DEAR GAIL: I have company coming and need to quickly decorate the guest room. I don’t have time to run all over town shopping and really don’t have the patience for it either. Can you tell me what I can buy and how I can pull it together in an afternoon? Oh, did I mention that I don’t really have the budget to do this right now? Marcie M.
DEAR MARCIE: Don’t worry Marcie, I can give you a quick shopping list of items and ideas so that you can decorate the room and be ready for your guests in just a few hours to be able to relax and enjoy their company.
O.K., let’s get you started by going to one of the larger home goods stores or a larger Super Stores that sell everything that you’re going to need under one roof. If going to a home goods store, there are a couple of them in town and most have weekly Sunday advertisement flyers, which also have coupons in them. Pull the store coupon even if it is not the one you are going to, because many times the stores will honor the competitor’s coupons. Twenty percent off of one item pays for the sales tax and more.
You’re going to start with the bedding because it is what sets the theme and color scheme in a bedroom. Of course start in the sale area, but also look at what they have in a Bed-In-A-Bag. If you’re not a shopper or familiar with this, a Bed-In-A-Bag, is just that, everything you need to make the bed all in one bag. It includes the comforter, dust ruffle, shams and the sheet set. You will have to purchase the pillows to fill the shams and pillows, which will cost about $5 each. Most times you can find sets starting at $30. You’ll want to wash the sheets with a fabric softener as they will be a bit stiff with a low thread count of around 190. So your whole bed can be made and dressed for under $50.
Next, go to the lighting area and look for one of my favorites, A-Box-Of-Lights. Again, it is just what is says, a whole room of lamps in just one box. Normally, they come in a pack of three to four in a single box. There will either be two table lamps and a floor lamp or two table, one floor and one small accent, or one of each. You are going to have to put them together, but that is easy. They also come with the shades, so you’ll be done with your lighting, except for the light bulbs. Most times I can find a nice iron set for around $60. Not bad for three to four lamps. If you don’t need that much lighting in your room, just use the rest somewhere else in your home. I always find it cheaper to buy this way, plus I haven’t walked into a house yet and found they had too much lighting.
O.K., you have the major items in your cart, so now let’s dress it up just a bit. Every one of these stores will have an area with some artwork. Look for a couple medium to small size pieces, maybe 16 x 20 to 24 x 30 which will run about $25 – $40 each. Even if you have the wall space, we’re being frugal here and just dressing the room up a bit. Instead of trying to place a piece of art on each wall, purchase two coordinating pieces and place them together on one wall. It will give more attention to that area and the two pieces will appear larger than if they were separated in the room. Don’t stagger them on the wall, but hang with the bottoms level to each other.
If you have just a bit more in your budget, let’s see what we can do for a simple window treatment. Look to see what they have in scarfs or a simple valance. You don’t want anything that you will need a fancy rod, since we’re tight on our budget. With a scarf you can be extra frugal and not even purchase a rod. Instead you can use straight nails at the corner of the window and just knot the scarf around it to cover it up. You should be able to find something for under $30 per window.
Last, but not forgotten are a few accessories. One functional item that every guest room needs is a clock radio. Some simple and inexpensive items you can buy are candles and frames. Place your favorite saying in the frame or if you have one, a favorite picture of your guests.
You’re now all done shopping here and spent under $250. The next quick stop that you can make that won’t cost you anything is the Chamber of Commerce. Here, you can pick up all kinds of information about our town that they can look through while they’re visiting. Place it all on their dresser in a basket, with a bottle of water, a couple treats and you’re done to relax and enjoy your company.