Your master bedroom can be more than a place to sleep. It can be a little oasis amid chaotic life—a place where you can feel renewed and re-inspired.
Maybe your bedroom is feeling dull, even a bit dirty and cringy. Maybe it’s overwhelmed by clutter. Maybe it just feels outdated and lacking in love.
It doesn’t take a lot of money to do a home bedroom refresh if you’re willing to put in a bit of work. In this post, we’ll talk about how to create your bedroom aesthetic and refresh your room even on a tight budget.
I just did a bedroom refresh at our house that cost me under $30. Before I get into the details of that and dive into the tips here’s a little back story…
The Backstory
We’re renting our house and our bedroom was the only room that did not get painted before we moved in. It was a blue color which can be appropriate for a bedroom but I didn’t like the shade of blue and it was dirty looking with marks on the walls. Still with budgets tight, I thought I would just live with it.
However, we started sneezing in there and having allergies and I discovered dampness and some mold in the closet. The walls are concrete block and it turned out that the garden next door was keeping the wall wet and it was seeping through.
We had to wait to reach the owner of the plot next door as he only comes to tend the garden from out of town sometimes and it took a while to dry out and get everything fixed. We slept on a mattress on the floor in our living room for literally months.
When I looked at the room to go back in there it was not very inviting. The wall and paint looked even worse with our furniture out. We had the windows open letting things air out and a stray cat had come and sprayed through the window down our wall- yes true story. And I’m allergic to cats and even after I cleaned I just couldn’t get that smell out of my mind.
There were also these wood and cloth pieces that came out from the window screwed to the wall that were meant to be decorative and cover the blinds. They were so dirty and yucky. I had cleaned them the best I could when we moved in and just draped curtains over them but it was time for them to go. And the blinds? The tracks were there with that dirty smoke faded yellow but those old 80’s vertical blind stripes had been long gone.
Despite months of sleeping on the floor and wanting our living room back, I cannot say that I was feeling super inspired to move back in there. So I just got up one day and said, “I’m going to fix this.”
Getting Down To Work
I waited for my husband to leave for work and started on the room prep. I already had some hole filler so I started removing all those old broken window treatments and all the nails that had been hammered into multiple walls. I filled the holes. Then I plopped our two-year-old into her pushable tricycle and headed down to the local paint shop. I got a can of flat sage green paint that was a cheaper brand for $17 and I grabbed a paint tray. The nice lady at the paint store kindly pointed me to a more economical one for $2. I already had a roller.
I pushed our daughter back up the hill to home with a gallon can of paint in tow.
I then sanded the holes I had patched and put our daughter for her nap and started painting. I painted and painted and painted some more. I could not finish by the time our daughter woke up for her nap so my mom came and watched her while I finished. I climbed on a chair and did the trim too with some cheap white paint I already had just so everything would feel more clean.
I finished before my husband got home from work and he was quite surprised. Since those old blind strips had to go we now needed something to hang our curtains on. We had curtain rods in another room that we weren’t using so my husband hung those up for me. Cost = 0.
We had put our bed away during the sleeping in the living room era so we got that back out, cleaned it up, and set it up. The next day I washed all our bedding and moved our mattress in and made the bed. I got my husband’s easel and paint equipment down from the attic and set it up for him on the other side of the room and created a workout space for us to get some quiet movement in during the morning hours.
I cleaned out the closet and made room for other things we needed to store.
Repurposing What We Had
On the bed, I used different sheets we had not been using so they felt new. I used decorative pillows that we had used on our couch previously and found some patterned pillowcases to use too.
I cleaned up the same night tables we already had cleaned off our lamps and brought our bedside plants back in. I used curtains we already had on our repurposed curtain rods. I combined a patterned curtain with sheers on each side to make it work. The only other thing I bought for the room was a storage box to match the space and store our loose exercise equipment like strength training bands. The box was $7.
Total spent Paint $17 + Paint tray $2 + storage box $7 = $26.
I originally thought I would put a seating area in our primary bedroom instead of the exercise equipment and we may do that in the future but for now, this works for us.
The Difference
It’s not fancy. The walls are uneven and the ceiling is low. But I love it now! It feels like a calming hotel room rather than a grungy back addition like before. The flat sage paint made a huge difference in how the room looks and feels. It is my new favorite palace to be. I love reading in there in the mornings and taking our daughter in there for morning snuggles before breakfast.
Was it worth it?
100% yes! I was sweating when I was doing it. It was hard work but in less than two days we had a completely different room for under $30! And I love the new color! The increase in peace and joy has been far beyond $30 worth.
So here are some tips if you are feeling ho-hum in your home bedroom and need a more tranquil space…
Tips For A Bedroom Refresh
Get Everything Out And Paint!
Just changing to a comforting, soothing paint color makes a world of difference in freshening things up. Make sure you do the prep work to take down anything old and repair holes. Clean all the window sills and trim. It does take more time but the finish will be a lot better.
