Before and After: A $130 Project Helps Make a Bland Bedroom Layered and Cozy
Adding plants in a space is a great way to add a pop of green and up the homey vibes — but if you don’t get enough light (or you’re not a natural green thumb), another great way to do it is with green paint.
DIYer Sophia Kostich (@diydoctorat49) says that the green paint in her bedroom, which was once “bland and unwelcoming” helped to bring the outside in. “I love plants and greenery, and I love that the green I have chosen mirrors that in some wall,” she says.
Looking to make her bedroom “a safe, tranquil, relaxing, welcoming space,” Sophia decided to create a feature wall behind her headboard using paneling and green paint. Before, the paint in the room was a basic white, hadn’t been changed in years, and was chipping, she says. It was time for some color — plus some texture.
“I wanted to try paneling, having seen it a lot on social media,” Sophia says.
Sophia measured, cut, and nailed 9 mm MDF boards to the wall to create an architectural feature behind where her headboard would go. “The actual paneling process was much easier than I expected,” she says. “I was so surprised by how achievable it was even just by myself.”
Her DIY materials cost about $130, she says. The trickiest part was doing the math to space everything evenly and then using the level as she went to make sure the accent wall-in-progress was straight.
After that, it was time for her sage-toned paint (Lick’s Soft Green 02) and a few new accessories. Sophia hung plug-in brass sconces (about $135 each) on both sides of her bed to add lighting but save room on her nightstands.
Speaking of nightstands, she painted two smaller ones she found on eBay to make way for a new mid-century-looking wooden headboard, a more on-trend upgrade from her basic upholstered one from before. One trick to steal from Sophia’s DIY? Painting the nightstands the same color as the accent wall helped create a seamless, cohesive look.
For finishing touches, Sophia added two large pink pillows to her bedding, and the pink and green color combo is one of her favorite parts of the space.
Sophia says if she were to change anything about the project, she’d make the upper ledge shelf of her moulding a little thicker to display “more trinkets/plants/photos” and she might paint the rest of the space (now an off-white shade) a different color, but overall she’s super pleased with her result.
Sophia’s main takeaway is that adding paneling to a space “is not as hard as it looks, and it is totally achievable as a DIY project,” she says. “It gives me so much more confidence to just try other DIY projects.”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.