Before and After: This $1,500 Bedroom Makeover Oozes “Quiet Luxury”
Not every home renovation happens all at once. Often, DIY projects happen in stages or cycles — especially if you’re someone who likes to change things up with the trends. That’s exactly the case for DIYer Megan Hamann’s (@homewiththehamanns) bedroom. Megan and her husband, Jeff, moved into their townhouse in 2019 when Megan was fresh out of grad school. That was when they took on their bedroom’s first revamp, removing the old carpeting and painting over the pink and yellowish walls.
At that point, Megan had “never chosen a paint color” besides “bright green and pink for her teenage bedroom,” so she scoured the internet, using apps like Pinterest and YouTube for inspiration, to find a shade that would best suit her adult bedroom. She opted for a gray-green that was popular in the late 2010s. “At the time, grid walls were all the rage,” Megan adds, so she and Jeff embarked on their very first DIY accent wall.
Over the last few years, though, the couple outgrew the look and feel of the space. As their furniture changed from college leftovers and hand-me-downs to pieces they’d picked out themselves, their design preferences for the rest of the room changed, too.
“We were so proud of this space and the accent wall we created, but as the years went on and our skills vastly improved, we started to see all of our ‘mistakes’ from our first DIY, such as not using caulk at the seams where the trim met the wall leading to gaps in the accent wall,” Megan says of the decision to switch things up once again. This time around, their additions cost about $1,500. Here’s what they did.
A color-drenched room adds contemporary drama.
For the second phase of the bedroom, Megan knew that she wanted to take the plunge and paint the entire room a darker, moodier mossy green-brown color (Benjamin Moore’s Stampede) — something she had wanted to do for a long time.
“This was a bit intimidating because we don’t have giant vaulted ceilings in our bedroom, so at first we were concerned that painting it dark might make the room feel smaller,” she says. “At first, we just planned on painting the walls brown and leaving the ceiling white.”
But Megan recalls that with the ceiling left white, something “felt off,” and she and Jeff ultimately decided to go for a color-drenched effect. “We got about half the ceiling painted before we looked at each other and knew we made the right decision. The room immediately felt moodier, cozier, and, believe it or not, LARGER!” she says. (And, she adds, the darker color even helps her sleep a bit better!)
A revamped accent wall adds a smoother, more sophisticated look.
Megan and Jeff opted to stick with an accent wall, but they made things more precise and a little more fitting for 2024 with an inset picture frame-like look (with caulk this time) and hardboard behind it for a smoother background.
“The wall was already textured, but we wanted to have that beautiful, authentic smooth look behind the trim,” Megan explains. “The [hardboard] material itself isn’t expensive but makes such a difference in the overall final product.”
The couple used MDF boards and hardboard to create 12 designated boxes for their accent wall (planned out using SketchUp in CAD, computer-aided design) and they created the polished picture frame look with cove molding, caulk, and, of course, paint.
Little upgrades make the room feel fully thought-out.
The renovation cost $1,500 CAD (that’s around $1,133 USD at the time of writing). One thing that the couple prides themself on is the on-a-budget approach to the redesign without skimping on quality. Pieces like Target’s gallery frames ($20 each) and the Wayfair bedframe look worthy of a price tag much higher.
In addition, Megan’s dresser is from Target (now sold out), her rug is from Wayfair, and her mirror is from Kirklands. It all comes together to create a sophisticated look of quiet luxury. “Little touches such as replacing old light switch covers with brass covers, raising the curtain rod, and adding an additional curtain panel for added fullness and drama make this room extra special,” Megan adds. “The collection of art throughout the room brings in even more color and interest to the space, and we are loving the look of having various-sized frames versus all the same-sized frames laid out in a square pattern like on the wall before.”
The lesson here? Decorate and design as you go, and don’t be afraid to switch things up. “We’ve been dreaming of this room for a long time, and it has been such a fun experience watching that vision come to life,” Megan says.
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