Pause… Redesign

I am halting Touring Tuesdays for two weeks. If you hadn’t noticed, my boys’ bedroom was not very popular. I like it, my boys like, it, but most of you all don’t. I decided it might be fun to have a little contest.

I’ve been wanting to redecorate the boys room in a transportation theme (cars, trains, planes) for a while now, but the blog has sucked up most of my creativity. I like redecorating and am open to new ideas, so I’m going to let you redesign my boys’ room.

I am setting a $50 budget for the redesign. I’m thinking most of what I get will be from Craigslist or homemade, so how you use the budget will mostly be guesswork. You can look at online retailers, though, and see if there is anything there I might be interested in. I am decently handy with a needle, paintbrush, and a hammer, so I if you have some neat furniture or artwork ideas, submit them and I’ll see what I can do.

The room is 6′x8′. The crib that is currently in there is 30″x56″, but I’m strongly leaning towards scrapping it for an alternative, mattress-free sleeping arrangement, something like this, or this, or this. The window, which is behind the blue wall of rugs, must be able to be opened, so there can’t be shelves in front of it, but there could be a futon or something. It has rugs over it because 1) the window is a little drafty and 2) the view is into the hallway.

What needs to be in the room?

A place to sleep
A place for toys
A place for clothes

Things to keep in mind:

There are two little boys sleeping in there now. A baby will soon be added, but we have a pac-n-play that we could set up in our bedroom until he is ready to graduate to a big-boy bed.
The toy collection expands and contracts. People give us stuff and we give stuff away. Nothing is set in stone, so the arrangement needs to be flexible. Also, I have found a potential spot for the largest toys, currently on the wall, in our bedroom.

Next week, I will pick up to five of my favorite submissions and you all can vote. The winner will recieve a $25 Amazon.com giftcard, puchased with swagbucks. (I may make my own submission and if mine wins, the runner-up will get the prize.) I will then resume Touring Tuesdays. When the tour is over, I will post pics of the new room.

You can either draw out your idea and email it to me me, or you can send me a written description, with product links if you want. Officials entires must be sent via email (under1000permonth@yahoo.com). If people have suggestions but not a whole entry, put them in the comments and someone else might win thanks to your great idea. There were also some great suggestions in the comments of the original post of My Boys’ Room.

Please, if you have an idea, make a submission. You might be the only one who submits anything and then you’ll win!

UPDATED TO ADD: I am not allowed to paint the walls.

You might want to check out my new comment policy .
Copyright Under $1000 Per Month, 2009-2010

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From Under $1000 Per Month.

February 16, 2010 | Filed Under Frugal Living | Leave a Comment

Learn to negotiate prices

photo by Qtea
Negotiating and haggling are regaining popularity. Even the most timid of consumers is starting to speak up to get the best deal. What used to be reserved for garage sales or large purchases, such as automobiles, appliances and homes, is now a trend crossing over to many additional products and services. It doesn’t cost you anything to simply ask whether a price is set in stone before you …

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From Frugal Village.

October 10, 2009 | Filed Under Frugal Living | Leave a Comment