I prefer a soft flat color for the bedroom. Choose something soothing and uplifting for your wall color.
Explore accent colors too while you’re thinking about paint colors for your pillows and bedding.
Paint the baseboards and trim in a fresh coat of white if you can. It makes everything look and feel cleaner.
You can of course cover your furniture and paint with the items still in the room but I highly recommend taking everything out. It makes you look at the space in a new way and you can decide what you want to bring back in and where you want to put it. You may just come up with a new better layout.
Let everything dry and get ready for the fun part.
Explore and Rearrange
Look for inspiration on Pinterest or in magazines you may have lying around. Think about how you want to use the room and explore new layout options. We ended up putting our bed back where it was before because that truly was the best palace for it but adding the little painting and exercise area on the other end made it feel new.
Your bedroom furniture may fit in a new perfect place with an arrangement you haven’t thought of before. Every floor plan is different. Make yours work for you for a whole new look.
A few tips for a cozy peaceful space:
- Focus on warm lighting. Use table and floor lamps and switch out hard bright bulbs for softer ones.
- Bring in natural elements like wood trays, plants, woven baskets, stones, or shells.
- Layer in different cozy textures through a new rug, blankets, throw pillows, and curtains.
Having a warm room helps too. We don’t have central heat where we live abroad and are having to use a small electric heater before bed to knock the chill off but do what you can for a warmer room.
Check out this post for more: Minimalist Home Decor Ideas For A Calm Home Aesthetic
If you need room for guests too consider a Murphy bed or couch bed. A couch bed is on our list!
You don’t have to buy new stuff.
Look through your house and repurpose items from other rooms to create your new bedroom space. You may even find yourself wanting to do a quick refresh of other rooms just by moving items and furniture around. Bedroom updates could be as simple as shopping your house and repurposing items for your room makeover.
Think about the things that you can do that will make the biggest impact.
Look drawers turned into side tables!
Time for another story and weirdo!
When I was a teenager I loved cleanliness. Yes even back then, weird I know. I used to clean the house when my mom would leave for work and I loved to rearrange the furniture in my room. My mom would come home and everything in my room would be moved around. I was small so things that were too heavy for me to move like my dresser or TV cabinet I would sit with my back against the wall and push it where I wanted it with my feet for leverage. Yep, I was a wild one! Insert laughing emoji.
I still love to just move stuff around every few weeks. It can make such a difference in making your home feel fresh again.
Tips For Renters
If you’re renting like we are, you may need to get permission to make changes. Check your contract or ask if needed. If you paint you may need to put the room back to its original color before you move. In our case, it’s a big upgrade so I think they will be fine with keeping it.
If you can paint your walls to a color you enjoy then I highly recommend it even if you know you won’t be there forever. After all for now it’s home. A fresh coat of paint makes a world of difference in a room. If you can’t or don’t want to paint you could consider creating a focus wall with some removable wallpaper.
You may be surprised by what you can do with a rental. I found it fascinating to see what Pretty In The Pines would do with their NYC apartments to make them feel like home.
They add all this trim work and paint and it truly does look lovely. I’m not really up for all that but simple changes can make a huge difference too.
Thrift It Ya’ll
If you do want to purchase items for the room hit your local thrift store and see what unique things you can find. Consignment shops are great too. Even if you aren’t renting Pretty In The Pines videos are wonderful for inspiration as she uses a lot of used and repurposed items.
Thrifted furniture is great too on a low budget if you do need new furniture or new to you for a bed or bedside table or dresser. The furniture in our entire room is used including our bedside lamps and I love them! I think one was missing the shade so we just took the shades off and added Edison bulbs. Get creative with how you can make something work for your bedroom decor.
And don’t be afraid of using items from the Dollar Store if you have one in your area or can order online. You can use my affiliate link here to get 50% off shipping from the Dollar Store! Sometimes there are items online that are not at your local store even if you have one. There are fun DIY projects you can do to make your bedroom beautiful with dollar-store items so don’t knock it.
Remember you can keep improving the space as you have funds in little ways.
I’m working on getting a carpenter to make me a book and glasses holder for our side tables.
A bench at the foot of the bed could be a nice touch too.
If you do shop online for your bedroom refresh make sure you use Rakuten to get cash back on things you are purchasing anyway. It’s another great way to save!
Your home bedroom refresh can be a work in progress. We can love it and be content with the way our home is and be thankful while also looking for creative and wise ways to improve it. You don’t have to do a complete overhaul at once. Quick updates over time work!
New bedding makes a huge difference if you can upgrade. A good bed set can feel luxurious. Throw blankets make a space feel more cozy too and are a cheap addition. A duvet cover can be a great way to change up your bedding from time to time and easy to wash.
I would like to add some family wall decor or personal items like photos soon. Small changes make a big difference.
So what do you think? Are you up for a home bedroom refresh? It may just be the fresh start you need in other areas of your home to bring new life.
Leave a Reply