When a friend asked for help refreshing her boring bedroom, she stipulated that it couldn’t cost much and it had to be quick. By rearranging the existing furniture and changing the window treatment, her bedroom was completely transformed. And it was all completed on a single Saturday for under $100.
In the “before” photo you can see that the bed was parallel to the window. This not only sliced the room in an inconvenient way, it wasted the beauty of the headboard and matching side tables. By moving the bed and tables in front of the window, I created a more dramatic look in the room. The bedroom set becomes the focal point of the room, the eye drawn to them by the bright new curtains.
The window treatment is the only new thing in the room. I made these curtains because DIY is almost always less expensive than pre-made. In this case, the complete window covering was less than $100, including the new curtains rods. Curtains may seem daunting but they’re a fairly easy DIY.
As this bedroom makeover demonstrates, it doesn’t always take a lot to transform a room. Rearranging or getting rid of some furniture, hanging new curtains, and even a new bedspread can drastically alter a room’s appearance. If you're feeling truly flummoxed, ask your stylish friends for help. Sometimes it just takes an outsider's eye to see your room in a whole new way.
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Comments (25)
I love these before/after stories. There's a great one in the new House Beautiful (with the purple cover.) A little elbow grease can make anything new, fresh and bright.
Wow, looks like you even gave the cat a makeover ;)
I like the new look but man, let's get some art or paint up on those walls! What about an "oops" can from Home Depot for $5 or making your own inexpensive artwork?
I don't know if the country grape pattern really fits this room... would love to see it with just the bright orange sheers.
I agree with DIYing curtains though-- they're so expensive and often only a few seams.
Cute but a bed under a window in California is a BIG no-no. Bad news in an earthquake.
I think a better use of the $100 would have been paint. With the right paint color, the brown curtains and blue bedding would just look better. I personally do not like the orange plus patterned curtains and moving the bed in front of the window seems unnecessary in this room.
Those curtains really don't do anything for that room. If anything they make it look worse, not better.
I like the addition of the kitty in the first 'after'. :) Perfect complement to any home, I say!
Argh, the Asian parent in me is protesting "No good to put bed in front of window!" You might get a draft on your head. The next worse thing would be to go to sleep with wet hair --oh, and leave the fan on too ;)
btw, I also agree that the patterned curtains and the orange sheer might be better by themselves, not together. But kudos to the idea of making curtains.
The colors in this room are painful to my eyes.
I have to say that the window treatments are a huge miss to me. It was great that you were able to save and make them yourself, but to me, they clash with the furniture and with each other.
While I applaud any re-design effort, my personal taste is for the before picture. I actually really like the original colors in that room together. It seems much more soothing to me, particularly in a bedroom.
Also, I never like to see a bed under a window like that for three reasons 1) I'm a native California. Nuff said, 2) Drafty at night right next to your head and 3) Much nice to be able to gaze out of the window during the day (dependent on whether this window functions that way or not.)
I think I'm Negative Nelly today. Sorry.
I like the addition of the orange curtains, but not paired with the green vine pattern. I would have made a new DIY duvet cover before secondary curtains. I like the new placement of the bed, but I've also never lived in an earthquake prone area... Some art or decoration on the walls would have gone a long way toward making the room un-boring.
But personally - I LOVE a breeze on my head at night.
I love the orange-but hate the rest of the window treatment. I would have paired the orange with the existing curtains. Other than the window and arrangement of the furniture I don't seen anything else new. What am I missing?
Wow people are mean here today. Must be the heat. Great effort! I like it. When your friend can get together another $100, then paint and put up some photographs.
The walls are so naked, I'm almost blushing. And, yes.... a cat makeover! Brilliant! The before picture looked like the scene of a crime...
A great start. Curtain rods needs to be hang higher, they are too low. Color on the walls would finish the look.
eee, I'm not usually one to post a negative comment, but those curtains are hideous. Redish orange with a green and white vine pattern, a light blue bed spread and a tan headboard? How on earth was any of that supposed to work together? It doesn't. Sorry.
Wow, cat looks much sleeker in the 'After' pic.
i have to say, i agree completely with those stating the bright orange sheers just don't match the patterned curtains and the blue bedspread. by looking at these shots without the words "before" and "after" photoshopped on them, i honestly would have thought the orange curtain shot was the before, and the pretty satin neutral curtain shot with multiple pillows on the bed was the after.
kindly,
vintagedress.etsy.com
Oh my. The only thing I objected to in the before pic was the shiny curtains. I would have gone with blinds instead to give the room a sort of retro MCM look.
The only thing I *don't* object to in the after pic...... Hmmmm. I'll have to get back to you on that one. (If only I liked cats.)
Are you sure you didn't mix up the before and after shots???
I'm sorry, but I hate the "after" look.
Perhaps the print curtains have the other colors in the room that aren't picked up in the photo--like the orange and blue? Maybe it just isn't photographing well.
On your next make-over day the two of you should "thrift store" some fun art.
Not a fan of valances. I think I'd like this better if you'd used the brown original panels hung close to the ceiling, flanked with the new patterned panels on the sides and no valance. The headboard in your room arrangement would hide the fact that the curtains don't reach the floor. That would give the room more height and give more of a background to the headboard.
We really did the same but the curtains. Our bedroom is identical with yours, even the van. We switched the bed in front of the window as you did. But we decided to cover the whole wall of the window with withe curtains, the whole hight and wide.