Designing a room for Grandkids

Ever since my younger brother moved to Colorado after Christmas, my mom has been having some SERIOUS empty nest syndrome... she just changed her FB picture to this one of her and Danny Boy at his going-away party (lookin a lil teary there momma)...

Since then, my younger sister has expanded her reign throughout the entire upstairs of my parents' house (except the master bed/bath)... This BLOWS MY MIND! As one of six kids, we always always always shared rooms. Now, she's the last one and she gets three for herself!

This isn't exactly flying at the Brett Nut House and my mom wants to consolidate little sis into one room and make the other 2 guest rooms (1 for kids and 1 for adults... even though they'll both have bunk beds?) Since my mom's just too busy to fix this, I've taken it upon myself to design Cara's old room.

The trouble is that I can't just go crazy and spend a ton of money (because really, who has extra of that floating around?) and I also have to incorporate as many of the existing pieces as humanly possible... I love a challenge!

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First up, I have to work with a Joker pallet... purple and green... not terribly difficult but I really need to make sure this room DOES NOT look like a DC comic, especially not one of the creepiest villains ever.

So I'm working with the existing furniture, which is great for storage and awesome for kids, but not the prettiest - and it has huge purple pulls... which also, great for kids but not the most attractive... but there are like 27 drawers on this stuff so replacing them just isn't gonna work.

Then we have a lovely lime green shaggy carpet and a lime green desk chair... This is what happens when Mom has 1 idea for the decor (pink, orange and yellow flip flop-girly-beachy theme and her then-7 year old kid wants a "Jimmy Buffet/ship wreck" room with lime green and Caribbean blue.) Can't be too rough on my mom here because anyone would have given into this kid! She was a master negotiator by the time she was 3.

So after scouring the interweb for what seemed like hours... I was able to compile a few cute things that make this room less joker-y and more girly-fun... and WITHOUT blowing the budget!

Where I found the bedding:

Stipped Bedding: Ikea, $19.99

Polka Dot Sheets: Kohl's, (listed online for $39.99, but in-store they were only $19.99 and I had a 30% off coupon and Kohl's cash... so they were practically free)

Lime Green Pillow: Ikea, $3.99

Purple Ruffle Pillow: Kohl's, $64.99 (you know I also didn't pay that - seriously... in store, it was at least 1/2 that price)

LOVE Pillow: Kohl's, $34.99 (these were buy 1, get 1 for 50% off... plus the coupon, plus Kohl's cash) 

Total for bedding: (using coupons and Kohl's cash) $158.38

And the Artwork:

Bird print: Ikea, $9.99

Colorful butterflies: Ikea, $12.99

Purple Butterflies: Ikea, $12.99

And just when you thought I was a 2-stop-shopper... 

The curtain panels are from Target 2 sets for just $19.99 each!

Total for accessories and decor: $75.95

Of course, I'll be painting the walls a toned down version of Radiant Orchid (Behr Ultra New Violet) because it's just so pretty, vibrant and fun! (just like Gingin's granddaughter, Miss Elisabeth)

The grand total of this room will end up being under $300!