One of the easiest rooms to makeover is a bedroom, whether it is spicing up a guest bedroom, updating a kid’s room or transforming a master bedroom, it’s a license to have interior design fun! When I was a designer on the FOX makeover TV show, Design Invasion, I learned what a dramatic room refresh I could do on a ridiculously small budget in less than 12 hours.  We all love a good ‘before and after’ and whether you have 30 minutes, 3 hours, or 3 days, I am sharing the best decorating ideas for your bedroom, no matter your timeline.  Everything from cheap and cheerful quick design updates using your existing furniture; to spending a little more time adding layers of style with cool makeover ideas you can do yourself; all the way to a dramatic bedroom makeover will leave you loving your dreamy new space.    Whether you begin with lighting, color, texture, bedding, a rug or paint, here is how to get inspired to redecorate your space and do as much or as little as you like, but still get a bedroom you’ll love!       

No Time, No Problem!

     You’d be shocked what a big bedroom update you can make in just 30 minutes, it starts with a little prep work but the start-to-finish, hands-on styling goes quicker than you think.  Before the clock starts ticking, do a quick decluttering walkthrough of the space, gather items you can throw out or donate and organize items on the bedside tables and dresser surfaces.  This will already make the room feel more under control and gives you a blank slate ready for its fast and fabulous design refresh. The next step is choosing a new accent color to add in bedding and accessories, I encourage people to add a totally new tone. This will make furnishings you already have look completely different. Light, bright, and colorful or dark, rich and bold, a fresh hue is going to give your old bedroom new life.   You also want to use contrast, if your headboard is a dark color use bright/ light bedding, if your headboard is light, add darker, richer toned duvet cover and accent pillows.  Lighting is one of the most important elements in any room and a bedroom is no exception. Incorporating two colorful lamps to pick up your new color combination makes a style statement, be sure to get two of the same table lamps for both nightstands on either side of the bed, it adds balance as well as a color pop! If you have old lamps on your nightstands move them to your dresser, adding more lamplights will make it feel warm and inviting. The last step is hanging a big mirror on a wall opposite a window, this reflects natural light during the day and makes the room visually seem bigger. If you already have a mirror, then maybe add a gallery wall of pictures!  Changing bedding, adding lamps, and hanging a mirror are all doable in a short amount of time and even though these are fast fixes, you will enjoy them for a long time!

Makeover in a Few Hours; Ready, Set, Go!

         A lot can happen in the time span of 3 hours, but a bedroom makeover…. really? YES! You’ve got this!  One way to start is by incorporating a big rug, this can do a few things; a rug makes a space feel snuggly and soft to walk on, it can also make a room seem more expansive and open because it’s covering a large area, and most importantly it can add a dynamic design element with new color or pattern.  Even if you have wall-to-wall carpeting, a big trend now is to layer another rug on top.  When layering rugs, you place the top rug on an angle to the room so it’s half under the bed and half outside of the bed and make sure it’s a little heavier area rug, not something like a thin flatweave rug that will shift and move around. Another dramatic change is adding new window treatments, this softens and adds a cozy feeling to a space and even if you never close them just the look creates a sense of luxury. A favorite tip for hanging drapes is to get a rod 20” wider than your window frame and let the drapes rest or “stack” on the 10” of wall space on either side of the window, this keeps them from closing in on the space inside your window which causes you to lose natural light. Also hanging drapes all the way up to the ceiling draws your eye upward and makes a small space feel bigger. A quick update with dramatic results can be getting new lampshades for your old lamps. Maybe you have a cool retro lamp, but the shade is old and discolored, by adding a clean, white drum shaped lampshade it gives an old lamp a completely new look. The final touch can be applying some peel and stick wallpaper, floor to ceiling on a focal point in the room.  You want to isolate it to one spot and almost treat it like a mural, whether it is a big floral pattern or a skyline photograph, this gives you the look and feel that your space has been designed and transformed!         

Weekend Warrior; How-To Create the Bedroom of Your Dreams

     For some people, a long weekend means just hanging around, but you have bigger and better plans, you have your sights set on a total bedroom transformation and the possibilities are endless! Working in makeover TV, I found out one of the most powerful, tools in transforming an entire room is painting a new wall color! Painting one accent wall your bed or headboard is on can be a design game changer, not only is it super simple to do, it adds a huge style factor, it also makes what furnishings you already have look completely different. Another favorite DIY tip is to refresh an existing piece of furniture like a dresser or side table by painting just the drawer face and adding new hardware. You cannot believe how a fresh coat of a bold paint color can infuse new life into your old furniture.  Installing wallpaper on the bed focal wall is another option if you want to add pattern or a multicolor look.   Next step is lighting, chandeliers aren’t just for your dining room, a big beautiful light fixture might be just the thing you need to add drama and flair and if it’s positioned over the bed it can drop down a little farther than you think because no one is going to ever walk under it.  Adding a new bed and bed linens will round out your room makeover, my biggest tip would be to make sure you get a bed with a high headboard, this adds scale a height to your room no matter the size and creates a feel of true luxury and comfort. Bring in new wall decor and small home decor items to compliment your color scheme and complete your big reveal.  

    There so are many elements that go into to creating a stylish and comfortable bedroom design, it’s a matter of knowing what changes will give you the biggest bang for your buck and tackling what you have time for.  Happy Designing!