21 Jul 2012 FUNKY FRUGAL: Help needed

by Tanner Cangelosi 

With the arrival of our third baby in three years, I knew I needed some help or I would be headed to the crazy house!

Right after I found out I was pregnant, I decided to give up my art studio and turn it into a studio apartment. The result was fabulous, and I want to share it with you.

First, my handy, hunky husband built some wonderful built-in bunk beds by measuring a twin mattress, drawing up plans and putting it together. I painted them and used bed linens that we already had. 

The flooring that we had was a dirty, glued-down carpet. We ripped up the carpet and paid a college friend to scrape up the dried glue. Finally, we primed and painted the concrete floor with concrete paint I purchased at Lowe’s.

When we bought this house, this particular room already had peg board for walls and built-in cabinets. I painted both (paint covers a multitude of wrong doings), and then I had mirrors cut for the “counters.” I love this look. It looks so glam but cost close to nothing, and even a goof ball like me can install them.

Finally, I went to Home Depot with the dimensions of valences I was wanting. If you buy a 4-by-8 piece of MDF board, they will cut it for free. So, I purchased the wood for $17 and found some beautiful fabric to cover them. I went ahead and got more expensive fabric because I knew I only needed 2.5 yards. After I wrapped the valences, Cory hung them in place. Beautiful!

Thankfully the Lord gave us two sweet girls to live with us this summer, Candance Gingrasso and Toria Michel. We met them at church, and they needed a place to stay. We are so blessed to have them — they help clean around the house and babysit twice a week. 

Their room was a little work on the front end, but their help has been priceless. What I love even more than their help is their example they give to my girls.