A few weeks ago (thanks for a friend who mentioned it to me), I entered a competition run by The Interiors Addict blog, “Impress Shaynna and win a course at the International Institute of Home Staging worth $500”. Yes, Shaynna Blaze from The Block on channel 9 is judging, who am I kidding?!

So the nature of competitions are… that there will probably be hundreds or thousands of entries and what would the chances of winning be? But this morning as I scrolled down Facebook on my phone in bed, I saw my photo posted by Interiors Addict! I was shocked. Surprised. Happy – 0f course! I’m very happy to announce that I was chosen as the winner for this amazing competition. As part of this win from Interiors Addict, I am posting this makeover on my blog to show you more photos of my toddler room transformation and how you can achieve amazing results with a minimum budget using recycled materials, found objects with lots of research, passion and determination!

This is a typical 60’s house. Very retro, lots of patterns. It can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to the eye. When I was pregnant with my second, I told myself I needed to finish off the spare room. At the time, it was being used as an ironing room, a computer room, a storage room and what not! So when my morning sickness slowly faded away, I got myself together and started planning for this room. My first borns’ room was a very girlish room. This time I wanted something different. I opted for a unisex look incase I was expecting a boy.

The room is a work of art in itself. All decorations are DIY from salvaged items and recycled materials. From the wall art down to the cushion details & baby mobile, all are handmade! It took me a few months to research, gather and create these beautiful items.

This baby mobile was created with paint chip samples. I have a box of them in the shed so all I had to do was cut probably about 30 of them using a heart template I made. These are then sewn using a needle and a thread, attached onto tree branches that I cut off a tree in our backyard. They are finished with a small bead at the end just to give each string-piece some added weight.

What is a room without cushion? They are ridiculously overpriced in stores, $30-$60! I have made these adorable cushions for only a few dollars!

I have most of the fabrics at home so it was just a matter of buying some felt.

The bottom cushion was made from an old granny jumper! I will put some photos up in another post of how I made this cushion. The table was an old IKEA table that I repainted. The timber tray was bought from a second hand store for $3, again repainted in the same colour as the feature wall. The lamp was bought from Salvos (second hand store) for $10, it even has a chip at the bottom, yes, and I love that it has a chip to show imperfection! Another IKEA product which is the rug, RRP is $49 but I got it for $25 from Gumtree :)

This is a digital artwork that I have created and now am selling in my Etsy store.

The picture below is a breakdown of what in the room is second hand and DIY.

Side view of the room. The bed belonged to my sister in law, 15 years ago. My in laws managed to keep it well in their garage. Its now time for my children to benefit from it!

My hand painted ‘bird silhouette’ oversized canvas.

I am absolutely in love with this no 14 chair! Its an original chair (still has the stamp on it!) Its by Thonet and made in Czechoslovakia! I was pretty lucky to have found this chair after months of searching. The owner didn’t know it was an antique, so she was happy to give it away.