A Dramatic Effect From Just a Bit of Creativity

When we first moved into this house, the idea of the renovation (even just the cosmetic stuff) seemed like a fun, but overwhelming task. We bought this house as a foreclosure, so if you know anything about foreclosures, you know that we bought this house in VERY bad condition. I don't want to bore you with the gross details, so I'll just show you before and after photos of our guest room.
Before:

And after:

 

The room isn't quite finished yet, but what a difference, eh? This room cost me a mere $100: the TALLVIK lamps are from IKEA, the bed was acquired for free from Freecycle, and the curtains are just yards and yards (floor-to-ceiling) of damask material I found on sale at Joann Fabrics. [Did you know that you can use those 40%-off coupons that come in your junk mail on sale items? Mega score!] And those iron garden grate things? I bought them years ago at Marshalls for $5 each/on clearance.

I don't really know how I'm going to finish off this room, but no matter what I think of, I'll remain proud of how far it's come, and how little I've spent.

The best part? My guests just love it. The worst part? They don't want to leave.