
wardrobes. I do not really use this
space and definitely do not use as it was intended for, instead it a dumping
ground for both Lee and I and always look very cluttered and far from pretty or
functional. As I am trying to make more
of an effort with my appearance lately, making time for ‘me’ I thought it would
be a great opportunity to make this space mine.
I hoped to make it pretty with items that I love and make it a space I want
to use, making it functional too.
Above the
big mirror there is a light but for many years now it has not been working as I
failed to replace the bulb…..shows how long it has been since I used the space
as a dressing table that I never bothered to get a new bulb to light up the
area.
The first
thing I wanted to do was to get a replacement bulb so that the light would work
once again, allowing me to use the space and do my make-up at the table instead
of use the mirror in the bathroom. I got a replacement bulb at B&Q for £4.98.
I had
sourced a small piece of slate from outside with the intention of having it as
a centre piece on the dressing table where I could write inspirational quotes
on with chalk. As the slate was a tad
rough around the edges and not the perfect shape when I saw a heart slate for
£3.99 while browsing The Range for bits and bobs for the challenge I could not
resist it. I love the big heart slate
which rests in the centre of the dressing table….all I need now is to remember
to get some chalk and them I can get writing some lovely quotes to write on it.
Being a
tad sentimental I could not resist placing a few of my favourite stones and shells
collected from meaningful trips to the beach to my own little space in our
bedroom. The centre stone was taken from
our local beach on the day Lee proposed to me there and he then later wrote our
names on one side and on the other side is the date of his proposal.
One of the first items I bought for this challenge was this mother-of-pearl-esque photo frame which I bought from a charity shop for £1.99. Being an indecisive person I have not decided on which one of my favourite photos to put in the frame yet but it will most probably be a photo of Bug as he is my world and even though this space is for ‘me’ I want him included in the space as being a mummy to my beautiful boy is the best thing that has ever happened to me and he is my life.
I have
always loved the vintage pot that I was left from my late Great-Great-Great
Aunty and until now it has been hidden away in storage, so when I started
creating a space for ‘me’ I thought it would be the ideal time to showcase its rustic
charms.
At another
charity shop I found this golden mosaic tiled vase and thought it would bring a
touch of colour to the space with its sparkly tiles and for £3.00 I could not
leave the shop without it. The two
butterflies are bookmarks that my late Great-Great-Great Aunty had, with great
sentimental value I love including them in the space.
To add
more colour, a touch of prettiness and beauty I got these gorgeous flowers at
Tesco for £3.00.
The jewellery
box was bought from a local car-boot sale for £2.00 and the beautiful hand fan
was my late Mamgu’s fan (grandmother).
I love this
Slate Love Note Photo Frame for £2.99 from The Range. Again I need to decide what photo to put in
the frame, with its love theme I think it will be a photo of the two loves in
my life…Bug and his daddy together.
As I love
candles I could not create a space for me without having a candle or two. With its delicate love theme I loved the
Rustic Love Candle Holder for £3.99 from The Range. I got a pack of tea-light candles from
B&M for £1.00 ready to light up my re-vamped space with the soft glow of
candle light.
I love the
inscribed ‘Love’ on the six little hearts that dangle from the frame of the
candle holder and love the little jangle noise they create if you move the
candle holder.
Another little
keepsake from my late Great-Great-Great Aunty that I wanted to get out of
storage, a sweet little bottle with ‘Aspahan’ inscribed on it that I think once
stored perfume.
With its
pretty design I wanted to showcase this flowery nail clipper that is a keepsake
from my late Mamgu.
When browsing
charity shops I found this adorable little glass angel for 50p and thought it
would make a cute little addition to my space.
To add a
touch more candle light glow to my space I bought two small crackle glass candle holder from The Range at 99p each, adding a tea-light candle to each little bowl from
the pack I purchased at B&M.
Also at
The Range I bought two Frosted Candle Holders for £1.29 each, one to hold my make-up
brushes and the other to hold my lipsticks, eyeliners and mascara.
I love
the sparkly and diamante detail on the frosted glass of the candle holders.
I bought a
large crackle glass candle holder at The Range for £1.39 to hold cotton wool. I wanted to get a small pot for showcasing
cotton wool buds but could not find anything suitable in the right style and
size but I will keep my eye out for the perfect pot to add to my space.
With its
gorgeous design of pretty butterflies I have kept this Jean Paul Gaultier perfume
tin long since the perfume has finished and have decided to include it in my
space as I love the butterflies.
I also
included on top of the perfume tin a small figure of two dancers that came from
a jewellery box I had when I was a child, it has sentimental value as it is the
only keepsake I have from my late father who I never knew.
Apart from
the space not being very inviting and not having a working light putting me off
using it as a dressing table I also did not have a chair to sit at the
table. I bought a chair from a family
friend who was having a garage sale this past weekend. I got the chair along with an old but fully functioning
Revlon illuminating double sided mirror (positioned snuggly in the corner of my
space behind my vase of flowers) for the bargain price of £15 for both
items. To add a touch of comfort and
prettiness I bought a ‘Love’ cushion from B&M for £5.99.
With all
the items positioned in my new re-vamped space I can now reveal the finished
space.
I love my dressing
table now it has had a little makeover. As
we rent I could not do a lot more to the space other than add items to make it
more appealing and functional and I am pleased with what I have done. We hope to move in the future and I will be
able to recreate my new re-vamped dressing table in our new home, hopefully on
a more attractive dressing table.
Even though
some people may consider the space a tad too cluttered still I am a borderline hoarder
and simply cannot do minimalist, even though I tried to keep it streamlined and
functional the desire to include keepsakes and items I find pretty overrode.
It may not
be the most creative re-vamps or the most shocking transformation, especially
compared to some of the other fantastic improvements done by other bloggers for
this challenge, but none the less I am I am thrilled with the transformation. I loved taking part in this challenge and
found it surprising how much I could get for under £50, with my total spend totalling
£48.39.
I love my
new space and it is now a space I want to use.
* I was
sent £50 by MoneySupermarket.com to take part in their Room for Improvement
challenge. I have also been entered into
a competition run by MoneySupermarket.com to win £500 vouchers for B&Q for
this post *
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