Before and After: A Luxe $450 Bedroom Redo Looks 10 Times as Expensive

Staying in your old childhood bedroom doesn’t usually mean stylish or luxurious accommodations. For most of us, it tends to be a hodgepodge of dated bedding and mismatched decor—and for Amilia James (@rosedoorhome), it was no different.

So after redoing her sister’s bedroom at her parents’ house earlier this year, Amilia decided to tackle her own, which her parents had converted into a guest room. “I wanted to have a beautiful, stylish space to stay in when I visit home and for guests to use when they’re able to come visit again,” Amilia says.

For her, this meant bold color choices, a glamorous velvet headboard, and a defined workspace that completely transformed her old bedroom. What’s even more surprising is that she created this luxurious, grownup retreat for just $450.

The redo took place over the course of three separate weekends, starting with a dramatic new paint color choice: Behr’s Black Boudoir. After installing picture moulding, Amilia painted the walls, trim, baseboards, doors—and even the ceiling. “I had actually never painted a ceiling before and I was nervous,” she says. “I am so glad I went for it though! The black walls and ceilings make the room feel so cozy. I couldn’t love it more, even though it seemed to take one million hours to finish painting.”

Next was a brand new headboard, which Amilia designed and built for only $53 using leftover supplies from previous projects. “The star of this room transformation is the pink velvet upholstered headboard,” she says. “I had never created something like this before but I knew I wanted to elevate the simple metal bed base with a striking headboard.”

Amilia also replaced the old stacked crates for new wood nightstands on either side of the bed, and mounted a gold sconce for easy bedtime reading.

Finally, Amilia made sure to create a designated office area so that she could work comfortably while visiting her family. She added a desk and DIY canvas art print to help define the area near the window (which is now finished with sleek white curtains instead of the bright blue ones that were there before).

Amilia didn’t shy away from taking risks with her design choices, and she encourages people to do the same. “Don’t be afraid of following your gut with a bold design,” she says. “As I was sharing the design process with people on Instagram, a lot of people were unsure about the black ceiling and the bold headboard design. I was nervous how it would turn out, too! But I stuck with my bold design and couldn’t love the end result more.”

Inspired? Submit your own project here.