Ok, ya know how sometimes when you are reading a magazine or browsing on Pinterest, and you see those perfectly gorgeous bedrooms? There is high end wall art, beautiful mirrors, comfy bedding, and perfect antique furniture.
And you know that the bedding alone probably cost $1000?
If you have $1000 to spend on bedding or on a mirror or wall art, by all means, go for it.
I don’t.
Hell, I can’t remember when the last time was that I had $1000 to spend on a whole room.
Oh, wait, yea, I haven’t ever had that.
So, for the rest of us that want beautiful bedrooms without breaking the bank, here are 14 real life bedroom ideas that anyone can do.
Real Life Bedroom Decorating Ideas
#1 – Create An Accent Wall
Creating an accent wall is one of the easiest things you can do that gives huge impact. For the easiest route, go with one single color. I love this bold pink accent wall that SAS Interiors did. I’m also very into bright pinks now. Obviously, a bright pink wall isn’t going to work as an accent wall in many of our bedrooms. However, think bold for your accent wall. You want it to make a statement. The accent wall in my entryway is Rich Navy and it works perfectly for the space. If you want to really step up your accent wall game, you could stencil a design onto your wall. That is exactly what I did in our guest bedroom with this leopard accent wall. The walls were all white with black moldings – it was very stark. With the accent wall, it tied everything together perfectly and added some much needed interest to the walls.
#2: Do a Mini-Makeover
Sometimes, we just need a little freshening up. I did a makeover in my master bedroom last year, but a couple months ago, I felt it needed a little something. Instead of doing a full-fledged makeover, I gave it a mini-makeover. I kept most of the main elements of the room, but changed the look with paint and a few other little ideas.
#3: Get yourself a vanity.
Option 1: Build a floating vanity table.
I did this in my walk-in-closet, but you could do it in your bedroom if you wanted to. I desperately needed a place to sit down and put on my makeup, so I build a simple floating vanity table that even has storage. The tutorial for it is HERE!
Option 2: Turn an old armoire into a vanity.
If you have enough room in your bedroom, this is a great idea for creating a vanity space. How cool is this old media cabinet turned vanity? I could totally sit there and primp for an hour. Until the kid gets in the way…
#4: Paint a Headboard on Your Wall
Beds and headboards can be expensive. Hopefully, you can luck up on a good used one that you can makeover or you can DIY your own. You could also just paint a headboard on the wall and call it done. Seriously ya’ll, this headboard is like two lines of paint and one stenciled design. So easy and gorgeous! If you aren’t into painting on a headboard, you can purchase a headboard wall decal. Yes friends, I said a headboard decal – and they look great!
#5: Decorate your room around your favorite icon
Most of us all have a favorite icon or celebrity. Hopefully its someone classic like Princess Diana and not Eminem, but hey if Eminem is your idol, who am I to judge? This Audrey Hepburn inspired bedroom is just too adorable. Really, how easy would it be to take your icon and use them as inspiration in your bedroom? Just think about their favorite colors, what movies they’ve been in and pull from that!
#6: Create a Reading Nook
I love a good reading nook just about anywhere, but especially in a bedroom. I am one of those people that believe bedrooms should always have at least one chair – and that chair should be perfect for reading in.The reading nook in my bedroom is simply a single chair and side table. You’ll never believe where that chair came from! I am dying over that adorable reading nook for a kiddo from These Moments of Mine. Really, how cute are those curtains? A kid would love hanging out in a place like that, heck I would!
#7: Make Storage Decorative
I don’t know about you guys, but there is never enough storage in our bedroom. Half of my clothes are in the guest closet and we are busting out of our dresser and chest of drawers. To save a little closet space, Grunt Labor’s ties are stored outside of the closet. We took an old coke crate and turned it into decorative storage for his ties.I also kinda sorta maybe have a good bit of jewelry. Fake jewelry of course, but there’s a good bit of it. Grunt Labor gave me this bust of David for Christmas (from this Etsy store) that I use to store my necklaces that I wear most often. Its pretty, quirky, and useful.
#8 – Upholster Your Box Spring
When it was time for the guest bedroom to get a makeover, I knew I wanted to keep the bed we had in there. The problem was that a bed skirt didn’t hang right on it.
I fixed the problem by upholstering the box spring. It was easy to do – no sewing required – and it added some extra color and pattern to the room.
#9 – Create an Office Space with Skinny Furniture Pieces
While also plotting out the guest bedroom makeover, I knew I needed to somehow incorporate an office space in there for me. However, the room isn’t large, I needed the office area to take up as little space as possible.
I created the office space by taking an old kitchen table and putting a hutch from a yard sale on top of it to create a desk. There is still ample storage, but it doesn’t take up much space at all.
#10 – Save Money on Bedding by Buying the Basics
As we all know, I am cheap. As I said at the beginning of this post, I do not have $1000 to drop on a room, much less on bedding.
One idea to save on bedding is to buy “basics” and liven them up with pillows and other elements.
#11 – Create Your Own Art
In both the guest bedroom and master bedroom, I created my own art.
In my master, I made all the animal print wall art using Picmonkey and then found inexpensive frames that I spray painted.
In the guest bedroom, I took an old framed print and replaced the prints with this hello darlin’ wall art.
#12 – Add Drama with Moldings (Real or Fake)
Moldings add interest to any room, a bedroom is no different.
If you are good with wood and have basic DIY skills, you can easily do moldings similar to what Evolution of Style did in her bedroom.
If you want to go the cheaper route, you can create faux wall moldings, as I did in my guest bedroom and office space.
#13 – Keep Bedding Mostly Neutral
When it comes to bedding, its always smart to keep it mostly neutral.
I can easily tire of patterns. That’s why I went with simple white bedding with a pop of coral around the edges on my bed. I can easily change the room color, pillows, throws, etc without having to worry about clashing with lots of other colors or patterns.
#14 – Keep Existing Furniture and Give It a Simple Makeover
You don’t have to do extensive paint jobs to give your furniture new life.
I am crazy about my dresser and chest of drawers in my bedroom. However, the pulls were definitely lacking some luster. I easily brought them back to life with Rub ‘N Buff.
What are your go-to bedroom ideas or decorating tips?
Find more bedroom ideas on my Pinterest board!
Want more real life decorating ideas? Don’t miss these then…
10+ Kitchen Ideas for Decorating, Organizing, and Storage – functional ideas for your kitchen that are pretty too!
20+ Living Room Ideas – real life living room decorating ideas that are actually doable!
14 Stunning Home Ideas – stunning home ideas that you might not have thought of before!
You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.
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After clamping, nail the pieces together. Do not remove the clamps yet. We waited a few hours before removing the clamps to ensure the glue dried properly.
