Before and After: A $1,500 DIY Redo Turns This Bare Bedroom from Dull to Dreamy
Bedrooms may be made for sleeping, but they often make room for so much more. You might use your bedroom as a relaxing place to curl up with a good book, quietly watch a new Netflix favorite, do morning yoga, or even set up your work-from-home station. A bedroom has to be able to accommodate that all — a pretty tall order!
In Sharanna Chowdhury’s (@olive_treeinteriors) eyes, her bedroom was not living up to expectations. “This is our primary bedroom and probably the most used room in our home,” she says of the space. But she and her husband had never put the time in to do much decorating. “It could definitely use some love,” Sharanna says.
She wanted to give it an update to help her and her family enjoy their space more — especially now that’s it’s used as a WFH office.
Sharanna used fall’s One Room Challenge as an opportunity to remake her space. Over eight weeks, she changed her once-overlooked bedroom into a restful haven.
Sharanna and her husband started by adding board-and-batten to the bottom section of the room’s walls, which gave the space some instant character. “We are pretty new to DIY and just figuring out our way around power tools,” she says. “So this is a big accomplishment for us to have learned a new skill and created something so beautiful for our family to enjoy.”
Once the board-and-batten was up and painted a creamy white to match the walls, Sharanna took on the decorating. “We wanted to incorporate greens and a dusty blush as the accent colors but kept everything else light and neutral,” she says.
The new room decor included a larger upholstered bed and vintage-y nightstands, fresh bedside lamps, and an accent chair that’s part of the room’s new reading corner. Other luxe-looking touches: long sheer curtains, gold-framed artwork, and faux botanicals.
All in, the room redo cost about $1,500 — well worth it for huge impact. “Even though we put in a bigger sized bed than we had previously, the room still looks surprisingly bigger and brighter,” Sharanna says. “I love cuddling with my little dog on the bed and cozying up with a book in the small reading corner we incorporated.”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.