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This past month I've been working hard on turning the nursery into a big boy room for the $100 Room Challenge. If you are just joining me, the $100 Room Challenge is hosted by Erin from Lemons, Lavender, and Laundry and the goal is to update/refresh a room for $100 or less in just one month. 

Check out my posts here for week one, week two, and week three if you want to catch up on my journey in transforming the nursery int a toddler room. 

I've had to get super creative as I blew over 50% of my budget on bedding that I just couldn't pass up on. This has forced me to rack my brains for ideas and DIY's that I can complete with little to no spending. 

As I realized that I wasn't going to have enough money to DIY or purchase a headboard for my little one's room, I decided to instead focus on the above the bed decor. I wanted to create something that would keep with the nautical theme and wouldn't break the bank. My inspiration is this nautical canvas print that I found on Wayfair.com. As much as I loved it, I didn't want to spend $26.99 since I had already spent $56 of my $100 budget. By using only things I already had at home, I created the perfect decor for above the bed that fits the space.

Ready to create this simple rope sign for your wall? This is what you'll need:

• Rope - I had some rope left over from a previous project.
• Nails
• Hammer
• Painter's Tape
• Level - this is my favorite one!
• Tape Measure
• Pencil
• Hot Glue Gun

Step 1: Plan and Measure

I started by measuring how high off the bed I wanted the sign to be and marked it lightly with a pencil. I also marked the middle and how high I wanted the art piece to be. I then used the painters tape to create my lines for the top and bottom, using a level as I taped them on the wall to make sure there were nice and straight. This allowed me to see exactly how big I wanted to make the art piece and how it looks in scale with the bed.

Step 2: Draw it Out

This is where the fun begins! If you want to try out different fonts before you actually draw on the wall try them out on a piece of paper first. It's a lot easier than having to erase and restart again on the wall...learn from my mistakes! Once you have it drawn on the wall, take a step back and check how everything looks. This is where you get to make any changes with ease, so take your time to perfect it!

I initially wanted to create a cursive font on the wall that spelled out 'sleep' but I quickly found that I wasn't going to have enough rope if I tried to do it in cursive font. I had to settle for plain caps letters to make sure I had enough rope for all the letters. My husband thought sleep wasn't fun, so we settled on 'dream' instead!

Step 3: Nail it In

Since I had to use a very simple font to create my sign, I added some interest with the rope by twisting it together. This made the letters a little thicker and giving them some weight. I then nailed the rope in every couple of inches to make sure the rope was really secured to the wall. This is a lot easier when you have another person lending you a hand, but you can do it on your own, just know that it will take a little time preparing the rope by twisting it together and then nailing it in the wall.

Step 4: Hot Glue the Ends

In order to prevent fraying and the ends, I simply added a little glue with my glue gun to keep the rope together. Honestly, if I had planned this project a little better, I would have done this step first before nailing it in, but since I wasn't sure what kind of design I wanted, I just started doing with whatever felt and looked good.

Step 5: Enjoy!

Sit back and enjoy your work! I was so pleasantly surprised of how much I like the finished result. It definitely isn't exactly like my inspiration piece but the rope feel is there. What do you think? 

I hope you guys enjoyed this simple DIY. Let me know how you like to decorate above your bed in the comments below!

Can't wait to show you the reveal of this room on Wednesday so please stay tuned!!

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