Cristina’s Room DIYs: Chic on a Budget

The biggest thing students share during their time in college is their living space. From houses to apartments and dorm rooms, we create a space that’s our home away from home.

Unfortunately, aesthetically pleasing décor and furniture is not always in our budget. However, CSUSB student Cristina Romero finds that turning old and used pieces of furniture into something new and chic is a cost-saving alternative.

Romero started on her DIY pieces about two years ago because she would always see cute décor and furniture pieces at stores and online for a high price. She knew that most college students could not afford chic looking pieces like the ones she would see at commercial retailers.

Her favorite pieces made are a vanity chair, headboard for beds, and shelves as décor and storage. She said these DIY projects are easy for anyone to do and will save them tons of money.

Students who have a mattress on the floor could use this DIY to make a chic and cool looking headboard for their mattress. All they have to do is measure the space and width of the mattress and go to Home Depot.

Home Depot will cut the size and amount of wood you need. For her headboard, it was $20 for the materials needed.

Next, you purchase paint or wood finish depending on your preference. After, you use Elmer’s wood glue to put together the pieces of the wood. In her case, she did an inspired design with the wood that embodied a fence and each piece alternated in size.

You need to let the pieces dry overnight to 24 hours in order to ensure the pieces are fully dry and stuck together.

This is one easy way Romero made her own headboard with about $30.

Another piece of hers was inspired by an advertisement she saw of a wood chair for décor in a room as well as a vanity fur stool.

The prices for the fur vanity stool go from about $50-$70 on average.

All you need to complete this piece is an old or used chair, cotton, fabric of your choice and a staple gun.

Romero used an old chair of hers that she found in her garage and took off the back of the chair. She then used cotton from a used pillow and bought fur fabric. After, she used a staple gun to secure the fabric over the cotton on the chair as cushion. And, with this she spent $8 at Big Lots for the fur fabric.

Her wood chair was one of her favorite pieces and she feels it tied her room together.

First, you cut the wood and stain it. Then, you drill screws into them in order to keep the arrangement of the chair intact. Lastly, add any cushion you find and from there you can accessorize with blankets or pillows.

It is easy to save money by making shelves, and they are both storage and décor pieces of furniture.

First, you can buy individual pieces of wood and screws to nail them to the wall. You can use paint or wood finish as well.

Romero decided it would be easier and cheaper to make shelves and a shoe rack because online they range about $100. She bought the wood herself and painted it with a wood finish to give it a nice look.

She used the same wood and cut it into smaller pieces for décor shelves. After, she painted them white to give them a classy look. And she bought things from the dollar store to add such as candles, plants, and random statues.

With small knick-knacks you can give the room a more chic look. She found a statue, which she just painted to match her shelves.

These little pieces can be done by anyone at a low cost. “You can use anything around your house or used items and turn it around with just a few simple items instead of spending so much money for a piece of décor at IKEA or an online website,” Romero said.

She loves doing room DIY in her free time and every chance she gets she makes pieces that are easy for anyone to do.