I want to show you our bed.  It’s the cheapest Ikea bed that will hold a queen mattress, doesn’t have a foot-board (poor Jon is too tall and his feet stick off the ends of all beds), and doesn’t require a box spring.  The Dalselv hasn’t been the worst– when I first got it I painted it bumble bee yellow and that was nice.  Plus, we were able to string lights through the headboard and that was fine too.  Lately, though, it’s been looking so tired (no pun intended).  So… graduate school.  Although my means haven’t improved terribly since grad school, I feel a bit more adult and am tired of this bed.  A wholly new bed is out of the question at the moment– expense, sense we may move, laziness.

Yesterday I did some brainstorming, non-ironically asking “What Would Martha Do?”  I considered re-painting (too much sanding) and trying to hack off the top bit (too much sawing, do we even have a saw?).  Then, it hit me, a slip cover!  So, for less than $40 and in about an hour I redid our bed and, frankly, it kind of makes the whole room feel new.

This project was so easy, I almost feel like it’s cheating to blog about it… I purchased a cotton shower curtain since it’s the perfect width and came pre-embroidered (and the pattern just sung to me).  Then, I came home, ironed it, pinned it into place with pins, then just did a simple basting stitch to hold it in place.  Ta da!

At first I thought about breaking out the sewing machine and doing some serious tailoring.  However, after pinning it I realized that since I wanted it to taper a bit toward the bottom I wouldn’t be able to get it on and off easily.  I want to be able to wash it and I don’t want to mess with putting in a zipper or button holes.  So– quick basting stitches.  It feels pretty sturdy, took me less than half an hour, looks nice (if I do say so myself), and should be easy to get off when it’s time to launder.

I still want a new bed– one that doesn’t creek every time someone rolls over– yes.  But for now, this will do.  It does feel fresh.