Budget Decorating: Master Bedroom

I am exhausted. But I’m also contented.

I am going to die in this home because the mortgage process was a nightmare, and moving was not exactly my favorite thing, especially during a freakish heatwave. Those niggly things aside, my husband did a great job picking out our house (I was away on business the weekend he looked at it and put in an offer) — I love our home! I’m having a blast, challenging myself to shop smartly and employ budget decorating (so we can get more rooms done while spending less).

After living in a cramped cottage for two-and-a-half years, I’m embracing the spaciousness of our new home (it’s 3x the size of our last house) and enjoying Christmas-like moments as we open boxes that have been in storage for three years. I’m also excited to finally, truly merge households with my husband (it’s only taken us 5 1/2 years, but hey, better late than never, right?). We’re having fun furniture shopping together, so both of our tastes are reflected in our home.

Decorating is expensive, so I’ve found some great shortcuts that I’m more than happy to pass along.

The master bedroom is an entirely different beast, as I wanted an all-new bedroom. Our old furniture would go to the guest room, so we’d be starting from scratch. This is where Pinterest comes in incredibly handy, as I was able to shop and pin ideas to a dedicated board.

I wanted to create a new bedroom for my husband and myself, without breaking the bank, so I used my savvy shopping skills to get it done. First, if you don’t have a free Ebates account, stop and sign up NOW! Sign up using my Ebates referral link and you’ll get $10 to start your account balance!

Okay, now that you’ve started your Ebates account, you’re ready to shop! A handful of items I found for the master bedroom happened to be on the same site, Overstock.com. I wanted a clean, simple look with sharp lines, which is why I decided to go mid-century modern with the room.

Is it strange that I planned our bedroom around a…dresser (that we didn’t even own)? In fact, the dresser was the last piece I purchased! I fell in love with a patchwork dresser on Overstock, but it wasn’t as much of a necessity as the bed or the mattress (and is out of stock more often than it is in). With my first purchase at Overstock, I logged into Ebates to ensure that I got 2% back on my purchase, and then ordered the platform bed, two sets of sheets, and a Club O membership (5% back on purchases). My coupon paid for my Club O membership, I earned 5% back on that purchase AND I earned 2% of that purchase back on Ebates. Whew! Did you follow all of that?

We love our platform bed; incredibly easy to assemble and superior quality design. What’s even better is the company who makes it: eLuxurySupply.com. Their story is simple, and the company is veteran owned and operated out of Indiana. eLuxurySupply is a company that is now on our radar for future purchases, and should be on yours as well.

I can’t forget the mattress. We went from a Queen bed to a King, so we also needed to purchase a new mattress. After seeing all of the hype from Purple’s clever “egg test” advertising, I decided to shop for similar mattresses in the market. One way or another, I stumbled upon Ghostbed, probably through Facebook advertising, and chose them for several reasons; Ghostbed’s CEO is a veteran, and as such, he gives back to military members and veterans, even extending the military discount to family members of servicemen and women (a proud Air Force brat, I took advantage of the discount). Secondly, Ghostbed is 100% USA made. Admittedly, this wasn’t the main reason I chose them, but rather, an added bonus. The mattress is divine, by the way! Oh, and Ghostbed has an awesome referral program — through their Share the Love program, you can save $50 off of your mattress purchase (and I’ll receive $50 towards the purchase of a mattress from them)!

My next steal was this vintage chest of drawers ($85, found on Craigslist) and the antique mirror ($14 at an antique store + the cost of yellow paint). The mirror was a chance purchase, as we were driving on a back country road and happened to see an antique store going out of business; I nabbed the mirror for 50% off and we got an $800 coffee table for…$128!

My next purchase was for our living room, which isn’t yet finished — still have to order a sofa from Joybird — so I won’t go into much detail. Our living room is basically windows, lots and lots of windows. I purchased sheers (Ebates 6% back +  Kohl’s super sale + coupon + additional % off for using Kohl’s card + Kohl’s cash + Rewards) and curtain hardware; the curtain hardware I purchased through Overstock, again using Ebates to get 2% back, used a coupon and applied my Club O rewards from the previous purchase. I’m saving some serious money here, my friends — if you need tips, just shoot me an email!

I custom-ordered the drapes for our bedroom from a manufacturer overseas; not only was I able to find a unique print, I was able to have the drapes custom-made for just over $100. I used a birthday gift card to order the curtain hardware for the bedroom through Amazon, and as you can see in the above photo, my drapes were too heavy for the size/quality rod I purchased (I should have known better than to cut corners!), but the dip in the middle was solved by picking up additional brackets (we have two windows in the bedroom) from Home Depot, to anchor the middle of the rod.

Then came the final items — the patchwork dresser and our headboard. Again, I used coupons for these items (I ordered separately), again using Ebates, and applying my Club O rewards to the purchases. I won’t lie, it took me an entire day to assemble the dresser, but it was SO worth it!

Now that our master bedroom is complete, save for a few yellow nicknacks (and maybe a few macrame air plant holders), my focus is back to the living room (and eventually the master bathroom — I’ll just keep that door closed for now). We have sheers hung, I just need to have drapes made and order our sofa. My husband and I had a great time choosing the fabric and wood for our sofa, now I just need to be patient and wait for our Joybird sofa to arrived (October 2016 – the wait might kill me!). My sofa purchase is your reward, though — if you use my referral link, you can save 20% off of your first Joybird purchase!

What tricks do you have for decorating your home, without breaking the bank?