Before and After: A Boring Bedroom Gets a Bold, Colorful Facelift for Just $150

A bed without a headboard can make the whole bedroom feel imbalanced, lackluster, and a bit like a temporary college-type setup, but some bedrooms definitely pull off the cool and minimalist no-headboard look.

To combat feelings of incompleteness or flatness, those successful no-headboard beds are typically framed by some sort of feature wall, artwork, sconces, or statement-making end table-lamp combos.

If you’ve ditched your headboard, or never had one in the first place, look no further than these ideas to give the top of your bed a little bit of oomph — then add Jill and Tim Rose’s bedroom to your inspiration, board, too. The couple added both texture and color to liven up their 2010s bedroom.

Before, their bedroom “wasn’t interesting in any way,” Jill says. Everything just sort of fell flat and felt proportionally off in the overwhelmingly off-white space.

Because the walls in the bedroom are large, Jill wanted to find a way to add floor-to-ceiling interest for a more balanced look. “The back wall was plain, white and boring,” she says. “We just wanted a bedroom that had some style and a feature wall seemed like the best and cheapest way to achieve that.”

And with a project total around $150, she and Tim definitely accomplished their goal. The first step was figuring out the math for the new grid wall. “For measuring the squares, we used the same measuring tape a seamstress uses, which made measuring the tight space easier and more exact,” Jill says. They also taped out their grid with painter’s tape before applying any boards, which went quickly once the spacing was finalized.

After the MDF boards were up, it was time for paint — a dark blue-green color called Philipsburg Blue from Benjamin Moore. And Jill has a painting pro tip for anyone wanting to create the same grid effect: “I painted the inside squares flat paint and the grid is satin paint, so it pops just a little.”

Jill also added paint to her existing nightstands and even the artwork overtop her bed for something that would pop: Behr’s Sunny Side Up.

All she had to buy was the paint, MDF boards, new drawer pulls and replacement white shades for the tables and lamps, and the yellow throw pillow that perfectly matches the paint (found for $5 at Ross).

“I love that it’s now bold, makes a statement and the pops of color allow the room to remain bright, even with such a dark back wall,” she says. The couple’s new bedroom is brighter, bolder, and more balanced, with a beautifully anchored bed — no headboard needed.

Inspired? Submit your own project here.